Spotify's Messages Tool Is Coming Soon to Australia and New Zealand

Soon, Australians will be able to slide into Spotify users’ DMs.

The streaming giant is waltzing into the digital comms space with a new feature, Messages, which rolls out to Free and Premium users from this week for mobile app users in “selected markets.”

The catch? The platform is available only to users age 16 and older.

Messages is a dedicated space within the app to share songs, podcasts, or audiobooks, and was built following feedback from Spotify users, a statement reads.

“Our goal is to give users what they want and make those moments of connection more seamless and streamlined in the Spotify app.”

Also, the Sweden-based tech giant claims the new service should create “opportunities for artists, authors, and creators,” by having more music fans driving discoverability. And by doing so, Spotify will hope its users stay glued to the app for longer.

Initially, the platform, a one-on-one conversation highway which enables folks to share content and react with text and emojis, will go live in 16 Latin American markets, with expansion to Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere said to be “coming soon”.

The business encourages users to continue sharing content on their “favorite platforms”, including Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and TikTok, and the new message feature is said to be a “complement” to that.

Spotify chief product and technology officer Gustav Söderström suggested during the company’s recent quarterly call that its consumer mobile experience was headed in an interactive direction.

“This is just the beginning,” read an update from Spotify. “We’re excited to continue building and refining the experience for more Spotify users around the globe in the months ahead.”

Although Spotify doesn’t break out the numbers in its quarterly reports, more than 12 million Australians are connected to the digital audio platform.

“Australia has a population of about 25 million, half of them are on Spotify every month,” Mikaela Lancaster, Spotify’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand, told TMN during SXSW Sydney 2023.

Spotify has bragging rights as the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, boasting more than 696 million users, including 276 million subscribers, and operates in at least 180 markets.