How to Start Spotify Group Session without Premium [2026 Update]

Quick Answer: Does Spotify Group Session Still Exist?

No, the original Spotify Group Session was officially discontinued and upgraded to Spotify Jam in September 2023. If you are looking to listen with friends, here is what you need to know today:

• The Upgrade: Spotify Jam expands the original 5-person limit, allowing up to 32 participants to listen together and control the queue in real-time. It is now fully supported on both mobile and desktop apps.
• Listening Without Premium: Spotify Free users can only join a Jam in person on the same Wi-Fi network. Hosting a session or joining remotely strictly requires a Premium subscription.
• The Best Alternative: If you want to bypass these restrictions and share your favorite playlists offline with friends, you can use AudKit Spotify Music Converter to download any Spotify track locally without a Premium account.

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While users once relied on the Spotify Group Session feature to share music with friends, Spotify has officially upgraded and replaced this feature with Spotify Jam. This revamped, real-time listening experience allows up to 32 people to tune in together, whether you are in the same room or miles apart.

However, hosting a remote Jam still requires a Premium subscription, leaving free users looking for workarounds. In this guide, we will explore how to start and join a Spotify Jam across both mobile and desktop devices. We will also reveal the ultimate method to enjoy shared listening without a subscription forever, using the powerful AudKit Spotify Music Converter. Let’s dive in!

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Part 1. Spotify Group Session: Something You Need to Know

1.1 What Is Spotify Group Session?

Spotify Group Session was a feature that allowed several Premium users to create joint music sessions, enabling multiple users to listen to the same playlist or podcast simultaneously. Each participant in the group could control playback and volume, making it an ideal tool for virtual socializing and shared music experiences.

The feature was initially launched in May 2020. At launch, only Premium users in the same location could listen together, but Spotify later expanded it to allow for worldwide connectivity before eventually phasing it out for a newer system.

1.2 Is Spotify Group Session Free?

No, it was strictly available for Premium subscribers. The host had to have a Premium account to start and control the session. Participants also needed a Spotify account, though they could join the session with either a Free or Premium subscription depending on the session type.

1.3 Did Spotify Remove Group Session?

Yes. Spotify officially discontinued the Group Session feature in March 2023. It was subsequently replaced by a more advanced, collaborative listening feature called Spotify Jam, which officially rolled out globally in September 2023.

1.4 Spotify Jam vs Group Session: What’s the Difference?

While both features were designed for shared listening, their mechanics differ significantly. Spotify Group Session allowed synchronized real-time listening with one person primarily controlling the playback. In contrast, Spotify Jam enables true collaborative playlist creation, where multiple users can seamlessly add songs to a shared queue in real-time.

	Functionality	Number of Users	Availability
Spotify Group Session	Allow simultaneous listening with only the Host controlling the playback	Up to 5 (including the Host)	Mobile only
Spotify Jam	Allows multiple users to control the playback of a shared playlist in real-time, taking turns adding songs	Up to 32	Mobile, Desktop, Smart Speakers

1.5 How Many People Can Join a Spotify Group Session?

A legacy Group Session could accommodate up to five people (including the host). However, with the upgrade to Spotify Jam, this limit has massively increased—now, a host and up to 31 additional participants can join, allowing up to 32 people to collaborate and control the playback together.

Device Compatibility for Spotify Jam

Unlike the older Group Session, Spotify Jam offers broad cross-platform support. You can now start or join a Jam across various devices, including:

• Smartphones and Tablets (iOS and Android)
• Desktop apps (Windows and Mac)
• Bluetooth speakers
• Smart speakers (such as Sonos and Amazon Echo devices)

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Part 2. How to Start a Group Session on Spotify Mobile

Hosting this feature (now officially upgraded and rebranded as Spotify Jam) is exclusively available for Spotify Premium users.

