Code discovered in Spotify’s Android app suggests the music streaming platform could remove the Premium requirement for starting a collaborative Jam.
Spotify may soon make its Jam feature more accessible by allowing free users to host their own collaborative listening sessions.
Spotify introduced Jam in September 2023 as a real-time collaborative playlist feature that allows up to 32 people to join and contribute to a shared music session. Currently, both free and Premium users can join and participate in a Jam, but only Spotify Premium subscribers can start and host one.
That restriction could change soon.
Code strings discovered in version 9.1.82.19 of the Spotify Android app suggest that Spotify may be preparing to remove the Premium requirement for hosting a Jam. The updated wording appears to place greater emphasis on Premium benefits rather than stating that a subscription is necessary to start a Jam.
The revised text reportedly focuses on Premium users being able to take full control of playback and skip songs without restrictions.
While the changes do not directly confirm Spotify’s plans, they indicate that the company could introduce Jam hosting for free-tier users while maintaining certain limitations.
If the feature is rolled out, a Jam hosted by a free Spotify user may come with several restrictions for everyone participating in the session, including Premium subscribers.
These limitations could include a restricted number of song skips, randomised music playback and the inability to manually queue specific tracks.
Free-tier Jam hosts may also see prompts encouraging them to upgrade to Spotify Premium, allowing the company to offer broader access to the feature while continuing to promote its paid subscription service.
Spotify Jam has become one of the platform’s popular social listening features, allowing groups of friends to add songs and listen together in real time. Expanding hosting access could make the feature more useful for parties, road trips and other group listening experiences.
However, the information comes from an early app teardown, meaning the code changes do not guarantee that Spotify will officially introduce free Jam hosting.
Spotify could still change, delay or abandon the feature before any public rollout. If the company proceeds, the final version may also work differently from what the currently discovered code suggests.