Tag: Car Thing

Pick Out the Perfect Father’s Day Gift With a Little Help From Spotify

June 2, 2022

father and daughter dancing to music

Father’s Day is just around the corner, which means it’s time to find a gift dad will love. Do they need a new Bluetooth speaker for their backyard cookouts? What about a better way to consume podcasts in the car during their morning commute? Or maybe they could benefit from a good pair of wireless headphones. Whatever it may be, there are a variety of perfect gift options that also integrate easily with Spotify to deliver an experience perfect for music and podcast discovery. 

Check out these gift ideas to help you get started:

  • Car Thing: Spotify’s smart player provides a seamless and personalized in-car listening experience. Just in time for Father’s Day, it will be available for a limited time at $69.99 (normally $89.99). Whether it’s their daily commute or the next family road trip, your dad can easily listen to their favorite music and podcasts using “Hey Spotify” voice commands, as well as with simple taps, turns, and swipes. 
  • Ikea Vappeby Speaker: This Bluetooth speaker lamp is perfect for dads who enjoy the great outdoors. And thanks to Spotify Tap, the perfect soundtrack to their adventure is just a single button push away.
  • Philips Hue Light Bulbs: Dads may love to complain when people leave the lights on, but even they can’t resist these Spotify-integrated light bulbs. Once they’re synced up, they’ll flash, dim, brighten, and change color right along with the beat, mood, genre, and tempo of any music on Spotify. 
  • Sony LinkBuds: Whether they’re concentrating in the office or hard at work in the yard, a pair of wireless headphones is a handy accessory for any dad. With a pair of these plugged into their ears, they can jump into their favorite songs with Spotify Tap.
  • Spotify Premium Gift Card: Want to introduce dad to your favorite new song or podcast? How about giving them a new way to find old favorites? A gift card is the perfect way to get them started on Spotify Premium, where they can enjoy music without ads, with unlimited skips, and with the ability to go offline and keep listening. 

Gift a custom playlist made just for dad

So what pairs perfectly with shiny new audio gear? A good selection of tunes, of course. And nothing says “I’m thinking of you” like a custom playlist. Create a playlist with all of dad’s favorite tracks and podcasts—and even take the extra step of adding custom cover art, a name, and a description. 

Need some inspo? Here are the top songs users in the U.S. typically stream on Father’s Day: “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet, “Father and Son” by Yusuf / Cat Stevens, “Good Good Father” by Chris Tomlin, “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, “Daughters” by John Mayer, “Dance with my Father” by Luther Vandross, and “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo. 

Some of the top artists streamed on Father’s Day going back to 2016 include Jimmy Buffet, Van Morrison, Frank Sinatra, Marc Anthony, Vincente Fernandez, Bob Marley & The Wailers, and Steely Dan.  

This Father’s Day, give your dad the gift of music and discovery! And for the perfect Father’s Day soundtrack, be sure to check out the playlist Father’s Day Love:

Spotify’s Car Thing Device Debuts New Features

April 7, 2022

In February, Spotify released Car Thing in the U.S. Now, fans can enjoy a smart player that creates a more seamless and personalized in-car listening experience—no matter the year or model of your vehicle. Car Thing makes it simpler to play exactly what you want, thanks to the intuitive product interface and the ease of using “Hey Spotify” to control what you want to listen to.

But there’s always room to make a great thing even better, which is why Car Thing has some new updates rolling out this week.

With these updates, you’ll now be able to answer phone calls on Car Thing, queue songs and podcasts, and display and control other media. Car Thing also connects to and now mirrors your phone, giving you access to more functionality.

Here’s the full scoop on all the new features:

  • Answer phone calls seamlessly*: You can now see, answer, and dismiss incoming calls via Car Thing. 
  • Control other media*: You can now play and control other media on the Car Thing device. Easily switch back to Spotify by using presets, or voice, or simply tapping the screen.
  • Add to queue: One of our most requested features—the ability to queue additional songs and podcasts—is also now available. You can access it in a few different ways:
    • With touch: Tap the “Add to queue” icon next to a track in your tracklist. 
    • With the dial: When you have a track highlighted, press and keep holding the dial—one press will play, while pressing and holding will add to the queue. 
    • Request music with Voice: Just say “Hey Spotify, queue ‘drivers license’” or whatever track you’d like to listen to next! 
    • View your queue: Say “Hey Spotify, open my queue” or press and keep holding the dial when in the “Now Playing” view. 
  • Use voice to get a personalized playlist for any mood: Simply ask for any genre, mood, or activity that describes the kind of music you want to hear. For example, say “Hey Spotify, play cozy Sunday RnB,” and we’ll do our best to instantly create a personalized playlist from your request. This feature is available wherever “Hey Spotify” is available.