✨Requirements:

• Spotify Premium account (to host the session)
• Updated Spotify app on a mobile phone, tablet, or desktop
• (Note: Spotify Free users can only join an in-person Jam if they are connected to the same local Wi-Fi network as the host)

➡️ How to Host a Spotify Remote Group Session on Phone or Tablet

By initiating a session, you can create a shared listening experience and listen to Spotify music together with friends. As the host, you have ultimate control to adjust the queue, delete songs, and control the global volume.

Step 1. On your mobile phone or a tablet, launch the newest Spotify app and play a song.

Step 2. Go to the Now Playing page and tap on the Device icon at the bottom left. (Alternatively, you can directly click on the Device icon on the music playback control bar at the bottom.)

Step 3. Finally, select the “Start a Remote Group Session” option.

➡️ How to Invite Friends to Session

Once you’ve initiated a group session, the next step is to invite your friends to join in on the musical experience. Let’s explore how to seamlessly invite your friends to listen together in session and elevate your shared music enjoyment.

Step 1. Tap the “Invite friends” button and choose how you want to share the session afterward.

Step 2. You can share the link via text message, social media, or by copying the link and sending it to your friends.

➡️ How to Join Spotify Group Session

When you’ve received an invitation to join a Session, you’re just a few steps away from immersing yourself in a synchronized listening experience with your friends.

Step 1. Confirm that you have received a shareable link from the host of the session.

Step 2. Click on the shared link to join the Group Session. In this case, it will redirect you to the Spotify app or web player.

Step 3. Once the link opens in the Spotify app or web player, tap on the “Join Session” button to join this Group Session.

More Tips: How to End Remote Group Session Spotify

Once your group session has concluded, it’s important to know how to end the remote group session on Spotify. By following the necessary steps to end the session, you can wrap up the shared listening experience and transition back to individual listening or other activities.

Step 1. Simply tap on the “End session” button and then click “Verify“ to confirm.

Step 2. Provided that you were invited, click “Leave Session” to leave this Spotify listening party.

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Part 3. How to Start Spotify Group Session on PC

As we have mentioned above, Spotify Group Session (now the Spotify Jam feature) is only available for mobile users. That means there is no direct way to start a Group Session on Spotify PC app. But don’t fret, you can try the following Spotify Group Session alternative to listen to Spotify with friends.

At the same time, the tool you need is Discord, a popular voice, video, and text communication platform primarily used by online gaming communities. Specifically, an official partnership between this platform and Spotify empowers users to connect Spotify to Discord for listening to music with friends. Here is a stepwise guide for Spotify listen along with friends on Discord.

✨Note: For friends or fellows to listen along, they are required to subscribe to Spotify Premium. Otherwise, they will receive an error.

How to Listen to Spotify with Friends on Discord

🔸Connect Spotify to Discord

Step 1. Log into your Discord account on either the Discord desktop app or website.

Step 2. Once logged, tap on the bottom-left gear-shaped User Settings icon.

Step 3. Then select ‘Connections‘ from the left sidebar and choose the Spotify app. You will be asked to log in to your Spotify account to complete the linking process.

🔸Spotify Listen Together with Premium on Discord

Step 1. Go to any channel where you can send messages. Later, tap on the bottom-left gray Plus icon.

Step 2. Switch to the Spotify desktop app, and then start playing a song.

Step 3. Go back to Discord and click the bottom green Play circle on the gray button and then the Listen Along Invite button.

Step 4. Finally, hit the Send Invite button. Once your friends accept the invitation, you can listen to Spotify with them together on Discord.

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Part 4. How to Listen to Spotify with Friends without Premium Forever

Can non-Premium Spotify join a session? Unfortunately, no. But do not worry, if you are a free user, you can follow the tutorial on this part to do a Group Session on Spotify without premium. All you need is a third-party tool called AudKit Spotify Music Converter.

This software allows you to download Spotify songs, playlists, and albums as local files with a free account, which can be shared and played simultaneously on multiple devices.No need to worry about the sound quality of the downloaded Spotify music because AudKit will keep 100% original sound quality.

Besides, all the metadata including ID3 tags like albums, arts, etc. is fully kept. By converting Spotify music to common audio formats, you can enjoy synchronized playback with your friends together, even if you don’t have a Premium subscription.

