Spotify Announces AirPlay-Like 'Spotify Connect' for Wireless Audio Streaming

MacRumors · Sep 3, 2013

Popular music service Spotify today announced that it will be launching a new "Spotify Connect" feature in its mobile and desktop apps, allowing users to wirelessly stream their music to compatible home audio systems and other devices. The feature is similar in many ways to Apple's AirPlay standard, and supports background streaming to allow users to continue using their devices for other tasks while streaming music.

Bring your music home. You walk through the door, listening to a great playlist on your phone. With Connect, just hit play on your living room speakers and the music instantly fires up, right where you left off. You won't miss a beat.

Then pick up your tablet to control the music from your sofa. Or switch the sound to your iPod Touch in the kitchen's docking station. Keep the music flowing with Connect.

Spotify has announced partnerships with a number of major home audio system manufacturers, including Pioneer, Philips, and Denon, and Spotify Connect will be "available soon" on iOS devices for subscribers to Spotify's $9.99/month Premium service. Support for Android devices and desktop apps will be available "in the coming months".

Article Link: Spotify Announces AirPlay-Like 'Spotify Connect' for Wireless Audio Streaming

Brandon263 · Sep 3, 2013

I guess this means the end of Remoteless for Spotify.

steipete · Sep 3, 2013

Why would this be any better than AirPlay?

Why would this be any better than AirPlay?

Quu · Sep 3, 2013

Just support Airplay already!

rmbpuser · Sep 3, 2013

steipete said:
Why would this be any better than AirPlay?

this? why do we need bazillion features that work the same i know that airplay is different than bluetooth but the average user wouldnt need anything more than bluetooth, and now spoitify connect too, why?

WordMasterRice · Sep 3, 2013

rmbpuser said:
this? why do we need bazillion features that work the same i know that airplay is different than bluetooth but the average user wouldnt need anything more than bluetooth, and now spoitify connect too, why?

Because this is what happens when you deal with Apple and their ridiculous closed protocols. If Apple allowed other devices to use airplay then it might take off but until then Spotify and companies like it don't have a choice but to make their own.

lolkthxbai · Sep 3, 2013

I still laugh at the fact that android support is almost always arriving late for new features.

----------

rmbpuser said:
this? why do we need bazillion features that work the same i know that airplay is different than bluetooth but the average user wouldnt need anything more than bluetooth, and now spoitify connect too, why?

Competition is great. Besides, I love the fireworks when a feature ends up crashing and burning.

nuckinfutz · Sep 3, 2013

Pass.

I'm either investing in more Airplay stuff next year or i'm going Sonos. This is just another Chromecast.

Spotify has mentioned nothing about this new protocol that isn't already being done.

street.cory · Sep 3, 2013

I'm Confused.,.

I've been using Airplay with Spotify since it came out. I'm not sure if this is their way of bridging the iOS/Android gap or if there was something else they wanted to do that they couldn't do with Airplay.

Hmm.

thenaes · Sep 3, 2013

Quu said:
Just support Airplay already!

Umm... they do?

nuckinfutz said:
Pass.

I'm either investing in more Airplay stuff next year or i'm going Sonos. This is just another Chromecast.

Spotify has mentioned nothing about this new protocol that isn't already being done.

Except this is better than Chromecast (at least for audio). Spotify has hardware partners and it is being built-into those products. This is similar to being "DLNA certified" or "AirPlay certified". It will co-exist and will just be another set of software running on these devices.

Chromecast is limited to the one device that Google has built.

lars666 · Sep 3, 2013

If I understand this correctly, the difference to Airplay is that you don't stream Spotify directly from the iPhone (using its resources and battery) lto a speaker, but really "change" to this special speaker (which needs to be not only an Airplay speaker, but a special one with "real" Spotify ability) - and from then on, the combined speaker/Spotify radio station does all the computing work and the iPhone only still works as a remote.

Am I right? (If not, I don't see the benefit to normal Airplay either.)

iMerik · Sep 3, 2013

nuckinfutz said:
Pass.

I'm either investing in more Airplay stuff next year or i'm going Sonos. This is just another Chromecast.

Spotify has mentioned nothing about this new protocol that isn't already being done.

I too am thinking Sonos. I was actually going to pick up a Sonos Playbar, but the lack of HDMI input kind of put the brakes on that. It only accepts optical audio and many/most new TVs only send 2.1 over optical. Getting even more off-topic, does anyone have a rumors when a new Playbar would be released? I'm guessing not for a few years.

WordMasterRice · Sep 3, 2013

lars666 said:
If I understand this correctly, the difference to Airplay is that you don't stream Spotify directly from the iPhone (using its resources and battery) lto a speaker, but really "change" to this special speaker (which needs to be not only an Airplay speaker, but a special one with "real" Spotify ability) - and from then on, the combined speaker/Spotify radio station does all the computing work and the iPhone only still works as a remote.

Am I right? (If not, I don't see the benefit to normal Airplay either.)

I think you are correct. I think this benefits all platforms because now you aren't restricted to an i-device to airplay from, and it lets you control the stream from any device, not just the one that is "airplaying".

turtlebud · Sep 3, 2013

airport express

not really a fan of things being build into hardware. i've found the airport express to be great - it streams to my current stereo system and if I decide to upgrade, it'll stream to that one too. now i don't know if i'd buy an airport express SOLELY for the purpose of streaming audio to my stereo, but I needed it because my dish receiver needed a wired ethernet connection, so at the time, it was the easiest way to extend my network & gain an ethernet port near my tv.

