The system working as intended. Now you're "locked in".

I cancelled my paid Spotify account because I can't get them to stop fucking recommending Joe Rogan to me.

That's really dissapointing, did Spotify seriously release a hardware device that expensive, and mandates a subscription to operate?

It's a shame because it looks quite nice too, and is sadly guaranteed to be e-waste at some point

you can try this

https://github.com/williamtcastro/carthing-non-premium-spotify

the whole ui/dashboard is just a web app, so it's pretty easy to "jailbreak" or modify

Why would you even buy this? Literally just buy a phone mount and use your phone. This thing was a textbook example of a useless product.

They named their device “Car Thing?” Just looked it up. Why not just buy a phone mount and play through your phone?

Deception followed by coersion is an excellent way to increase shareholder returns.

Why do you hate capitalism?

I have a car thing, I use it at my desk for media controls. It is pretty great.

But the product description was pretty clear that you needed premium to use it. The same goes for using any third party Spotify client. Shouldn't have expected otherwise.

What is this device? I'm confused as to why it even exists.

Edit: I discovered it is literally called "Car Thing".

I have the hobby of cracking stuff like that (but mainly windows apps to tell you the truth) and there are many-ish people out there with the same hobby. search around a bit and google stuff like "Spotify Car Thing github" or "Spotify Thing bypass" or jailbreak. Heavily rely on github and russian forums. Also random small blogs

If you're so determined though and nobody else has done it and you're fine not using it for 3+ months, there's a very slim chance that I could find the time to bypass it

EDIT: Yeap it's cracked and it's easy too

And? Their site clearly states that a premium subscription is required.

Cars in 2030: to use brakes you need premium account. Sorry!

Fuck streaming. Return to a big dumb pile of MP3s.

I wouldn't have expected them to do it any other way. The only reason why Spotify is still around is because every bit of competition is even more incompetent and greedy than they are

I mean to be fair, Spotify as a company clearly would rather give millions to right-wing shitheads than ~anything else.

I betcha someone in the piracy groups can help you jailbreak that thing so it will continue to function.

Edit: Yep someone in the comments linked you a GitHub project that should work

Wait, so let me get this straight.

You purchased a device that presumably has no local storage and are upset that it needs you to login to a server that can then stream you the music?

Or is this an issue of not having a paid account?

I guess Spotify didn't realize someone who didn't pay for Spotify would be likely to pay 100 bucks for a device to stream Spotify, and in most cases I'd say they're probably right.

Image Transcription:

A photo of a Spotify Car Thing with the text displaying on the screen under the Spotify logo: "Need a Premium account To use Car Thing you need to be logged in to a Spotify Premium or Premium Family account on your phone."

[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]

Take a look at rooting it, maybe you can find some way to use it to stop it from just being e-waste. https://npjohnson.github.io/Spotify-Car-Thing-Root/

That makes total sense else I'd be getting a lifetime Spotify sub for $100 and a $100 device thrown in as an unrelated bonus.

Wait till they put Denuvo in the car, for you montly driving plan.

I don't use Spotify, but I selected a song on someone else's phone recently. The first time opening it in years and it opens up to an ad saying "buy our tshirts".

I couldn't help but think times must be hard 😅

You paid $100 to play music that you didn't own. It feels mean to put it that way, but it was never a foolproof plan if we're being honest.

I don't understand the point of this device. Why not buy a replacement radio for the car instead? I bought a Pioneer one and it was a nice upgrade to my 2012 Mazda3 since I can plug in my phone to use Android Auto and get the screen to show Google Maps + pretty much any music app on my phone.

But weird, an android auto upgrade kit for my car would cost me 160. The Spotify thing is so not a good deal.

You literally can’t buy them anymore! Spotify quietly canned the project. Support pages are still up but I can’t find a purchase option anywhere.

I bought one pretty early into launch and even then they were already heavily discounted. It was a weird choice for a peripheral, but personally I really wish they had tried a bit harder instead of giving up outright