Spotify Remote Group Sessions

Feature Introduction

Spotify first implemented the group session feature in their app back in May 2020, just three months into the global COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, folks were able to share audio with up to 5 friends (6 people total including themselves), along with the option to "play from same device."

Recent Updates

As of April 2022, the max number of listeners was raised to 7 friends (8 people total) and was changed to be remote only. While this saddened some, it has been a fantastic update to sync up audio for online D&D campaigns where folks are joining in from multiple locations.

Requirements

Every party member must have an active Spotify premium subscription to proceed with group sessions. This process will not work for those using free accounts.

Each member will also need to double check they are logged into their Spotify premium account on the mobile app as well as the desktop app where they'll be participating in the session's live video chat. Both apps will need to be open for this process to work.

Wearing headphones is also necessary in order to prevent spoken audio from competing with Spotify's audio output from the same set of speakers.

DM's Steps for Starting a Remote Group Session for Online D&D Campaigns

  1. From the Spotify mobile app, select your desired playlist and then click on any track to begin playing it.

  2. Tap on the device icon at the bottom left of the screen. (It's the one that looks like an iMac and speaker.)

  3. Tap on the option Start a remote group session.

  4. Click on the Invite friends button at the bottom or the plus icon at the very top right of the screen.

  5. Select the Copy link option to copy the group session link to your clipboard, and then paste it into the slack group chat window to share with the current party. Note that this URL is unique to each group session. If a new group session is started, the new link will need to be shared.

Players' Next Steps

  1. All players will need to click on the shared link in their Slack mobile app first. This will open the group session in the Spotify mobile app.

  2. Next, players will click on the device icon labeled "Group session" at the bottom left of the screen to bring up their devices list.

  3. From the select a device list, players will choose their desktop or laptop device where they have the Spotify desktop app open. This will change the audio source from the mobile app to the desktop app.

  4. The mobile app will now display the name of the connected device next to "group session" on the currently playing screen if done correctly.

Ready, Set, Disco!

All members of the remote group session now appear in the remote group session list with their avatar and username displaying.

Each player can independently adjust the desktop app's audio levels to a comfortable volume. For general purposes, 20-30% is recommended. However, some songs may require adjustments as they may be naturally louder or softer than others.

When the DM changes playlists, all members of the group session will automatically seamlessly switch over to the new active playlist.

At any time, any member of the group session can pause, play, or change tracks within the selected playlist.

The group session can be ended by clicking on the "End session" button on the right side of the remote group session list.

YouTube Walkthrough

Additional Links