topic Re: Private but shared playlists in iOS (iPhone, iPad)

Private but shared playlists

LisHendriks — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 11:59:03 GMT

Hello!

Is it possible to create a playlist that I can share with certain friends, but isn't visible for other friends?

If so, how do I do that?

Thanks!

Re: Private but shared playlists

Bethany_Dawn — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 16:26:03 GMT

Hi LisHendriks! 🙂
My best recommendation would be to make the playlist private - otherwise everyone will still see it. You still have the option to share the link though once it's private via social media etc...
If your friends are on Facebook, you could share the link there in a post that only includes them - or you could send the copied link via text, email etc to anyone that you want to have it. Hope this works out for you! - Bethany

Re: Private but shared playlists

tijnrenders — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:37:10 GMT

Hey Lis!

This is possible! If you keep the playlist secret (so no public) but tap the three dots in the right corner to open the playlist menu. There, you can select "copy link" and share the link with some friends! The playlist will only be accessible through that link. It will only be visible to the ones you share the link with.

Hope that helps!

Re: Private but shared playlists

selesnia — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 08:13:27 GMT

I think it is no longer possible, shared playlists are only public now. It was a great feature, we want it back pls Spotify:(

Re: Private but shared playlists

Yordan — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 14:45:25 GMT

Hi folks,

Thanks for your replies so far!

We're happy to announce that this is now possible: owners of collaborative playlists can invite select collaborators, granting them editing permissions. Here's how:

Tap the three dots at the top of the playlist.
Select Invite collaborators, then copy the invite link and send it to someone to grant them editing permissions, meaning they'll be able to add and remove tracks.

Note that you can still share the playlist with someone, without giving them permission to edit the playlist's content. This is done by choosing the Share option instead. People you share the playlist can view it, but cannot edit it. The playlist must also be Public in order for it to be accessed by others. If you don't want people, other than those select few whom you've granted editing permissions to view the playlist, you can set it to Private. That way only you and the collaborators can access it.

More info about this feature can be found here.

Hope this clears things up. The Community is always here if there's anything else you need assistance with.

Cheers!

Re: Private but shared playlists

liv61 — Mon, 02 May 2022 19:30:15 GMT

The "share" button now automatically adds the person opening the playlist as a collaborator. Is this intentional?

Re: Private but shared playlists

Julian — Wed, 04 May 2022 23:10:40 GMT

Hey @liv61,

Thanks for your reply in this thread 🙂

It's possible that the playlist you're experiencing this with was collaborative before our recent playlist privacy change. Note that the old option to make collaborative a playlist isn't available any more as it was replaced with Invite collaborators. With the former, anyone with access to the playlist could edit it, while with the latter only approved Collaborators can edit it.

That being said, we're aware that old playlists that were already collaborative before the change are still behaving like before. That could explain why after using the Share option the other user was able to add a song and become a Collaborator. This shouldn't be happening with playlists that were set as collaborative before.

As we mentioned, our team is aware of this and they're working so this doesn't happen anymore. This doesn't mean you have to wait as you can fix this from your end. You only need to open the menu of the playlist and turn off the setting that makes it collaborative:

No worries, you'll still be able to invite collaborators with the steps here and using the Share option shouldn't give edit access to other users after doing this. However, in case it doesn't do the trick, just create a new playlist, copy all the songs there and share it. That should do it.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.

Re: Private but shared playlists

siriabottaro — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 08:30:17 GMT

Good morning,

i have a private playlist, and i want to share it with a friend BUT i don't want to make her a collaborator, i just wanted her to be able to see it and listen to it, not edit it. Is this possible?? Whenever i copy the link to share it and paste it, it says "invitation to collaborate on a playlist"...

Re: Private but shared playlists

AndresM — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 22:39:48 GMT

Hey @siriabottaro,

Thanks for reaching out about this and welcome to the Community.

In this case, you can add a user as a collaborator on your desired private playlist. Once you do this, just tap on the user/s related to the playlist (below the playlist name) and select the option "Remove as collaborator" (on mobile). If you use the desktop version, click on the names and select the same option (the status will change to "Listener"). By doing this, the user/s added won't be able to add songs but listen to the content you add there.

We hope this clears things up!

Re: Private but shared playlists

loralarsonmiller — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 00:06:55 GMT

When sharing a private playlist from Spotify to Instagram Stories, it says the link is only valid for 24 hours. I assume that's because an IG Story only is up for 24 hours but then makes it not possible to save that story to my highlights for people to access later. Will that be changing?

Re: Private but shared playlists

loralarsonmiller — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 15:19:52 GMT

Another question! So I sent out a link to a private playlist to some friends via email. They got an error message when they tried to open the playlist on desktop but it worked on mobile. Any insight into why this is happening and when it will be fixed? Thanks!

Re: Private but shared playlists

Eni — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 16:41:50 GMT

Hey there @loralarsonmiller,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

The link to your private playlist is valid only for 24 hours, which means everyone who clicks on it within 24hrs can listen to it. After 24hrs, the link will either just redirect to the playlist if it's public or will show an error, if you have it set to private. In order to share it again after 24 hours, a new link needs to be generated and sent.

On another note, your friend should be able to access your playlist on the desktop app as well. Would you mind trying to share its link again to see if the same happens? Also, sending us a screenshot of the error message they're getting would come in handy. You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert image option in the post editor. Make sure not to send any private info.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

Re: Private but shared playlists

loralarsonmiller — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 17:20:53 GMT

Hi Eni!

It would be really amazing if the link to private playlists didn't expire at all. Is that possible? Will that be included in a future update? It's quite frustrating that it expires.

I will try to re-plicate the desktop error message and follow-up with a screenshot.

Appreciate your help!

Re: Private but shared playlists

Eni — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 17:44:16 GMT

Hey there @loralarsonmiller,

Thanks for your reply.

We understand where you're coming from. If you think this is something other users would enjoy as well, we'd recommend taking a look in the Idea Exchange, where you can submit your own. There users can vote and comment on your ideas.

Also, you can read more about how your feedback reaches Spotify here.

On another note, we'll be waiting for the screenshot of the error message.

Cheers!

Re: Private but shared playlists

sparkd84 — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 18:53:25 GMT

Is it possible to upload songs that my band recorded, all cover songs, and made that playlist private to share amongst our friends?

Re: Private but shared playlists

AlejaR — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 21:43:32 GMT

Hey @sparkd84,

Thanks for your reply.

In this case, keep in mind that you'll need to have an artist account if you want to upload music to the app. You can read all about that in this article and all the details you might need to take into account.

On another note, you can also upload songs as local files. To do it, you can follow the steps in this article. Just keep in mind local files aren't hosted by Spotify, but can be imported to Spotify from the users' devices. Nevertheless, in order to share a list of local files with friends, everyone needs to have said files on their own devices, so they can play them.

We hope you found this helpful. We're always here to help.