Even if you use a program like Spotify for hours on a daily basis, you may have no knowledge of certain functions. In this article, we highlight 10 Spotify tricks. This streaming service can do more than you think, if you know where to look.
1. Listen anonymously
On Spotify, other users see what music you are listening to, such as friends, family and possibly even strangers. Would you rather not, because you sometimes secretly listen to embarrassing guilty pleasures? No problem, because you can just as easily use the music service (temporarily) anonymously.
In the PC program at the top next to your profile name, click the down arrow and choose Private session. A blue lock will now appear in the profile picture. In the mobile app, tap the item Home or Library on the gear. Navigate to Social and activate the switch at the back Private session.
2. Better sound quality
When using Spotify Premium, you benefit from higher sound quality. This feature may not be turned on yet. In the PC program, click the arrow at the top and go to Settings. Behind the part Streaming qualityt select the option Very high.
In the mobile app, first open the settings via the gear wheel, then click below Sound quality tap Very high. Also indicate in this menu in which quality you want to save downloaded songs.
3. Create playlist folders
In Spotify you come across all kinds of playlists that you can follow, for example the best fifty songs in the Netherlands or the most popular rock songs from the ’90s. You can also easily create playlists yourself. They appear on the PC in the left pane. Especially when you follow a lot of playlists or have created them yourself, it quickly looks very messy. So use playlist folders to organize things.
Click on the icon with the three dots at the top left. Then go to File and choose New playlist folder. You give this folder a logical name and press Enter. You can now easily add playlists to this new location by dragging them to the newly created folder.
4. Share music
Of course, you can share a playlist with someone by forwarding a link via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or email. In addition, there is an alternative partial method, which is to generate a unique barcode. As soon as someone scans your barcode with the mobile camera, they can access the same playlist. This trick is especially useful when you are staying in the same room with a friend and want to exchange music directly.
In the Spotify mobile app, open a playlist and tap the three dots icon. Note that a barcode appears below the playlist in a colored block. This code is more or less like a sound wave. Your friend also opens the Spotify app on a mobile. It is possible to scan the barcode via the search function (magnifying glass) and the camera icon next to the search field.
You also create joint playlists in Spotify. Friends then add extra songs on their own initiative and change the order. For example, this feature is useful when you want to create a playlist for a successful party with other people.
Open Spotify on the computer and right click on a homemade playlist within the left pane. Then choose Joint playlist. This function also works on a smartphone or tablet. For a playlist, tap the three-dot icon and choose Make it together.
5. Reduce data usage
If you like to listen to music on the go, Spotify charges your mobile data bundle. A common solution is to download favorite songs and playlists in advance via a WiFi connection. This function only works for Spotify Premium subscribers.
As an alternative, you can also activate the new Data Saver function to limit mobile data usage. This will reduce mobile data usage by about 75 percent. Keep in mind that this feature comes at the expense of audio quality. In the mobile app, open the settings via the gear and go to Data Saver. Finally, turn on the switch.
6. Change download location
As with the mobile app, you can save songs offline just as easily with the Spotify PC program. This is useful, for example, if you want to enjoy music with a laptop in places without an internet connection. On a Windows machine, Spotify saves music files to the C drive by default, but you can choose a different location.
Click on the arrow at the top and go to Settings. Scroll down a bit and click on at the bottom Show advanced settings. As soon as you reach Store offline numbers click Change location, set a different folder to your liking. Restart Spotify for the change to take effect.
7. Add your own files
Do you compose music yourself and do you want to listen to these audio files via the Spotify program? Or do you own songs that are not in the libraries of Spotify? No problem, because you simply add local audio files to the program. A requirement is that the songs have an MP3 format.
In the PC program at the top, open the settings via the arrow and activate the switch behind View local files. Through Add a source browse to the correct folder with music files. Confirm with OK. You can reach the newly added songs via the section Local files to the left.
You can also play the local audio files on a smartphone or tablet via a detour. Within the PC program, open the component Local files. Select the desired numbers and right click on the selection. Optionally, use the shortcut Ctrl + A to select all files. Select in the context menu Add to playlistand then add the songs to a new or existing playlist.
Now open the mobile app. It is important that the device is connected to the same (wireless) network as your PC. Navigate to Library and Playlists to open the playlist of local audio files. Sometimes it takes a while for the numbers to appear. Finally, activate the switch behind To download.
8. Retrieve deleted playlist
Do you regret deleting a certain playlist? No worries, because Spotify automatically saves a backup of every created playlist. Open a browser and surf to spotify.com/account. After you have logged in, choose on the left Restore playlists. Click behind the relevant title To recover and the playlist is available again as usual within Spotify.
9. Privacy settings
Well-known web services have a hand in collecting as much user data as possible. They use this information, among other things, to serve personalized advertisements. Spotify does that too. Fortunately, you can easily stop this by changing the privacy settings. Open the web page spotify.com/en/account/privacy and log in with your account details.
If your Facebook profile is linked to Spotify, the music service stores information from the online face book for various purposes. Deactivate the switches before Process my Facebook data and Processing my personal data for customized advertisements. Confirm twice with Yes – Disable.
The web page also contains a function to request an overview of personal data from Spotify. It takes up to thirty days for the data file to be ready. You will receive an email about this.
It is wise to also take a look at the settings of the Spotify program on your PC. Click at the bottom Show advanced settings and turn on the switch at the bottom Privacy On. Then restart the software. This prevents Spotify from requesting internet data via stored cookies.
10. Level the volume
Certainly if you listen to a playlist with music from different albums and artists, you may experience differences in the volume level. It is of course annoying when you constantly have to correct it manually. For that reason, Spotify sets the same volume for all songs at your request. Open the settings in the PC program and activate the switch at the back of the Sound quality section Normalize volume.
In the mobile app you also open the settings via the gear. Navigate to Play and set the function Enable audio normalization On. You also set the volume level of the audio normalization. Choose between Hard, Normal and Soft. You will also find a function in this window to blend numbers. Use the slider and set the number of seconds.
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