Music streaming giant Spotify has decided to halt manufacturing its Car Thing device just three years after its release. The Car Thing is an accessory that enables users to control Spotify through car speakers through the use of voice recognition and preset buttons when connected to a phone. Last July, Spotify announced in its 2022 earnings report that it had stopped producing the product, but the company recently confirmed that it will no longer be operational after December 9, 2024. Spotify stated that it will focus on developing new features to enhance the user experience instead.
According to Spotify, “We’re discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings. We understand it may be disappointing, but this decision allows us to focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.” The company will not offer trade-in options and has advised users to dispose of the Car Thing device via local electronic waste guidelines.
The brand reported record annual profits of over €1 billion in April 2023, with 615 million users globally since its initial introduction in 2006. However, Spotify also announced essential cost-cutting measures, including a layoff of 17% of its workforce last year to cut down expenses. In the early months of 2023, it also stated its intention to lay off a further 6% of its employees to promote “speed.”
Additionally, Spotify officially demonetized all platform songs with under 1,000 streams in April 2023, following the previous year’s announcement of Modernising Our Royalty System, which first revealed the decision. Finally, the music streaming giant has recently announced it will allow users to remix, speed up, and slow down songs and generate new revenue for artists
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