Facebook launches Spotify miniplayer in 27 countries including SA

Spotify says the move was driven by social discovery. The feature is available on both iOS and Android in select countries including South Africa. It enables the music streaming platform’s Premium users to discover and listen to songs from within the Facebook app, while users on the ad-supported tier can enjoy the experience with shuffle mode, with ads from Spotify.

Spotify says the tool can be used by artists to gain massive reach on Facebook by allowing them to promote their new content directly on Facebook. The miniplayer can pop up on verified artists’ posts, or in user-uploaded videos on Facebook that contain licensed music.

Users can open the new Spotify miniplayer on Facebook by tapping the Play button on the song shared from Spotify to their Facebook feed. First-time users of the miniplayer should click Connect on the consent dialogue box to continue. For users who are logged in to Spotify, playback will start within the Spotify app, while other users will be prompted to log in first.

Using the Spotify miniplayer lets users scroll through their News Feed with interrupting music playback and the miniplayer can be dismissed at any time. Myspace has offered users a similar tool since 2006.

For now, the Spotify miniplayer on Facebook is available in certain markets, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Richa, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and El Salvador. Other regions include Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay and the United States. Spotify says it will roll out the Facebook integration to more markets soon.

Meanwhile, Spotify recently increased its subscription prices in some countries, including the UK, the US and Europe. The company also claims it ended the first three months of the year with 356 million monthly active users, which includes 158 million premium subscribers.