Spotify Gets Private Messages
I feel like there are too many ways to message people — or have people message me. iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, Signal, Telegram — the list goes on, and with it the list of apps I need to monitor to stay in touch with friends and family. Now it seems like it’s time to add Spotify to that list.
It’s true: Spotify is getting private messages. The company announced the feature, appropriately called Messages, in a blog post on Tuesday . Spotify’s Messages work like any other messaging platform. Once they’re available in your account, you’ll find the tab by tapping your profile in the top-left corner or swiping right on the home screen. You’ll see all your existing message threads, with unread ones sorted at the top and the option to start a new message at the bottom.
While you can send friends anything, including emoji, the main purpose of Spotify Direct Messages is to share Spotify content like music, audiobooks, and podcasts. As expected, sharing files in the app is simple: you tap the Share button on the track you’re listening to, then select the name of the friend you want to message. As usual, Spotify lets you customize the color or style of the album art before sending, if you want to experiment a little.
This feature isn’t exclusive to Premium subscribers: all Spotify users aged 16 and over have access to private messages, which is a nice bonus. It seems like a lot of companies are only offering this feature to paying subscribers, though I suppose that defeats the purpose of making it easy for Spotify users, many of whom aren’t paying, to share Spotify content.
When it comes to privacy and security, the initial report is mixed: Spotify says it uses “standard encryption in transit and at rest,” so your messages are encrypted both when stored on your device and when sent to other Spotify users. The company does, however, use “proactive detection technology” to scan messages for “illegal and harmful content.” Anything reported by users or through this system will be reviewed by moderators. As noble as that may sound, in my opinion, this is not a platform for privacy-conscious users who want to be sure their messages aren’t being tracked by tech companies.