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I have tons of people who follow me on Spotify. What does it mean? Simply put, it means that people who follow you can see what you’re listening to. Personally, I find this a great feature because I spend a lot of time making playlists (my Run playlist has over 82 hours of music) and I like the idea that other people 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 minute of the day. Here’s an example. Let’s just say I’ve never listened to a particular artist become phenomenally popular. The reason I never listen to that artist is because their music doesn’t quite suit me. But maybe one day I’ll get curious and want to hear what all the hype is about. I probably wouldn’t want my followers to know I’m listening to that artist.
Also: How to Improve Spotify Streaming Audio Quality
After all, I might have a reputation to uphold. My musical interests lean towards more complex music. I like a mix of lots of dissonance, challenging chord progressions and time signatures. My favorite artists fall in line with artists like Rush, Devin Townsend, and Mozart.
That said, I probably don’t want my followers to see me foray into pop music. Don’t get me wrong…not that I should be ashamed. Music is music and whatever you like is great. But let’s say you’re a classical musician and you want to hear Pink’s latest song! or Taylor Swift to find out what’s inspiring modern listeners. For that, you can start a Spotify private session.
What is a private session?
Essentially, a Spotify private session temporarily hides all of your activity from people who follow you. You manually start a private session and can end it at any time. However, if you do not end the private session manually, it will be closed after six hours.
I’ve used one or two private sessions and found them useful when I need a little privacy during listening time.
Also: How to Use Spotify’s Built-in Equalizer
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 will 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.
First of all you have to open Spotify. Don’t start playing music yet.
Click on your profile icon in the top right corner and click on 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 next to Start a private session.
I now prefer to show my followers on my public profile. Jack Wallen/ZDNet
While you’re in a private session, you’ll see a small, blue lock to the left of your profile icon. That icon will remain until you manually end the private session or six hours have elapsed. During your private session, none of your followers can see your Spotify activity.
The lock icon indicates that the Private Sessions feature is enabled. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Once you’ve ended your private session, you can go back to Settings and disable Private Session the same way you enabled it.
And that’s all for Spotify’s private sessions.
Also Read: How to Add Local Music Files to Spotify on Android
You may never feel the need to use this feature – but the day you do, you’ll be glad it’s available to you.
