Retirement of our Running Feature

[meahtenoha]

Hey everyone, the Spotify Community team here.

We’re here to let you know we will be retiring our Running feature on 26 February 2018.

We always take retiring features in Spotify very seriously. We’re pouring our energy into new ways of creating the best experience for our users.

Of course, you can still workout with Spotify as your Running companion. You can find Running playlists in the Workout section of Browse section.

You can also connect your Spotify running music with an exercise app. Check out our support articles on Nike+ Run Club and Runkeeper for more information.

If you’re interested to learn more about how the app evolves, check out our article about testing and why features change.

Please post here with any questions or feedback you might have. We’ll be sure it reaches the right teams.

Thanks!

[betty98]

 I started running a little over a year ago and the discovery of this feature had kept me motivated. It was unique as fear as I know and I recommend it to EVERYONE who asks about running music. I just made this discovery today. I'm so, so sad as disappointed and I guess I'm off to see if I can find anything similar  

[PatrickpQ]

For me this was the ONLY reason to use Spotify, and I loved the feature. Back to creating my OWN playlists from Mp3’s then...

[Winchester3000]

Please dont. Or allow search by BPM. 

Your running mixes 150-160 bpm are funny - have you ever tried difference between 150 and 150 spm run? It is a major jump in the pace 

[Bkurtz204]

This is DEVASTATING. The weather is finally nice outside again and I was so exited to go on a long run today, when I noticed running mode had disappeared only to be replaced by playlists of 150-165 bpm. I have been running at 175 bpm for quite some time, and running to those playlists would drastically reduce my mile times. The only playlist in my bpm range is a rock playlist with 170-190. I don't like most of the songs, but that seems like the only option at this point. Words cannot express how upset I am by the loss of this feature. I started running because this feature existed, and I have never run without it. I am a board certified music therapist and I know that our bodies naturally entrain to the beat we are listening to. With playlists of varying degrees of bpm, one's pace will change while running, no matter how conscious you are. It is extremely difficult to run at a pace that is different than the beat you are hearing. 

I would be willing to pay more for this feature, because it means that much to me. I am extremely disappointed in you, Spotify, as that was a popular and well-loved feature. I don't care about what new things you are bringing. I only care about running mode. 

To others who are upset, PLEASE reply if you find anything else like Spotify's old running mode on Apple Music or another source. I would drop Spotify in a heartbeat if it meant having that feature back. 

[Bkurtz204]

Also, how was I not informed that my beloved and highly used feature would be disappearing? Do you really expect me to dig through the community pages regularly to know what features are being taken away? My app notifies me about new music I might care about, so why can't it notify me about features I use ALL THE TIME that are going away?! I have used Spotify for years but I am so ready to walk away and never look back. This makes me so deeply upset. PLEASE bring it back. 

[PatrickpQ]

Just like you I need my playlists at a certain bpm (170 +/- 2bpm, some days at 175). Before I discovered Spotify, I used iTunes to create running playlists based on Bpm; as a first step I use a tool (mixmeister bpm analyzer)  to fill in the bpm of all mp3’s in my large library. The next step would simply be to create an iTunes playlist at 170-172 bpm and also include the songs half of that (85-86 bpm). Sure, this method requires work and an own music library, but to me this currently is my best option. 

[Bkurtz204]

Guess I'll stop wasting my money on Spotify and go back to buying individual songs. It takes so much work to do so, but it's possible. Just not enough time for today's run. 

[hollieoc]

I'm so upset that this feature has been done away with. I used it almost every day. Playlists with a range of 150-165 bpm??? Are you joking??? There is a huge different be pace between 150 and 165. WHY would Spotify do this?

[Yumie]

I was so disappointed when I couldn't find the jogging category this afternoon to run and now my fear are confirmed by this thread. 

I don't understand why you remove this feature. It was a good advantage of Spotify . Now regarding sport nothing makes you different than your competitors Google music or Deezer .

You really suck at doing this 

[Buraczek]

The same. I could write down my favorite running playlist and create new... If I only knew... 

I am so sad 😞

[IanMW]

I am also furious about this. Spotify Running was what got me off the couch and on the trail in the first place, no joke. I understand if they're not going to maintain it, but eliminating entirely? And without any kind of email warning? That's horrible. I could have at least created my own playlists if I knew this was disappearing.

I hope this decision gets reconsidered.

[pleribus]

Really don't understand the logic behind this decision.

It's literally the main feature I (and it appears many others) use for running, and a major selling point for Spotify over other music subscription services that you've just gone and  thrown away.

I'm seriously considering switching to Apple's service where I can at least search and filter my music by BPM.

Honestly at a loss why you've done this.

[pleribus]

I'm looking for alternatives to Spotify, but in the interim, found this which allows you to search your own playlists and filter by BPM:

http://sortyourmusic.playlistmachinery.com

Sucks to have to manually do this.

Way to **bleep** off your running users Spotify...

[3barlranch]

Best feature you had. I'll be cancelling my membership.

[user-removed]

This was one feature that really set Spotify apart. It was the one reason I used (and recommended) Spotify. So obviously now I have no reason to use (or recommend) Spotify.

[Disander]

This is thoroughly disappointing news.

I use this feature all the time when running.

Trying to maintain 180 bpm helped prevent my knees from hurting. Now there's only a couple of playlists with that tempo.

This was legitimately the best feature Spotify had, and several times I had raved about how good it was to others.

Now I have little reason to recommend Spotify.

[minitrucker007]

Ya this so sucks!! I use this everyday at the gym. It has helped me do from a 5.9 to a 6.2 pase just buy upping my BPM. I have no go to playlist for this my music is what help me keep going. So disappointed is Spotify for this.

[betty98]

For my fellow sad folks-- I've been searching for alternatives. For those with iPhones, there's an app called jog.fm that might do a similar thing. (I don't have an iPhone, soooo....Booo!) They also have a website where, if you put in the tempo you want, it'll give you a playlist, so you can try it through their browser or build you own Spotify playlists. However, it would be best if Spotify didn't do away with this valuable feature!

[Paul35]

Really disappointing... this Feature was the main reason why I subscribed a premium membership (and recommend it to everyone)... hate it that they removed this feature in such a sneaky way. It seems that no one got that information unless they deactivated running.
And the running playlists doesn't do their job very well.