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How to get the most out of your Spotify subscription
Spotify is more than just a place to listen to music alone through your noise-canceling headphones (but it is great for that). To ensure you get the most out of your Spotify subscription, take advantage of its many other features.
Editor’s note: this how-to was updated on May 18, 2023, to add a note about Spotify’s AI DJ.
What services work with your Spotify subscription?
Service integrations are basically other apps and platforms that connect to your Spotify subscription. You can connect your Discord account to Spotify, and then whenever you create a playlist, Spotify automatically sends a message on your Discord. More advanced actions let you receive a message from a Discord user, and then have Spotify tell you their Playlist Items. You can also connect Spotify with Alexa, so that your smart speakers integrate seamlessly.
Similar service integrations exist for Telegram, Slack, and other messaging apps. You can dive into deep rabbit holes of features for Zoom, Twitter, Trello, and many more, too. These apps let you do things like creating a playlist upon completing a task or gaining a new follower. Try them for fun new ways to motivate your team or incentivize your social media accounts. Things can get even more creative when you link up your Google Drive or GitHub accounts to Spotify. You can have a new file show up in Drive whenever you save a track to a playlist. Another use: report an issue with Spotify on GitHub right in the app itself. Even your car may have Spotify built-in, depending on the model year, so check the manual to be sure.
If you’re in the habit of wondering “what’s that song” when you’re out in the world, you can also hook your Spotify Premium subscription up to Shazam, the music-identifying service. Once you sync the two apps, finding out what you’re hearing and adding it to a playlist should be pretty easy.
How do you use Spotify’s social media functions?
Spotify might be most well known for its music playing and discovery features, but it’s also a social media app. Visiting the Spotify Community website gives you access to forums where you can discuss music, the app itself, and off-topic ideas. Plenty of other Spotify users are there, and you’ll be able to discover new music, discuss artists, albums, and tracks you love, and even get into friendly debates about all sorts of musical topics.
A Spotify Premium subscription also opens up access to the Group Session beta trial. Group Session lets you listen to music together with invited guests, and everyone gets the chance to control what plays. This works with the Spotify mobile app on everyone’s smartphones and tablets with their own headphones or speakers. Spotify offers simple instructions to get the Group Session feature up and running once you sign up for a Premium account.
And all Spotify users, regardless of subscription level, may use the app to find and follow their friends. Make sure to connect the app to your Facebook account first, then you can see their current activities and what they’re listening to.
Can you use Spotify to EQ your music?
We’ve discussed the reasons why you’d want to use an equalizer before, but did you know your Spotify subscription includes access to one? The Spotify equalizer feature lets you adjust playback levels on its iOS and Android apps.
How to use the Spotify EQ on Android
Accessing the equalizer will vary depending on each device, but in general for Android you:
- Tap on the “Spotify Home” icon
- Tap the Settings cog
- Scroll to Music Quality
- Select Equalizer
- Adjust the EQ settings as you wish
Note that the specific device and manufacturer-customized version of Android you’re using may alter the EQ’s functions and availability. Plus, any changes you make here might end up affecting other apps. So, if your YouTube videos sound funny afterward, come back here to disable your custom EQ settings.
How to use the Spotify EQ with an iPhone
The experience is a bit more cohesive for devices running iOS:
- Tap on the “Spotify Home” icon
- Tap the Settings cog
- Select Playback
- Tap on Equalizer and switch it on
- Select a preset or adjust the EQ levels as you wish
Which devices work best with Spotify?
Your favorite pair of headphones, speakers, smart TVs, receivers, and many other devices may have deeper integration with your Spotify subscription. Spotify maintains a list of them all, but to help you out with some of the basics, here are a few notable examples.
How to enable Spotify on Samsung Galaxy Buds
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, Buds 2, Buds Plus, Buds Live, and Buds Pro support Spotify. They work with the Spotify Tap feature, which lets you assign the touchpad on your Samsung Galaxy Buds to pull up Spotify and control its functions. Depending on the model you own, the specifics for setting this up vary. In general, you can use the Galaxy Wearable app to assign the touchpad to open Spotify and control it:
- Open the Galaxy Wearable app and make sure everything is updated to the latest version
- In the “Touchpad Settings” section, assign Spotify to the actions
How to enable Spotify on Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Likewise, the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 let you control Spotify as well, but only with devices running iOS for now. Sorry, Android users. The process is similar to the Samsung Buds:
- Open the Bose Music App and ensure everything is up to date
- Enable Spotify in the Shortcuts section
How to enable Spotify on Jabra Elite 2 and Elite 3 earbuds
Android users have the Jabra Elite 2, Elite 3, and Elite 4 Active earbuds all to themselves. Spotify Tap works with Android devices alone for now:
- Open the Jabra Sound+ app and ensure everything is up to date
- Go to Settings then “Voice Assistant/Spotify”
- Select Spotify (note this disables the voice assistant)
Plenty of other headphones and earbuds on the market today offer Spotify support, and more are sure to come. Furthermore, you can use your favorite voice assistant to control the app, too. Try saying “Hey Siri, play Spotify” or “Ok Google, play my Morning Playlist on Spotify” to see if your device supports these functions.
