Skip to main content

Spotify is finally making it easier to block unwanted followers

Spotify is rolling out a new feature that will make it much easier to block people that you don’t want following your activity on the service. Until now, subscribers have had no control over who could actually see their listening activity and public playlists. Although you could make a request to Spotify’s customer support team to ask them to block a specific person for you, this required more effort, and many folks didn’t even know it existed. Your other option was to disable the social media part of the service entirely, but that’s not an ideal solution for when you do want to share with friends. 

With the new changes, you’ll be able to block someone simply by visiting their user profile and looking for the Block User option in the Three Dots menu at the top. Once you do this, that person won’t be able to access any of your listening activity or even see your profile page. 

Rick Astley artist page on Spotify on an iPhone.
Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

It’s a feature that’s been long-awaited by Spotify users, some of whom have been requesting it since as far back as 2013. However, despite 121 pages of comments over the past several years, Spotify only acknowledged that it was under consideration in June of this year. 

Recommended Videos

For many people who use Spotify, this isn’t a minor problem. Comments in the Spotify community forums reveal that some folks have dealt with mental health issues resulting from harassment and even threats of domestic violence on the platform. While such situations should be serious enough to warrant a message to Spotify’s customer support, this hasn’t always been an option. 

In 2018, Buzzfeed News did an in-depth report on Spotify abuse, revealing users who were stalked and harassed through their listening activity. At the time, Spotify updated the longstanding block feature request to a “good idea” but said that it had no immediate plans to add it to the service. Even after a Change.org petition garnered nearly 20,000 signatures, it still took the streaming provider nearly three more years to act on the longstanding request.

Fortunately, it’s here now, better late than never. Spotify says the change should start showing up for all users this week.

Jesse Hollington
Jesse has been a Mobile Writer for Digital Trends since 2021 and a technology enthusiast for his entire life — he was…
Apple Music just got a cool feature you won’t find on Spotify
Apple Music Replay screenshots via Apple.

The Apple Music Replay feature gives you a rundown of which songs and albums you've listened to on the service every year. But now, it's getting a makeover that will make it more handy. Rundowns are being offered every month, allowing you to see your favorite tunes during the past 30-plus days — as well as how often you've listened to those titles.

The new monthly Apple Music Replay feature is only available through the web on the Apple Music Replay website, which is unfortunate, but unsurprising. The annual Apple Music Replay launches every December and is also a web-only feature.

Read more
Spotify is testing the removal of a popular feature from its free tier
Spotify logo on a phone.

If you use Spotify’s free ad-supported tier and love using the app to check out the lyrics of the songs you listen to, an unpleasant surprise could be coming your way.

Why? Because the company is experimenting with making lyrics exclusive to its Premium subscribers.

Read more
Spotify gets first major redesign in 10 years with TikTok-like scroll
The new Spotify home screen.

Spotify held its second annual Stream On event for creators today, and while the streamer didn't announce the coming of its hi-res music tier, it took the opportunity to lift the veil off its biggest redesign in a decade. The revamp not only brings a new scrolling, image-heavy, interactive visual look reminiscent of TikTok and Instagram to the mobile app's Home page, but there are several new discovery-based features for music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

While the Stream On event had a major focus on new tools and resources for music artists, podcasters, and audiobook creators, the beginning of the presentation was big on the new look and features for users -- some that will be available to everyone and some to subscribers only. The biggest change comes to the Home screen, which takes the old layout of album artwork and static images and brings it to life with video clips, audio previews of songs, playlists, albums, podcast episodes, and more.

Read more