I have a number of people who follow me on Spotify. What does that mean? Simply put, it means those who follow you can see what you’re listening to. Personally, I find that a great feature because I spend a good amount of time creating playlists (my Run playlist has over 82 hours worth of music) and I like the idea that others can enjoy the songs (or at least see what I’m listening to).
However, I don’t always want people to know what I’m listening to every single minute of the day. Here’s an example. Let’s say I’ve never listened to a particular artist who is phenomenally popular. The reason why I’ve never listened to that artist is because their music just isn’t my jam. But maybe one day I get curious and want to hear what all the hype is about. I might not want my followers to know that I’m listening to that artist.
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After all, I might have a reputation to uphold. My musical tastes tend to lean toward more complex music. I like a lot of dissonance, challenging chord progressions, and a mixture of time signatures. My favorite artists tend to fall in line with the likes of Rush, Devin Townsend, and Mozart.
With that said, I might not want my followers to see me taking a diversion into the realm of pop music. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not that I’d be embarrassed. Music is music and whatever you like is fantastic. But say you’re a classical composer and you want to listen to the latest song by Pink! or Taylor Swift to get an idea of what’s moving modern listeners. For that, you might start a Spotify private session.
What is a private session?
Essentially, a Spotify private session temporarily hides all of your activity from those who follow you. You manually start a private session and can end it at any time. If, however, you don’t end the private session manually, it will stop after six hours.
I’ve used a private session or two and have found them to come in handy when I need a bit of privacy during my listening time.
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So, how do you start a Spotify private session? Let me show you.
How to start a Spotify private session
What you’ll need: The only thing you’ll need is the Spotify app installed and a valid account. This can be done from the mobile app or the desktop app, and the process for doing so is the same. I’ll demonstrate the private session feature on the desktop app.
The first thing to do is open Spotify. Do not start playing music just yet.
Click your profile icon in the upper right corner and click Settings from the resulting menu.
You must be logged into your Spotify account to use this feature. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Scroll down until you see the Social section of the Settings window. In that section, click the On/Off slider associated with Start a private session.
I prefer to now show my followers on my public profile. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
During your private session, you’ll see a small, blue lock to the left of your profile icon. That icon will remain until you either manually end the private session or six hours pass. During your private session, none of your followers can see your Spotify activity.
The lock icon indicates the private session feature is enabled. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Once you’ve finished with your private session, you can go back to settings and disable the private session in the same way you enabled it.
And that’s all there is to Spotify private sessions.
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You might not ever feel the need to use this feature — but on that fateful day you do, you’ll be glad it’s there to use.
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