Spotify is still coming hot and fast with the updates and future plans. The newest feature is an option to mute individual artists. In the menu area for every artist, there is now a toggle that says “Don’t play this artist.” The feature means that no tracks by the performer will play even when they appear in playlists, in charts, or on radio stations. The artist and their work will still be visible and can be searched for, but will not play automatically while muted. The feature is currently only available on mobile, but its impact will be heard (or rather unheard) across platforms.
The future has even more likely changes for Spotify. The rumor mill has been gossiping about a voice-controlled device for in-car listening from the company for about a year. The latest speculation claims that the device will appear on the market this year with an expected retail price of around $100. Anonymous sources told the Financial Times about the anticipated timeline for Spotify’s first reported effort in hardware.
There may also be big news happening even sooner. Spotify is allegedly targeting a launch in India by the end of January. The streaming service did secure a noteworthy deal with T-Series, but it does not appear to have deals yet to bring the major label catalogs into the new potential market. Watch this space for more.