Spotify’s new Group Session feature lets you host a listening party

Spotify today announced that its paying users can now simultaneously stream music or podcasts to up to five people even if they live far away.

The new feature is dubbed Group Session and requires Spotify Premium. The first beta version of Group Session appeared back in May, but now is way more developed than before.

Hit Spotify’s Connect menu in the bottom-left corner of the play screen and select “Start a group session” at the bottom to get the invite link that you can share with up to five friends to join your listening party. Alternatively, they can scan the Spotify code to join your session.

Spotify explains:

Both host and guests can pause, play, skip and select tracks on the queue as well as add in choices of their own using the standard controls. If one person makes a change, it will immediately be reflected on all participant devices. Talk about squad goals.

Unfortunately, there’s no in-app chat so people will need to use another app to communicate in real time. Importantly, the Group Session feature allows people to tune into the same playlist or podcast simultaneously, as well as control playback, even if they aren’t in the same location.

Groups of two to five people can use this feature. Keep in mind that this feature is currently in beta so you can “expect the experience to continue to evolve over time.”

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Spotify has also refreshed its Mac and Windows app with the ability to stream music to Google’s Chromecast directly from the desktop app, no workarounds required at all. Previously, you had to initiate casting through the company’s mobile app.