Spotify's Group Session Feature Now Lets Long-Distance Friends Listen to Playlists and Podcasts Together

Spotify Premium subscribers can now simultaneously listen to music playlists and podcasts with their friends, wherever they are in the world.

The new feature is the latest evolution of Spotify's Group Session beta, which launched back in May and allowed Premium users in the "same space" to share and control music together in real time. Spotify's newsroom post explains:

In our latest innovation, we're taking Group Session one step further with brand-new functionality that allows Spotify Premium users around the world to tune into the same playlist or podcast simultaneously. So no matter the distance—whether six feet apart or a thousand miles away—you and the members of your squad can now each listen to the same content at the same time on your own devices (as well as control playback).

Groups of two to five people can use the new feature at once by sharing a "join" link shared via messaging apps or over social media.

All you have to do is click or tap the Connect menu in the bottom-left corner of the play screen and scroll down to "Start a group Session." There you should find the invite link to share with your guests, or they can scan the Spotify code to join the session.

From there, 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.

Spotify says that while Group Session is still in beta, it's committed to evolving and improving the experience over time.