When you come across your favorite song on Spotify, do you send it to your friends straight away? Similarly, your friends might also send you their best songs. When favorite songs are shared with others, it helps foster understanding and improves relationships. Released in 2023, Spotify’s new social feature, Spotify Jam makes it easier to share music. This feature allows people to join a group where instead of sharing songs, everyone listens to a playlist together. Different from the traditional algorithm, this feature recommends music that is suitable for all listeners in the group and enables the users to build a queue.
This article will serve as a full guide on how to use Spotify Jam. It contains what Spotify Jam is, how to set up a Spotify Jam session, how to use it with friends, ways to save music from Spotify Jam without premium subscriptions, and all the other questions about Jam. Keep reading. All the questions you have in your mind will be answered.
What constitutes a Spotify Jam?
Jamming on Spotify is a socialization feature that enables friends to listen together in real time as they take their sessions to a more social level. Anyone from around the world can join the same group and listen to music. Whether it is family or friends, just send an invite and Spotify Jam will analyze all the members’ listening history and for those overlapping themes, update the music to be included for them to listen to. This feature can only be used by the people purchasing the premium version of Spotify Jam; while others can always join a jam hosted by other users, irrespective of their location.
How does Spotify Jam operate?
Spotify Jam automatically tailors songs and identifies all members’ interests, so they can seamlessly blend. Also, once all the members have agreed upon songs, Spotify will display who added which track to the list. This is useful whether we are cooking or chilling outdoors.
To get started, feel free to select a playlist or a song that interests you.
Use the Speakers icon at the bottom of the screen or go into the menu of the song or playlist and search for “Start a Jam”.
Consider where you want the music to start playing, whether on your speaker or the phone itself. Users on the same Wi-Fi network will get a notification to join when they log into the application.
At the start of each jam, a user can invite a whole circle of friends or family, whether they are free users or premium users, or both. Premium subscribers can now join from anywhere, whether from nearby or the other side of the world.
After the jam is created, all the users can start adding songs, see who has added what songs, and get suggestions for new songs. As the host, you can manage who has joined the jam, change the arrangement of the songs in the queue, and delete any songs that do not fit the mood.
Starting a jam session on Spotify:
On Phone
- Start by opening the application and playing a song which you like.
- Then tap on the devise icon […] at the bottom right of the music player.
- On the devices screen that opens, press the button “Start a jam”.
- After this, you will be able to choose from three options to Invite your friends.
From your mobile, you can even ‘Jam’ with your pals using a computer at hand. To do so, just follow the steps below to begin:
- Launch the Spotify desktop application on your system.
- Control + Click on any playlist or any song and click on the three dot […] menu at the right-hand corner.
- Click on “Start a Jam” from the list which pops up.
With these steps, you are well on your way to enjoy a jam session. In case you wish to render any other friend’s access to the session, just scroll down and follow the steps given there.
From your smartphone, you can send 3 invites of your jam to the friends you would like to collaborate with:
Method 1: For people you want to invite, share an invitation link. Click […]Share link […] to generate an invitation link.
Method 2: For this method to work, all of your friends alongside you should be present, connected to their Spotify accounts and Bluetooth should be turned on. You can invite your friends by simply tapping on the phone and voila, it is done.
Method 3: Similar to how you share a link, you can also click ‘Scan QR Code’ to generate the code and share the same with your friend.
How to Join or End a Spotify Jam?
Join Spotify Jam
It is possible to join a Spotify Jam by clicking the invitation link or by scanning the QR code that was sent by one of your friends. If you are at the same physical location, you can also just tap on your friends’ phones. This, however, is contingent upon you being logged onto your Spotify account and Bluetooth being switched on. To join a Spotify Jam from the desktop application, you will need to be a Spotify Premium subscriber. Users without a premium account can participate in the jam session in person using the mobile app.
End Spotify Jam
In order to exit the Jam, press ‘Leave.’ However, if you are the Jam host, and you exit the Jam session, the jam will end for all participants.
How to add or remove songs to Jam?
Go to the now playing screen in Spotify and tap the queue button. Now tap Add Songs, and Tap on the queue button next to a recommended song or the one you searched for.
You can always swipe left to a song in the queue and use Remove option to take the song out of the jam session.
Is it possible to mute in a jam?
In a meeting, the host determines if the rest of the attendants can change any settings in the meeting, such as volume levels in the eConference. They can, however, choose to either delegate all participants to adjust the volume or they adjust the volume settings themselves.
To do this, the host needs to tap the current device being used in the app and toggle on Let guests change volume. This feature is available on supported devices like Chromecast and Amazon Cast, but it’s not available on Bluetooth devices or Apple AirPlay.
Is it really the host that controls what play in the jam?
The host decides if guests can control what’s being played or only add songs to the playlist.
When the host turns off the ‘Let others change what’s playing’ option, they can only add songs to the Jam but can’t change the currently playing track.
Troubleshoot: Spotify Jam Not Working
The above methods should help you start a jam on Spotify, but other users often struggle with how to fix Spotify Jam not working issues. Here are some details to help you resolve this issue.
- Check your device compatibility. Ensure you are using a mobile or tablet device to start the jam, as this feature is not supported on desktops.
- Check your subscription. A jam feature requires premium accounts, so it would be best to confirm that your premium subscription is active and usable.
- Connect to the right device. Attempting to start a jam with a speaker that does not support Spotify will prevent you from being able to complete it. So, make sure you select the correct speaker from all the devices that can be used.
- Close Spotify and restart it. You may be facing connectivity problems due to temporary glitches and bugs in Spotify, which can also be the reason for your failure in starting a jam. During this time, you can just restart the app and the problem should be solved.
Conclusion
As a Premium user, feel free to test out the Jam function. You can consult our instructions, which are set up in a sequential manner, but it is a very intuitive tool that is time efficient to learn using. Nevertheless, while its design is great and innovative, the paid subscription to use it makes Jam less worth it, especially when being physically apart from your friends. Moreover, the user who is in charge needs to give some permissions otherwise it can become quite boring for the participants – this defeats the purpose of the social activity.
Instead, you can enjoy music together with friends using the creation of a Blend playlist. This option is available to anyone without a paid subscription and does not require anyone to have the Premium version.