Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Spotify will stop supporting its Car Thing device | TechCrunch Minute”.
Spotify responds to backlash over bricking its car thing device. Remember when Spotify launched an incar streaming Gadget, that was actually called the car thing, and then it discontinued the car thing just a few months later. Well, that was obviously bad news for anyone who already paid $ 90 for the device, at least at the time. Spotify said it would continue supporting existing car things fast forward 2 years later, and Spotify says that on December 9th all car things will stop working. That’S still more than 6 months away, but some users were understandably unhappy and they’ve been taken to social media platforms like Tik Tok to complain, one Tik, Tok user wrote in all caps with crying emojis Spotify. Please spare me. I love my car thing.
Some customers have even filed a class action, lawsuit, arguing that Spotify misled them by selling them a product that was about to go Obsolete and then refusing to offer refunds. Spotify’S response has been all over the place. Some customers have reported being offered several months of Spotify Premium, While others said they were told. No one is getting reimbursed at all. More recently, Spotify told TechCrunch that it is offering refunds to anyone with proof of purchase. Now Spotify has never shared sales number about the car thing, except to say that there were 2 million people who signed up for the wait list before it launched.
Still, it’s probably safe to say that the vast majority of Spotify users are unaffected. More users are probably mad about decisions like moving lyrics behind the pay wall or raising subscription prices. Of course, there are plenty of ways to play: Spotify in your car, whether that’s Android, auto Apple’s, carplay or just using a cable to connect your phone to your radio.
Still, the car thing was a promising alternative for anyone who didn’t have a fancy car operating system. This does feel like an illustration of how Spotify has changed over the past couple of years, going from really aggressive growth and experimentation mode to cutting costs and making big layoffs. This is also a reminder of the risks we take in the shift to streaming media and cloud-based Computing when your car operating system and your music are both services that you subscribe to. That means that a company cancels those Services you’re going to be affected. A lot more quickly as for those disappointed, carthon customers, I’m sure most of them would prefer if Spotify had continue to make and support their devices. Still a refund is better than nothing.
Amanda will be back tomorrow. .