How to Listen to Spotify Together Without Premium

After downloading the AudKit Spotify Converter on your computer, let’s see how to download Spotify playlists without Premium and share them with your friends together.

Step 1 Add Spotify music to AudKit Spotify Converter

Open the AudKit Spotify Converter and then add the Spotify music to it by dragging and dropping. Also, you can copy the Spotify music link by right-clicking the song and selecting Share > Copy Song Link. Then paste this link into the address bar of AudKit Spotify Converter and click on + to add it.

Step 2 Choose Spotify output format as MP3

To share your downloaded Spotify music with your friends and listen to it together, you can select the output format as MP3 because it is suitable for most music players. In order to make it, you can click on the menu > Preferences > Convert tab. Then reset the Spotify format to MP3. You can also make other changes if you want.

Step 3 Download Spotify music locally without Premium

Simply click on the Convert button to start downloading and converting Spotify music to MP3. When it is complete, the downloaded music is stored on your computer. Afterward, you can click on the Converted icon to locate them on your computer. Until now, you can use the downloaded Spotify music as you want.

Step 4 Do Group Session Spotify without Premium

Once done, you can share the downloaded Spotify music with your friends without Premium. Listen to Spotify with your friends without Spotify Group Session! You can also play Spotify on multiple devices simultaneously without limits.

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Part 5. Why Is Spotify Group Session Not Working

Some users complain that invitation links fail or they simply cannot join a Spotify Jam (formerly Group Session). If you encounter connectivity or playback issues with this collaborative feature, follow these updated troubleshooting steps:

• Verify Premium Status for Remote Sessions: Ensure the host has an active Spotify Premium subscription. If you are joining remotely from a different location, you must also have a Premium account.
• Check Wi-Fi for Free Users: If you are a Spotify Free user, you can only join an in-person Jam. You must be connected to the exact same Wi-Fi network as the Premium host.
• Enable Bluetooth: If you are trying to join by tapping phones together, ensure Bluetooth and location permissions are turned on for both devices.
• Update the App: Ensure all participants have the latest version of the Spotify app installed, as outdated versions may lack full Jam support.
• Clear the Spotify app’s cache to remove temporary glitches.
• Log out and log back in: Refresh your account connection by signing out and signing back into Spotify.
• Reinstall the Spotify app: If the feature is completely missing from your UI, a fresh installation often forces the app to update.
• Restart your device: A simple phone or computer restart can fix underlying network or Bluetooth bugs.
• Try Alternatives: If the official feature remains buggy, use Discord’s “Listen Along” feature or download the tracks locally using AudKit Spotify Music Converter to share the music files directly with your friends without restrictions.

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FAQs About How to Start a Spotify Group Session

Is Spotify Jam only for Premium?

While a Premium account is required to host or join a remote session, Free users can join an in-person Jam if they are on the same Wi-Fi network.

How many people can join a Spotify Jam?

Unlike the discontinued Spotify Group Session feature, which was strictly limited to 5 people, the upgraded Spotify Jam allows up to 32 participants to join simultaneously. Everyone in the Jam can listen together in real-time and add their favorite tracks to the shared collaborative queue.

How can I share Spotify music with friends without Premium?

If you want to share music without relying on a Premium subscription or being on the same Wi-Fi network, you can download tracks locally using AudKit Spotify Music Converter. Simply import your desired tracks into the software, convert them to MP3, and then freely share these local files with your friends via a USB flash drive, cloud storage, or email for offline listening together.

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In Conclusion

While the original Spotify Group Session was a great way to listen to music with friends, its evolution into Spotify Jam has made shared listening even better, now supporting up to 32 participants across both mobile and desktop apps. However, the core limitation remains: hosting a remote Jam still requires a Spotify Premium subscription.

To bypass these restrictions and listen to Spotify with friends without Premium, AudKit Spotify Music Converter is the ultimate solution. This powerful software enables you to download your favorite tracks, playlists, and podcasts locally, allowing you to share and enjoy Spotify music offline with anyone, anywhere, completely for free.

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