Spotify‘s Car Thing device is being discontinued.
The device — which launched in 2022 and costs $90 and enabled users to have Spotify playback in older car models — has been scrapped and will no longer be supported starting Dec. 9.
“We’re switching gears.” the streaming giant said.
“As of December 9th, 2024, Car Thing will be discontinued and will stop operating,” the company stated. “While this chapter is closing, we’re working on new, innovative ways to enhance your drives in the future. Thank you for being on this journey with us — safe travels.”
The demise of Car Thing comes after Spotify quietly removed its lyrics feature from its free version.
The app used to offer the in-sync lyrics feature to all users, whether they paid a monthly subscription fee or used the ad-based service. However, as of early May 2023, it has a feature that has been quietly granted to just premium customers.
“Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium,” says the message that now appears to the free users.
Towards the end of 2023, Spotify had been giving free users a “monthly limit” of lyrics access and explained at the time that it was “only a test” to see what impact the change had.
“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests. Some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience, and others serve only as an important learning. In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets,” CJ Stanley, Spotify’s co-head of global communications, said.
