Spotify Connect as a Harrassment Vector

[WritingWriter87]

Spotify Connect is able to connect and play music on every Spotify capable device on the same network, which means that my roommate could theoretically hijack my bedroom smart speaker and start playing music (and vice versa) and I would have no way to stop her.

Ever have a prankster or bullying sibling? Well they could do the same thing. Ever have a mischievous child who might play inappropriate music while guests are visiting? Ever have a crazy ex or friend who knows the wifi password and might wander by your home and start playing frightening music at all hours of the day and night? If the answer was yes to any of those questions then you have a problem.

That's not even mentioning the fact that dorm rooms in college are all on the same network, which means you might have a bunch of drunk nerds one-night playing death metal at 3 AM in other people's rooms during finals...

Spotify Connect is a good idea in concept but not in implementation.

[slakr]

Consider routers like keyed locks: if you don't want a guest going into one of your rooms and playing with all of your toys, consider locking them out of it by placing a router in front of that network.

Literally all of the scenarios you describe should be employing some level of physical or vlan network separation just like you'd stick a lock on your room or front door.

[WritingWriter87]

True, but how many people know how to do that? Most people have no idea what a VLAN or Physical Network Seperation is, let alone how to set one up.

The fact of the matter is I don't want my roommates having default access to my bedroom smart speaker through Spotify Connect, and I shouldn't have to play around with my router settings to prevent that access. I'm sure parents wouldn't want their children have direct access to their bedroom smart speaker or any speaker outside their own room.

Most people aren't IT technicians, and most people have default internet provider routers with extremely limited capabilities which can't set up VLAN or Physical Network Separation. And I would bet that the vast majority of people don't even know they can play around with the settings of the router.