Attention music lovers: others might not care what you're listening to on spotify.

“I’m listening to The Be Sharps on Spotify!”

I joined the music sharing site, Spotify a while back but don’t use it much. I’m good with the music I already own and besides I can’t read or write while listening to music. And since I’m always reading or writing…

Before going any further, I don’t begrudge anyone for using Spotify. However, I do have a problem with the endless updates I receive from friends on what they happen to be listening to on Spotify. Professionally, I get that it’s a good marketing ploy for Spotify but personally I find these updates mildly annoying, sort of like when someone tells you what’s going on in a movie while you’re watching the movie. Shut up, already. While the updates make Spotify look good it tends to make the user look bad.

Think about it. In the first years of Twitter everyone complained its users were Tweeting useless information: what they were eating, what they were watching and, yes, what they were listening to. Spotify updates feel much the same way. It’s not too much information per se, just useless and irritating. I’m afraid the user comes off as self-absorbed and superficial, which most certainly is not his or her intent.

Badge or badgering?

Such updates might offer users a badge of sorts, telling the world they are aware of both new music and social media. But the ploy soon backfires, especially if one is listening to crap like Maroon Five. Just kidding. Sort of.

Clearly, Spotify has value. The service is getting more popular every day. But if there’s a button for disabling the “I’m listening to…” feature listeners should consider pressing it. When one is especially moved by a piece of music, or has a motive for sharing it, then please do. Otherwise, why bother?

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