Bringing these highly anticipated new features to Car Thing is part of Spotify’s ongoing commitment to building a truly frictionless experience for users across devices—whether in the car, at home, or on the go. Already a Car Thing user? No worries, updates will roll out for iOS users automatically! 

Love these features but don’t yet have a Car Thing? The device is available to purchase for $89.99 and requires a Spotify Premium subscription plan along with a phone with a mobile data connection. You can find more details about how to buy and use Car Thing at carthing.spotify.com.

*This feature is currently available on iOS only; availability for Android will be rolling out at a later date.  

Car Thing From Spotify Is Now Officially Available in the U.S.

February 22, 2022

Listeners, start your engines: Car Thing is officially here. 

Back in April 2021, we announced our exploration of a smart player that could seamlessly fill your car with a world of music, news, entertainment, talk, and more. Then in October, we unveiled our limited release of Car Thing to Spotify Premium users. Now, after these successful explorations, we’re excited to share that the device is available to purchase in the U.S. for $89.99.*

Designed for your drive

We developed Car Thing because we saw that our users desired a more seamless and personalized in-car listening experience, no matter the year or model of their vehicle. With Car Thing, even more audio fans can access Spotify’s entire catalog of music and podcasts across an even wider range of vehicles. 

Car Thing enables listeners to play their favorite music and podcasts quickly using “Hey Spotify” voice commands, as well as simple taps, turns, and swipes—allowing listeners to start playing that hit song or the latest podcast episode before they pull out of the driveway. (And it makes it even more effortless to switch to something else when the mood strikes.) 

A seamless in-car audio experience 

During our exploration phase, we discovered a lot about how people listen in the car, and for many users, how Car Thing can help improve that experience. We learned two major things from device owners: First, users were listening to Spotify in the car more than they had before. Second, Car Thing made it simpler to play exactly what they wanted, thanks to both the product interface (which they enjoy more than their previous in-car media) and the ease of using “Hey Spotify” to control what they wanted to listen to.

Plus, we heard from drivers some requests that we are working to incorporate into future Car Thing updates. These include Night Mode, which dims screen brightness in the evening, and an Add to Queue command, which lets you queue up your favorite music and podcasts by simply using your voice. This exploration and innovation is part of our ongoing commitment to building a truly frictionless experience for users across devices—in the car, at home, or on the go.

Whether it’s using your voice, touch, or physical controls, Car Thing is intuitive and responsive during every in-car situation. Previously, Car Thing was only available to select eligible users in the U.S. who had joined the waitlist. Now, we’re excited to make the device generally available in the U.S. and bring it to even more users. 

Car Thing is now available to purchase for $89.99 and requires a Spotify Premium subscription plan along with a phone with a mobile data connection. You can find more details about how to use the device at carthing.spotify.com.

*Users will need a Premium account to use the device.

Spotify Reports Fourth Quarter 2021 Earnings

February 2, 2022

Today, Spotify announced our fourth quarter 2021 financial performance. Click here to review the full earnings release, and take a look at the highlights below:

Interested in hearing more? You can listen to the webcast Q&A on the IR site here. 

Click below to check out a sizzle reel of audio trailers from a few of our recent original and exclusive podcasts. 

5 Things To Know About the Newest Limited Release of Car Thing

October 14, 2021

At Spotify, we believe in finding the best audio companion for every moment, whether you’re taking on household chores, enjoying a moment of peaceful mindfulness, or on the go. So a few months ago, we announced our newest exploration: the limited release of Car Thing, a smart player that fills your car with music, news, entertainment, talk, and more. With Car Thing, you can play your favorite audio faster, so you’re already listening to that hit song or the latest podcast episode before you’ve even pulled out of the driveway. 

Today, we’re expanding our limited U.S. release of Car Thing to users who are interested in purchasing the device. Our goal is to bring our entire catalogue of music and podcasts to a wider range of users across an even wider range of vehicles. 

