Spotify is getting into the hardware market… sort of. The company has confirmed it will soon begin testing a new device called the Car Thing which will allow you to stream content from the platform in your vehicle via your cigarette lighter. But it won’t serve the purpose you may assume.
Instead of standing as Spotify’s first official entry into the hardware market, the company will use the device as a ploy to track what music you listen to while in your car. A small number of Premium subscribers will get the device for free which Spotify will use as a test group. “Car Thing was developed to help us learn more about how people listen to music and podcasts,” the company said in a blog post. “Our focus remains on becoming the world’s number one audio platform—not on creating hardware.”
Spotify already has the ability to track what music you listen to in the car. It offers integration with Waze, and there’s no way the company isn’t taking advantage of that partnership. The Car Thing is just an addition to the outlets the company can use to see what you’re jamming out to while on the road.
With the information Spotify collects, it’s safe to guess that the company will use it to improve its algorithms and offer more accurate suggestions in its playlists. Of course, Spotify doesn’t specify what it plans to do with the info it collects, so I suppose we’ll have to wait it out and see what happens.
In addition to the Car Thing, Spotify says to not be surprised if you hear about a “Voice Thing” or a “Home Thing.” That could mean the company has more hardware planned for the future.
