[Spotify Connect] Local files

[dawo5010]

Hey all!

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I've been recently looking into getting a Spotify connect speaker such as the Samsung SHAPE M5.

My question is: If I use my Nexus 5 with a Spotify connect speaker, will my own tracks stored as local files and synced over from the Spotify client for Windows stream to the speaker and play via network, or will they be streamed via Bluetooth, etc?

I wouldn't need to leave my computer on to stream music as a result, would I?

Thanks for the help!

P.S. feel free to discuss spotify connect devices here, still can't decide what to get.

[Jordi]

Hi there,

Spotify Connect doesn't stream anything. Local files will only be played when you have the same song synced on your second device.

[JoeThomas]

Hi!

The Samsung SHAPE doesn't use Spotify Connect, it uses Bluetooth. All you need to do is turn Bluetooth on on your Bluetooth ready device, connect to your speaker then play the local files.

*in a nutshell* yeah.

~Joe

[dawo5010]

I don't intend to use the Bluetooth functionality of the SHAPE M5 at all, I plan to use it's spotify connect feature with the latest firmware.

Please do not suggest to me that I should use it.

Spotify states, at https://www.spotify.com/connect/, that: 

1) Nonstop tunes.

Make calls, watch videos, go out of wifi range. The music keeps flowing.

2) Connect to better sound.

Higher sample rates make the most of your music.

Does this not in a way imply that the speaker would have it's own connection to Spotify's servers over WiFi instead? If the phone moves out of range the music will keep playing, right? And direct streaming would allow bypassing my phone's DSP and Bluetooth compression in order to attain higher bit rates? Isn't that the point of wanting Spotify connect on a speaker over mere Bluetooth?

What I simply want to know is this: Will local files stream to the speaker over Spotify connect, if Spotify connect is the only way I am hooking up my speakers?

[zhongfu]

http://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-shape-wireless-audio-platform-gets-spotify-connect-support/

JoeThomas, I don't think you even bothered to do a cursory check on this subject.

[dawo5010]

Yeah, exactly.

So that leaves the question as to whether it streams local files... because otherwise Spotify Connect, with all it's benefits in terms of in-speaker native streaming, decoding and playing, would be kind of useless.

[zhongfu]

>"Spotify Connect doesn't stream anything"
Jordi, does this mean that all the music currently in the user's library is downloaded to the speaker itself before being played, or the entire Spotify library is stored in the speaker? Spotify is primarily a streaming service, and I presume Spotify Connect audio systems don't have much sotrage on them anyway, so how can it not actually stream anything?

[JoeThomas]

Sorry guys, I clearly didn't do enough research.

[Jordi]

Sorry for the late answer.

@zhongfu No, the speakers are connected with your device using Bluetooth. That's a different type of Spotify Connect.

[zhongfu]

@Jordi If I'm correct, Spotify Connect streams from Spotify servers over WiFi, not over Bluetooth, does it not? I'm pretty sure that Spotify Connect doesn't require a Bluetooth connection at all. Do correct me if I'm wrong.

[Peter__]

That is correct, Spotify Connect is controlled over the internet rather than Bluetooth which allows you to do cool things like control a speaker that isn't even on the same network once you have set it up once.

[dawo5010 · Accepted solution]

I actually ended up contacting Spotify support, and a couple pointers to note: 

1) Spotify connect uses WiFi/Internet as Peter said (thank you!) and can be controlled via the Spotify application, and in fact can be controlled over mobile data and will continue playing even when you are out of range.

2) Spotify local files will stream over from the desktop clients to the speakers when you select a local file track to be played. As usual, only the standard local file extensions (mp3, mp4, m4a and m4r) are supported (with the help of QuickTime).

Thank you all for participating 🙂

[pzivkovic]

Well in that case why can't I listen to my local files on my philips sw700 or sw750?

It's because it can only stream files from the spotify library, not from my local storage device.

PS: the sw700 or sw750 are using spotify connect to stream files from spotify only... but my local files, even when added to my spotify library are not supported (they are mostly mp3's)

[user-removed · Accepted solution]

---

@pzivkovic wrote:

Well in that case why can't I listen to my local files on my philips sw700 or sw750?

It's because it can only stream files from the spotify library, not from my local storage device.

PS: the sw700 or sw750 are using spotify connect to stream files from spotify only... but my local files, even when added to my spotify library are not supported (they are mostly mp3's)

---

Hi.

It's impossible to stream these files using Connect, as local files are not in Spotify cloud.

Greetz!

Jyrziu :d

[gcowa]

How would you sync the files to the second device?

---

@Jordi wrote:

Hi there,

Spotify Connect doesn't stream anything. Local files will only be played when you have the same song synced on your second device.

---