Spotify Adds Real-Time Listening Sharing and Jam Requests for Friends

Spotify is expanding its social features with new tools designed to keep users sharing music without leaving the app. The company announced Wednesday that it is rolling out updates to its Messages feature, allowing users to see what their friends are listening to in real time and to request collaborative listening sessions known as Jams.

To enable the new functionality, users must first go to Settings, navigate to Privacy & Social, and turn on Listening Activity. Once activated, a user’s current listening activity will appear at the top of their Messages chats. Friends can tap the Activity to play Activity Check, save it, open additional options, or react with emojis.

Spotify is also making it easier to start Jams directly from Messages. Premium subscribers can tap the Jam icon in the top-right corner of a chat to invite a friend to listen together. If the invitation is accepted, the recipient becomes the Jam host, and both users can add songs to a shared queue while listening simultaneously.

The Listening Activity and Request to Jam features are rolling out on both iOS and Android in markets where Messages is available, with full availability expected by early February. Listening Activity is available to all users with access to Messages, while Free-tier users can join Jam sessions only when invited by a Premium subscriber.

Spotify noted that because these features are tied to Messages, they are limited to users 16 years and older.

The company first introduced Messages in August 2025 as part of a broader effort to make Spotify more social. Historically, users have shared Spotify links externally through messaging and social media apps. By building messaging and real-time sharing directly into the platform, Spotify aims to keep more interactions in-app as it focuses on user retention and subscription growth.

Currently, Messages on Spotify are limited to one-on-one conversations, and users can only message people they have previously interacted with on the platform — such as playlist collaborators or participants in a Jam or Blend. Spotify says Messages are encrypted both at rest and in transit, though they are not end-to-end encrypted.