What is up with Spotify’s new Car Thing?
Just over a month ago, I opened an unlikely email from Spotify. As a premium subscriber, I received a deal for their ‘Car Thing’. My first thoughts were, ‘How can I take you seriously if you can’t even deliberately name what you’re selling?’. But I guess one way is by offering an $80 device for free if I cover the $7 shipping. That’s an easy yes. As a fanatic of Spotify’s new products and features, I signed up before even closing the email. Perhaps this was impulsive (I don’t even own a car!) but I couldn’t resist the urge to experience Spotify’s first venture into hardware.
I have a friend who says that Spotify prints money and can build infinite features. This is very true especially when you consider their user base. Spotify has 345 million monthly active users, which is more users than the US has people. 155 million of those users are premium subscribers, paying $10 per month. Even the largest competitor, Apple Music, last reported 60 million subscribers in 2019. In fact, I enjoy Spotify so much that I have convinced friends to switch from Apple Music. It is difficult to ignore Spotify’s ability to build great features for customers. This time, they launched a smart player for your drive: the Car Thing.
The Car Thing is a sleek product, but don’t expect it to revolutionize your listening experience. From this device, you can view and control what is playing. You can control it using various voice commands or physically via the touchscreen, turn dial, back button, and preset buttons. The voice function is especially beneficial since you ideally want both hands on the wheel. Conveniently, Spotify already had voice control on mobile. To play something say ‘Hey Spotify’, ‘play …’ or ‘show…’.
The biggest advantage of Car Thing is that it reduces the time between when I decide what to listen to, and when it starts playing. Voice commands are much faster than pulling out your phone and searching. Though keep in mind that I did not use this product in a car, so I guess I’m biased. I used it more like some kind of music Alexa. With a bigger screen, this lush music player could have a place on the counter. But hey, it is a Car Thing, not a Desk Thing. Aside from voice, the presets are very useful. You can save songs, playlists (and more) to a preset and play them with a single button. So there are different ways the Car Thing gets you closer to what you want to hear.
What is the Car Thing Missing?
However, there was one feature that I was shocked to find out Car Thing did not have. You cannot queue a song! When my friends and I were admiring the Car Thing, all we wanted to do was start a queue right there. In fact, one of my favorite Spotify features is the group session. It allows premium subscribers to scan a barcode on the host’s phone and instantly be able to collaborate on the queue. This is one of Spotify’s most attractive features so it should only come naturally to provide queuing functionality on the Car Thing. If we can tell Spotify to ‘Play X’ or ‘Show Y’, then we should be able to ‘Queue X’ or even ‘Remove Y from Queue’. I understand that the product team needs to prioritize what they build, but I would rather be able to queue than set presets.
For the past month, the Car Thing has found its place on my desk when I work. It’s more convenient than managing the app on either my laptop or phone. Nevertheless, I question trusting Spotify enough to have Car Thing continually listening at my desk or in the car. It is unwise to completely trust companies in general (especially ones that print money).
So far I like the Car Thing. It looks great and makes it easier to play what I want. For the $7 premium subscribers are offered, it is a no-brainer. But this deal will end and it will eventually retail for $80. Spotify will then have to work to justify this price. A queueing feature would be a great starting point.
Image credit: Spotify
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