Can you listen to Spotify on multiple devices at once?
Spotify lets you download content using both a Spotify Free and Premium subscription. Free users may download podcasts, while Premium users get to download albums, playlists, and podcasts, and it doesn’t end there. With a Premium account, you can also use up to five different devices, including iPhones, Android devices, and more. Plus, each device gets up to 10,000 songs. Note, you cannot download individual songs, but you can create a playlist with the ones you want and download that.
That means Premium users may use different phones, tablets, and computers each with different music selections and podcasts. The only thing you must do to retain these downloads on a device is log in once every 30 days.
How do you download Spotify songs with a desktop?
On Desktop, downloading content with Spotify Premium is pretty simple:
- When online, pull up the content you wish to download
- Switch the Download slider on
- A green arrow appears once everything completes, and you’ll find the content in the Your Library section
How do you download Spotify songs onto a mobile device?
The specifics of downloading content may vary for mobile devices across Android and iOS, but in general:
- Go to the content you wish to download
- Tap the Download button
- A green arrow appears once everything completes, and you’ll find the content in the Your Library section
By default, Spotify only downloads content over Wi-Fi. This prevents you from gobbling up all your data or incurring extra charges, as playlists and podcasts are quite large. If that doesn’t bother you, you can enable downloads over mobile data:
- Tap on Home in the Spotify app
- Tap Settings
- Select Audio Quality
- Under the Download section, switch on “Download using cellular”
How do you recover deleted Spotify playlists?
Spotify lets you save playlists and delete them, but it also keeps a record of any deleted playlists for 90 days. That way, you can get a removed playlist back. It’s pretty simple:
- Log in to your account page on the Spotify website
- Click on “Recover playlists” in the menu found near the upper left-hand corner
- Click RESTORE by the deleted playlist you wish to recover
- Open your Spotify app, and the deleted playlist is now at the bottom of your playlist collection
In fact, if you’re using Spotify on a desktop or laptop and realize immediately that you didn’t want to delete a playlist, you can undo the action. Press Cmd+Z on a Mac or Ctrl+Shift+Z on Windows and Spotify will undo whatever you last did.
How do you view song lyrics in Spotify?
Users with both Spotify Free and Premium subscriptions may view and share song lyrics within the app itself. This works on mobile and desktop, plus some models of gaming consoles and TVs.
How do you view song lyrics on Spotify mobile?
You can view song lyrics on both iOS and Android. It’s pretty simple:
- Tap on the “Now Playing View” of a song
- While listening to the song, swipe up from the bottom of the screen
- The lyrics will scroll in real-time as the song plays
- To share the lyrics, tap “Share” at the bottom of the lyrics screen and then pick the lines you wish to share and where you want to share them
How do you view song lyrics on Spotify desktop?
It’s even easier to view song lyrics with Spotify desktop:
- While playing a song, click on the microphone icon in the “Now Playing” bar
- The lyrics will scroll by in real-time as the song plays
How do you view song lyrics on SpotifyTV?
Compatible TVs also let you view lyrics in Spotify:
- Open the “Now Playing View” for the song you want
- Select the “lyrics button” near the bottom right-hand corner of the screen
- Lyrics will appear in the “Now Playing View”
Spotify’s additional features will help make the listening experience more fun and immersive. So pop in those earbuds and hear what you’ve been missing.
How do I make a Spotify Blend playlist?
Spotify introduced Blend playlists in 2021, which you create with a friend or a group of friends to generate a playlist of music you all listen to. It’s a really fun way to share music with friends and see how much of your music tastes you share. You can create a Blend with a single other friend, or you can create a Blend for groups of up to 10 people. You can also create Blends with specific artists, whose links can be found in this Spotify press release.
To create a Blend playlist with friends, just search “Blend” in the search tab on Spotify, and choose “Invite” to choose who you want to make a playlist with. Once the invite is accepted, Spotify will automatically generate the playlist.
Frequently asked questions about getting the most out of your Spotify subscription
You can transfer your playlists from Apple Music to Spotify using one of the third-party services available, like Soundiiz or Tune My Music. For an in-depth explainer, check out our article on how to transfer Apple Music to Spotify.
This issue is usually best resolved by restarting the Spotify app. Also make sure you’re using the current version of Spotify, and update it if you’re not. If that doesn’t work, check the artist’s page to see if they took the song down. You might also be having internet connectivity problems, or have run out of storage for downloaded tracks.
For users in the US and Canada, you can access the AI DJ by:
- opening your Music Feed on the home screen
- Tapping “Play” on the DJ card
Spotify will then handle music selection for you until you tell it to stop or to pick a different genre.