Here’s what you need to know:

  1. Select users in the U.S. who have signed up for the Car Thing waitlist will be among the first to purchase Car Thing for $79.99.
  2. All U.S. Spotify users—Free and Premium—can sign up for the Car Thing waitlist. 
  3. Car Thing does require a paid Spotify Premium subscription plan—whether that’s an Individual, Family, Duo, or Student plan—and connects to your smartphone for mobile data. 
  4. We’ve already released some software updates and will continue to evolve and improve it over time.
  5. Check out if you’re eligible and the other terms that apply.

Already on the waitlist? Get into the road trip feeling by streaming Songs to Sing in the Car.

Spotify Launches Our Newest Exploration: A Limited Release of Car Thing, a Smart Player for Your Car

April 13, 2021

Between work commutes, taking the kids to school, daily errands, and road trips, Americans spend countless hours on the road. It’s no surprise, then, that there are over 70 million user-generated driving-related playlists on Spotify. No matter where you’re headed, Spotify is the perfect companion in the car, thanks to the many ways to listen to Spotify and our curated playlists, like Daily Drive and Songs to Sing in the Car. And today, we’re excited to announce our newest exploration: a limited release of Car Thing, a new smart player that fills your car with music, news, entertainment, talk, and more.

Currently available to eligible users in the U.S., Car Thing enables you to play your favorite audio faster, so you’re already listening to that hit song or the latest podcast episode before you’ve even pulled out of the driveway. Switching between your favorite audio is effortless, allowing you to shift gears to something else as soon as the mood strikes. And when it comes to controlling the device, use it in the way that works best for you, whether that’s voice, touch, or physical controls. Take a look:

Our focus remains on becoming the world’s number one audio platform—not on creating hardware—but we developed Car Thing because we saw a need from our users, many of whom were missing out on a seamless and personalized in-car listening experience. No matter the year or model of your vehicle, we feel everyone should have a superior listening experience. With Car Thing, we’ll now be bringing our entire catalogue of music and podcasts to a wider range of users across an even wider range of vehicles. 

The limited release of Car Thing is not meant to compete with in-car infotainment systems. Instead, it’s another step in our larger ubiquity strategy—creating a truly frictionless audio experience for our users, wherever they are and however they choose to listen. 

Car Thing makes the entire experience, from setup to navigation, simple and seamless. Here’s how it works:

  • Use voice control for easy access. Spotify’s voice search lets you quickly play specific music or podcasts, and can even help you find something new. Just say “Hey Spotify,” then ask for a song, album, artist, playlist, station, or podcast. With four microphones along the top, Car Thing can understand what you’re asking to play, even with the music turned up or your windows down.
  • Try the dial for a hands-on way to steer to the audio you love. You can also browse deeper, curating the perfect soundtrack to wherever you’re headed. Use the dial to browse, select, play, pause, and discover. 
  • View the touch-screen display to see what’s playing. You can also use the screen to see what’s in your library, as well as results from voice search. Swipe to browse further or skip, or tap to play.
  • Choose four preset buttons to get to your favorites faster and then change them anytime. They’ll always bring you the newest podcast episodes and up-to-date news.

Car Thing from Spotify is currently a limited product launch, available in the U.S. on an invite-only basis. For a set time, Car Thing is available at no cost (excluding shipping) to select Spotify listeners. Car Thing requires a paid Spotify Premium subscription plan and a smartphone with WiFi or mobile data connection. Eligible paying subscribers only. One Car Thing per eligible subscriber, while supplies last. Terms apply.

Hit the gas and join the wait list at carthing.spotify.com.

5 Things to Know about Spotify’s Latest Test

May 17, 2019

Americans spend 70 billion hours behind the wheel each year. That’s a lot of time spent on the road. So what you do—and what you listen to—to help you get through those long hours in the car matters. That’s why Spotify is trying to learn more about people’s listening habits and preferences to help create an unparalleled experience for our users.

Here’s what you need to know about our test:

  1. We’re testing how people listen in the car through a voice-controlled music and podcast device called “Car Thing.”
  2. While we know there has been some speculation about our future plans, Car Thing was developed to help us learn more about how people listen to music and podcasts. Our focus remains on becoming the world’s number one audio platform—not on creating hardware.
  3. The test will be done in the US only, with a small group of invited Spotify Premium users.
  4. We might do similar voice-specific tests in the future, so don’t be surprised if you hear about “Voice Thing” and “Home Thing.”
  5. We don’t have any current plans to make this specific device available to consumers, but the learnings from our test will dictate how we develop experiences everywhere you listen.