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Spotify is rolling out a new set of social features designed to make your listening experience more visible, interactive, and, whether it’s for better or worse, less private. The features, Listening Activity and Request to Jam, are starting to appear for Android and iOS users in the United States (broader availability by February 2026).
Of the two, Listening Activity seems to be the most radical addition to the platform in a while. On the one hand, it lets you see what your friends are listening to in real time, directly in the Spotify app. It shows the exact song, artist, and playback status of the music that your friends are streaming.
Spotify turns private listening into a shared experience
On the other hand, it will also show your Spotify friends all your music track names, which means your late-night guilty pleasures and oddly specific playlists are no longer invisible. Your friends can either jump straight into the track you’re playing or save it and listen to it later.
Thankfully, the feature is available on an opt-in basis; you’d have to enable it in Settings > Privacy and social, then toggle the switch beside “Listening activity.” Further, you can stream music in private mode, which doesn’t broadcast your track or artist selection to your Spotify friends.
Similar to social media platforms, you can also control who can access your listening activity on Spotify, because not everyone needs to know what you’re listening to when you’re alone. Last but not least, the feature will be available to all users with Messages access.
Then there’s the “Request to Jam” feature, which lets Spotify Premium users invite their friends (who should also be paid users) to join a shared Jam session via the in-app message service. Friends can request all songs to the queue without being in the same room; they can also control playback.
If you’ve ever asked your friend about a song that they were talking about earlier or posted on social media, Spotify’s Listening Activity removes the guesswork. Social listeners, such as friends from college groups, can hang out on the app with their friends and add their favorite songs to a queue.
