Snapchat brings live Spotify listening activity to Snap Map

Snapchat has introduced Now Playing, a new feature that displays users' live Spotify listening activity on Snap Map. Friends can discover songs, open them in Spotify, and explore related Spotlight videos while users remain in control of who can see their music.

Snapchat is turning its music sharing into a more interactive engagement offering with the launch of 'Now Playing' feature. The newest feature will directly integrate Spotify into Snap Map, allowing users to discover music without leaving the Snapchat app. The feature showcases company's growing focus on music discovery and social interaction. It provides users another way to connect through shared listening habits. Currently, Now Playing feature is only available on Spotify, however, Snap has hinted that additional music streaming services might be added in the future. Also Read: How to find hidden Snapchat filters

What is Snapchat's Now Playing feature

The new Snap Map feature, "Now Playing," shows the music being played on Spotify by the user. Also Read: 7 Hidden Snapchat Tricks You Should Try

After users link their Spotify account with Snapchat, the song they're playing will show up along with their Bitmoji on Snap Map. The track can be viewed in real time by friends, thus making the music-sharing experience more social.

Snap now has over 450 million customers using Snap Map each month, a critical feature of the app, according to Snap.

How the Now Playing work?

Once connected with a Spotify account, users can share their listening habits directly in Snap Map.

When a song is displayed, friends can tap to:

• Open the track in Spotify
• Save it to their Spotify Liked Songs
• Explore Snapchat Spotlight videos that use the same audio

Users can also import songs straight to Spotify from Spotlight and Sound Pages, so that they can discover new songs and revisit their favorites without leaving Snapchat.

Privacy plays an important role

Snapchat claims that music activity isn't shared with everyone that can see a user's location.

Now Playing is also visible in the same way as Snap Map is visible, with the same privacy settings. Users have four settings to choose which allow others to see their listening activity:

• Friends
• Friends on the Map
• Select Friends
• No One

This enables users to choose whether they wish to share their music with all their contacts, or just with a select few trusted contacts.

Availability

The Now Playing feature is rolling out in regions where both Snapchat and Spotify are available. Snap has also announced the feature for Canada, with a timeframe of the end of this year.

The music streaming platform that's supported at launch is Spotify. But Snap's announcement indicates that the feature will be available to other music services in the future.

Snapchat is still turning its attention to the music market

In the past few years, music has been playing an increasingly important role in Snapchat's ecosystem.

The company launched Snapchat Sounds in 2020, which lets people use licensed music clips in Snaps and Stories. These clips could then be played through streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.

Now Playing adds this live listening experience to Snap Map, adding a fresh dimension of interactivity and social discovery to music.

Spotify is focusing on social listening

The new Snapchat integration is also in keeping with Spotify's wider agenda to make music streaming more social.

Spotify added Listening Activity and Request to Jam functionality to iOS devices earlier this year, enabling users to view what their friends are listening to and put together playlists together in real-time.

Other social networks have also got involved with music sharing. Recently, Instagram introduced a real-time Spotify status in Notes that lets users share the music they're listening to with followers in real time.

Snap's bigger vision for music streaming

Snap is trying to strengthen Snap Map's role with the launch of latest Now Playing feature. The company wants to make the app more than just a location sharing feature, and hence, the integration of social discovery, direct Spotify, and live music sharing, the company aims to increase the timing that use spend on the app. It also makes it easier for friends to connect over shared musical interests.

Social media platforms are nowadays continuing to compete to engagement, wanting to increase the entertainment on platforms, blending messaging, and adding location sharing. Snapchat's latest update reflects the latest trend along with highlighting the growing importance of music in user's life and how they can express themselves with the help of music.

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