Quu · Sep 3, 2013

thenaes said:
Umm... they do?

Not on the desktop client. Which for me is the only one that matters.

lars666 · Sep 3, 2013

Quu said:
Not on the desktop client. Which for me is the only one that matters.

You should have a look at the mac program "Airfoil", I think this is a pretty good solution for music streaming to Airplay devices.

ClaveMan · Sep 3, 2013

Stop! You DO NOT need Airplay or 3rd Party App

[update] I meant you do not need Spotify to support Airplay.

System Preferences->Sound

Select a device for sound output:

(A list of all your Airplay devices is shown).

Select the Airplay you want.
Enjoy your Spotify..

street.cory · Sep 3, 2013

Quu said:
Not on the desktop client. Which for me is the only one that matters.

Or you could just go into to the sound menu in System Preferences and choose which device you want to play your music on in the output dropdown menu.

What ClaveMan said...

System Preferences->Sound

Select a device for sound output:

(A list of all your Airplay devices is shown).

Select the Airplay you want.
Enjoy your Spotify..

GoCubsGo · Sep 3, 2013

Quu said:
Just support Airplay already!

Agreed. It's straight silly at this point.

lars666 · Sep 3, 2013

GoCubsGo said:
Agreed. It's straight silly at this point.

What can you expect from a company who even didn't manage to make their Mac app Retina-ready until today...? Only program left which looks like **** on my Retina MacBook Pro, sorry for the strong word.

amanset · Sep 3, 2013

ClaveMan said:
[update] I meant you do not need Spotify to support Airplay.

System Preferences->Sound

Select a device for sound output:

(A list of all your Airplay devices is shown).

Select the Airplay you want.
Enjoy your Spotify..

The problem is that ALL you Mac's sound goes through it. Alerts, everything. Skype ringing through your stereo turned up high is *very* annoying.

GoCubsGo · Sep 3, 2013

lars666 said:
What can you expect from a company who even didn't manage to make their Mac app Retina-ready until today...? Only program left which looks like **** on my Retina MacBook Pro, sorry for the strong word.

But the number of people who give two ***** about retina versus those who have air play capable devices are pretty far apart. Many stereo receivers have this feature, not retina. There are likely more ATVs floating around than there are retina MBPs. I can see why Spotify didn't bother to update their app for retina right away. It could have happened sooner, but owners of a retina machine are a minority compared to those with the air play capable devices.

So I say again, this is something that should happen.

lars666 · Sep 3, 2013

GoCubsGo said:
But the number of people who give two ***** about retina versus those who have air play capable devices are pretty far apart. Many stereo receivers have this feature, not retina. There are likely more ATVs floating around than there are retina MBPs. I can see why Spotify didn't bother to update their app for retina right away. It could have happened sooner, but owners of a retina machine are a minority compared to those with the air play capable devices.

So I say again, this is something that should happen.

At least, the Airplay thing can be fixed with the solutions described above. Not so about the Retina thing. It's all a matter of what somebody's individual "problems" are, I guess, and for us owners of Retina MacBooks it simply is annoying as hell at this point that Spotify can't get their ***** together to update their software for Retina support for us (paying) customers like every small software developer out there, too. Ridiculous and ignorant, especially if you have a look at the mods reactions in their official forums concerning this topic.

Quu · Sep 3, 2013

lars666 said:
You should have a look at the mac program "Airfoil", I think this is a pretty good solution for music streaming to Airplay devices.

Already aware of this program but it isn't needed with Mountain Lion as that functionality is baked right in.

ClaveMan said:
[update] I meant you do not need Spotify to support Airplay.

System Preferences->Sound

Select a device for sound output:

(A list of all your Airplay devices is shown).

Select the Airplay you want.
Enjoy your Spotify..

This sucks. It's laggy and all the interface sounds go through the speakers. It's just poor, nothing like the native Airplay support in iTunes. I have an Airport Express obviously I know all about this stuff I just didn't detail my lifes history in my short post, I want Spotify to support it out of the box like I said.

street.cory said:
Or you could just go into to the sound menu in System Preferences and choose which device you want to play your music on in the output dropdown menu.

What ClaveMan said...

As my post above ^ it sucks, nothing like iTunes Airplay.

lars666 · Sep 4, 2013

Quu said:
Already aware of this program but it isn't needed with Mountain Lion as that functionality is baked right in.

This sucks. It's laggy and all the interface sounds go through the speakers. It's just poor, nothing like the native Airplay support in iTunes. I have an Airport Express obviously I know all about this stuff I just didn't detail my lifes history in my short post, I want Spotify to support it out of the box like I said.

As my post above ^ it sucks, nothing like iTunes Airplay.

With Airfoil, you can choose one specific program (e.g. Spotify) for Airplay. The rest of the sound will still go through the default output. That's why I pointed Airfoil out instead of the native Mountain Lion Airplay support and it works exactly like Spotify Airplay would work.

Spotify Announces AirPlay-Like 'Spotify Connect' for Wireless Audio Streaming

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