Spotify Adds Listening Party Feature as Revenue Increases

A smartphone is seen in front of a screen projection of Spotify logo, in this picture illustration taken April 1, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Spotify has officially found a way to liven up this long quarantine. Users can now listen to music with five people simultaneously, no matter the distance. This makes remote dance parties much more doable during this unprecedented time.

To use the new Group Sessions feature, all platform users must be premium subscribers. To get the party started, only one person has to create a link from the Connect menu. Unfortunately, the feature does not include a place to chat, so listeners will need to communicate on a different app or service.

Everyone in the Spotify listening party will have full control of the music and can add songs to the queue. However, all participants will see these actions being made across their devices. This means that if you change a song right before the drop hits, everyone will witness it. Certainly, you will get some serious repercussions for it.

Spotify Returning to Pre-pandemic Times

Since the start of the pandemic, many businesses faced a decrease in sales due to required closures and quarantine. Spotify was no exception. Due to people staying home, not many users were listening to music on the app. Fortunately, as things begin to gradually go back to normal and lockdown restrictions relax, the music streaming platform has been regaining its user base and is close to collecting its normal revenue.

As businesses continue to re-open, Spotify in-car listening has returned to within 10 percent of normal listening hours. Over 299 million people are using the app once again, and the number is expected to grow even larger. According to their recent earnings report, the platform’s revenue has begun to reflect what it once was during the pre-pandemic world.

Spotify’s podcasts have also increased in popularity during this time with over 21 percent of application users spend their time listening to them. Moreover, numbers are expected to grow while the pandemic affects the world.

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