Spotify was probably the first big streaming / subscription music service that captured the interest of the general population, unlike some more niche services that came before it. With its cross-platform apps and significant library, at a fairly competitive price, users were understandably drawn to the service, and Spotify has doubtlessly done well from its popularity.
When Chromecast came along, and (at the beginning) didn’t have a lot of support across different apps and services, Spotify users were rightfully hopeful that Spotify might implement Chromecast support. However, without a public SDK, this might have been a bit tricky. We don’t know whether Spotify were approached by Google to work on a private SDK basis, but it would appear not.
It wasn’t a vain hope; lots of competing streaming services have already implemented Chromecast support, including Pandora, Rdio, Pandora, Google Play Music, YouTube, Rhapsody, Deezer, and Qq Music.
Some of these have libraries that rival Spotify in terms of content, and some adopted Chromecast support very early in the piece. I mean, why wouldn’t they? Listening to music on your computer or phone is one thing, but what if you want to cast it to your TV or home audio receiver? Sure, there are other ways you can listen to Spotify around the house … but none quite as cheap and convenient. Sonos speakers support Spotify (and vice versa), but unless you want to splash out a couple of hundred dollars for a Sonos speaker, you’re out of luck there.
With the release of the public Chromecast SDK in February 2014 though, there was little excuse for Spotify not to look at support. They support Apple’s AirPlay, so why not Chromecast too?
It isn’t as if its just a small handful of users that want the feature either, as this thread on Spotify’s community forums shows over 7,000 users have requested the feature. 7,000 might not be a big figure compared to millions of users, but that’s 7,000 people who use Spotify’s forums and have seen and flagged the feature request; you could imagine that there’s probably tens if not hundreds of thousands of Spotify users who own and use Chromecast devices, and would like to be able to stream their Spotify libraries through their loungerooms.
They’ve been asking for the feature for a while, too. The forum thread started in July 2013, and in the 18 months that have since passed, 1,826 people have commented on the thread. Users are frustrated with the perception that Spotify is ignoring them, and they’ve decided to vote with their wallets, moving to competing services that offer the features they want.
With Google’s announcement of Cast Audio it seems that the call for Spotify to get on board is getting even louder. I’m sure it would require a bit of development work, but let’s face it, Spotify is pretty big, and Chromecast isn’t (from what we understand) particularly difficult to implement, as hundreds of other apps and services have shown.
Ausdroid wrote to Spotify this morning to request comment on this issue before the story went live, and we have not as yet received a reply. If Spotify do come back to us, we’ll update this post accordingly.
So, what about it Spotify? How about some feedback on Chromecast support, and whether you are actually considering it?
Spoticast works fine for me.
I’m anxiously waiting for Spotify to add Chromecast capabilities. Thought I’d share for people who are also wanting this feature, that Android users can use an app on the Google Play Store called Spoticast. It is free and doesn’t require a premium subscription to Spotify. It’s just an app I use, while Spotify (hopefully) works on official Chromecast support.
I use allstream to cast it however your device needs to be rooted
I dropped Spotify in favor of Google Music simply because of Chromecast support.
Thanks, Chris, for providing Spotify’s aggrieved customers with a second voice.
This is literally the only reason why I subscribe to Google Play Music rather than Spotify.
This article has the clue as to why Chromecast is prohibited on Spotify.
Spotify supports crApple unfAirPlay.
What’s the betting that crApple has clauses in their agreements with Spotify, to actively prevent Spotify from being permitted to even think about considering supporting Chromecast.
And yet again you nullify your comment with your petty attack on Apple. Grow up Jeni
Nah I agree, Apple are terrible. And yes, I’ve owned several of their products. Glorified and overpriced status symbols for people with money to waste. I should know, I wasted money on the Macbook Air I’m typing on right now.
I must disagree. As an Android user I am often quite envious of Apple and their products. There are very few android products with the same level of build quality as their Apple counterparts.
Well that’s completely un-true. HTC do a remarkable job with their line of products. As do Sony. And you’ll probably disagree, but Samsung do a fine job too. If you’re so envious, maybe you should switch.
I think you misinterpreted what I said. I was responding to your statement that all Apple products are “Glorified and overpriced status symbols” I was making the point that they are more than that. A product is worth what a consumer is prepared to pay for it and Apple sells alot of products so they must be doing something right in that department. If you read my post correctly you will see I wrote “There are very few android products with the same level of build quality as their Apple counterparts” Very Few not None… Just because you are on… Read more »
I’m not being a fan boy. As I said, I’ve owned several Apple products, from iPod touches, to iPhones and even currently a Macbook Air. If you can’t see the cult status that brand has, you must be blinded by it too. They get made fun of for a reason. Not just blind hate.
Well said Chris!
AirPlay is quite good. I use Apple TV and Chromecast on both my Nexus 6 and iPad Air and way more apps are supported on Apple TV.
I understand the frustration of its subscribers, but in the meantime, can’t they just ‘cast’ a chrome browser tab to their chromecast or mirror their phone screen to their TV’s?
No, it cuts out and is lower quality. Doesnt compare to native chromecast support
More importantly we’re paying for a service here. Every other music streaming app has implemented Chromecast bar Spotify yet due to it’s integration with Triple J Spotify is the only one I give money too. It’s 11 dollars a month and I expect Chromecast. 2 years on is a complete joke. API was released eons ago. They’re doing it on purpose now to push their Spotify connect crap which doesn’t work with ANYTHING. And no casting a tab or your android screen to Chromecast encodes the high quality audio we’re paying a premium to access into a lower quality stream.… Read more »
I am one of those users. It’s really annoying that they don’t do it. I sometimes just have my ipad plugged in to my speakers and use my phone as a remote. Which works, but requires a second device, and the Spotify app to be open