The Premium requirement remains, but the waitlist is being dropped. users who joined the waitlist and had a Premium account (either an Individual, Family or Student plan). The company did offer a window into the consumer demand for the product when CEO Daniel Ek said during Spotify’s Q3 earnings call that it saw more than 2 million users sign up on Car Thing’s waitlist within a matter of months.īefore today, Car Thing was only available to select U.S. (Arguably, the project had to be at least somewhat successful for Spotify to make the player available to the wider public.) As a result, the company said users began to listen to Spotify in their car more than before, though the company declined to share any specific metrics to further illustrate this point, when asked. Today, Car Thing allows users to interact with Spotify’s service either by saying “Hey Spotify,” tapping its touchscreen, turning the dial or using one of the four preset buttons at the top of the player, which can connect you to your favorite artists, stations, playlists or podcasts.ĭuring tests, Spotify found that users preferred Car Thing to their previous in-car media experience and liked being able to use Spotify’s voice commands to engage with their media.

Over the years, the device’s hardware and industrial design evolved from a smaller item plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter to a more consumer-friendly product with a big knob, colorful touchscreen, voice control features and lots of different connection and mounting options. The company first began its experiments with Car Thing to learn more about how Spotify users engaged with its service in the vehicle.

The device itself works with USB, Bluetooth and Aux. The now $89.99 device - a $10 increase from its limited public release in October - is largely targeted toward vehicle owners who don’t have a built-in infotainment system offering easy access to Spotify, like Apple’s CarPlay or Android Auto.Ĭar Thing connects with the Spotify mobile app on your phone, then uses the phone’s cellular signal (or Wi-Fi, if available) to stream your music or podcasts over the car’s sound system. Spotify’s oddly named in-car entertainment system, “ Car Thing,” is now available to the general public after initial tests that began in 2019.

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