With Spotify’s ‘Jam’ your whole squad becomes the DJ

Spotify has launched a new feature today called “Jam,” which will give you and your buddies a way to curate a shared playlist and listen to it together in real-time.  

Unlike existing multi-playlist features Blend and Duo Mix, Jam will sync everyone’s playback so you’re all listening to the same songs simultaneously — whether you’re in the same room, or scattered across the world. 

Now, explains the hugely successful Swedish company, instead of having one person in control of the music at a social gathering, everyone can have their say.  

The feature is available to both free and Premium subscribers, but only the latter will be able to start a session and invite others to join as its host. 

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If you’re a Premium user, you can select any song or playlist, and then tap the speaker icon at the bottom of your screen or the three-dot menu at the top. From there, you can select the new option “Start a Jam”.

To invite friends, you can enable Bluetooth and tap your phones together, share the QR code on screen, or send the link over a messaging app. Anyone who’s on the same shared Wi-Fi network will be prompted to join the Jam when they open their Spotify app.

As people add tracks to the shared queue, you’ll see profiles the song in question so you’ll know who chose which tune. Up to 32 people can be in the Jam’s private session at the same time. 

Those who’d rather stream music alone but still be able to discover new songs and artists would probably enjoy Spotify’s “daylist” feature more. The new playlist, launched earlier this month, keeps changing throughout the day, based on the kind of music the user typically listens to.

Meanwhile, Spotify has increased its Premium membership price by €1, and the company is also rumoured to be launching its lossless Supremium service shortly. In a string of recent additions, the Swedish company announced a new artificial intelligence-powered feature this week that can translate podcasts into different languages using the host’s own voice.