Snapchat Now Lets Users Share What They’re Listening to in Real Time

Snapchat is adding real-time music sharing to Snap Map, giving users a new way to show friends what they are listening to and discover songs through their social connections.

The new feature, called “Now Playing,” allows Snapchat users to connect a music streaming account, starting with Spotify, and display what they are currently listening to on Snap Map. Users can also see songs being played by friends who have chosen to share their activity.

Snapchat is extending the Spotify integration to Spotlight, its short-form video platform. When users discover a song through a Spotlight video, they can save the track directly to Spotify or open its Spotify page.

Snapchat gives users control over music sharing

Snapchat says users can decide who is allowed to see their listening activity. Now Playing does not display listening history or the last song a person played, limiting the feature to current activity.

Music sharing can remain active as long as the user has opened Snapchat within the previous 24 hours. If the app has not been opened for more than 24 hours, Snapchat automatically pauses sharing until the user returns.

Users can also manually pause their listening activity for three hours, 24 hours or indefinitely, providing additional control over when their music appears to friends.

Social platforms embrace music discovery.

The launch puts Snapchat deeper into a growing competition among social platforms to become destinations for music discovery. TikTok has become an influential force in music trends and allows users to save songs they discover or share tracks from streaming services. Instagram offers music sharing through Notes, while Spotify has also introduced features that allow friends to share their listening activity in real time.

Snapchat Head of Music Manny Adler said music is a personal form of expression that can help strengthen connections between friends. The company sees Now Playing as another way for users to express themselves while discovering music through people they already know.

Snap Map expands beyond location sharing.g

Now Playing also represents another expansion of Snap Map, which Snapchat says has more than 450 million monthly users. Introduced in 2017, the feature originally focused on helping users see friends’ locations and explore public Snaps from different parts of the world.

Snap Map has gradually expanded beyond location sharing to include information about local places, activities and other forms of discovery. Adding music gives Snapchat another way to encourage users to spend time exploring the map rather than using it solely to check where friends are located.

Snapchat says Now Playing is rolling out in regions where both Snapchat and Spotify are available, with availability in Canada expected soon.