Spotify Jam is now available on TV

[Luan]

Spotify is bringing Jam to the TV app! Until now, you could only start a Jam from the Mobile or Desktop app. But now Spotify is introducing Jam as a native feature of the TV experience!

If you’re not familiar with Jam, in Spotify’s words it’s “a personalized, real-time listening session for your group to tune into together”.

So, a super nice way to listen in person with your mates!

I’ve had the opportunity to test it out, and I wanted to share my impressions

My favorite part of this new update is how I can see who I'm listening with on-screen! There’s a nice feature in the update that shows everyone’s pictures, as well as little portraits next to tracks in the queue. Yep, that means I can finally see who added only Taylor Swift songs to the queue, and my guesses weren’t wrong.

Before this update, using my TV for a Jam meant the TV worked like any other speaker. Invitations had to be sent via the Spotify app on my phone. But with this update, Jam is built into the Queue! From there, anyone in the room can join the Jam by scanning a QR code, making it a breeze to add your tracks to the queue–no invites needed!

So What’s New?

• The Queue button is now called “Queue & Jam”, combining the two and letting you control the Jam experience.
• You can join a Jam directly through the TV by scanning a QR Code on the screen. You don’t even need to be on the same WiFi network to join;
• You can see who’s taking part in the Jam as their profile pictures are shown in the queue;
• When someone adds a song to the queue, their portrait is shown next to it so that you can see who’ve added it;
• When hosting a Jam you have a new Settings panel where you can enable/disable automatic invites and control the participant’s permissions.

How to try it out

The update is being released worldwide gradually, so keep an eye on your TV app store to keep your Spotify up-to-date to get the latest updates. However, at this point, the Jam will not be available on Samsung Tizen OS 2015/2016.

To start and host a Jam, the user needs to be on Premium, but Free users can still join and add songs to it. Jam on TV is an in-person experience, meaning that audio will be played from the TV. Just open Queue & Jam to get started.

With this amazing new update, hosting and enjoying listening parties with friends is easier than ever! Try it out, but don't forget to invite me...