Spotify’s Car Thing disappeared less than three years after launching in the US market.
The Car Thing — Spotify’s short-lived expansion into in-car audio hardware — officially ceased operations on Tuesday (December 9), and its user base (albeit small) was essentially garbage.
Spotify advises Car Thing users to “follow local e-waste guidelines” to dispose of the device – which is of little comfort to those who paid for it $89.99 Works with Car Thing, designed to let Spotify play in cars that don’t have another way to connect Spotify to the speakers (such as CarPlay or Android Auto).
However, it turns out that the market for Car Thing is not what Spotify hoped for. Six months after the device was launched in the United States, Spotify announced that it would stop selling it. A few months later, Spotify announced that Car Thing would soon cease operations.
That upset many users who paid for the device, some of whom joined a class-action lawsuit launched this spring seeking compensation.
The backlash prompted Spotify to announce it would offer refunds to customers who contact customer support with proof of purchase. Spotify is asking Car Thing owners to contact customer support before January 14, 2025 “to discuss your refund options.”
Some Car Thing users have tried to keep the device alive, developing their own firmware to run on the Car Thing. However, these efforts have become more difficult recently when Spotify changed the functionality of its API, reducing third-party developers’ access to Spotify materials.
Launched in February 2022, Car Thing is a physical music player that mounts on the dashboard and connects to the Spotify app on the user’s smartphone. It features a 4-inch screen, voice commands, and preset shortcut buttons. Premium subscribers offer access to Spotify music and podcasts. The streaming platform describes it as a “more seamless” and “personalized” in-car listening experience.
But it will struggle to compete with existing technology that can be used to play Spotify in the car. Spotify quietly discontinued the device in August 2022 after cutting the price of the device by nearly half.
Spotify’s then chief financial officer Paul Vogel The company said the reasons for its decision to discontinue Car Thing include pricing, inflationary pressures and supply chain difficulties.
Spotify’s second-quarter 2022 earnings report showed that the company took a one-time charge $31 million on the device.
Car Thing’s closure comes as Spotify has placed a greater emphasis on efficiency in recent years.
To keep Spotify profitable permanently, CEO Daniel Ek is pursuing a strategy that balances user base growth with cost savings. The strategy has included waves of layoffs, as well as closing or scaling back some of Spotify’s more speculative products, such as live radio.
The efforts appear to be paying off, with Spotify expected to post its first full year of profitability in 2024.global music business
