​You can now host a b2b Spotify session with your friends

Arriving just in time during the era of social distancing, Spotify has launched an all-new feature which enables account holders with premium subscriptions to participate in a shared stream together.

'Group Sessions', as labelled by the streaming platform, was launched on May 11. Session participants are provided with a barcode by the host user, which they are required to scan in order to participate. Once scanned, guests are able to adjust the playlist by adding, skipping, playing or pausing tracks in the shared playlist. If there is no activity for an hour the session automatically shuts down.

The feature is said to support up to 100 users in a single listening session.

While it first appears as a great new feature in the era of social distancing, it currently does require participants to be within close proximity of each other, but the feature is expected to evolve.

'Group Sessions' falls into the ever-increasing amount of minor perks offered to premium users in an effort to increase interest in and sales of their premium subscriptions. And it seems to be working, premium subscriber growth in the first quarter of 2020 accelerated to 30% with the number of premium subscribers reaching 130 million at the end of March.