However, the music streaming giant’s more general shift towards audiobook and podcast content continues to grow its free and paid listener bases – and casting off the dead weight of Car Thing will likely allow Spotify to amp up focus on the products it actually specializes in (read: audio software, not audio hardware).įor more Spotify-related news, check out our reports on the company’s expansion of a popular social feature, its new Supergrouper playlist tool, and its under-the-radar karaoke mode. Your car needs to be able to play audio from your phone through the car speakers via Bluetooth, or AUX or USB cable. Its a little smaller than the pictures make it out to be but it works. In its aforementioned investor report, Spotify said the decision to call time on Car Thing cost the company €31 million (around $32 million). The Spotify car thing is great for your car and comes with a lot of mounting options. Support for Car Thing is unlikely to persist for much longer, though, so we’d only suggest picking one up if you’re an avid collector of, well, weird Spotify stuff. Spotify is still selling remaining Car Thing stock through its official website (opens in new tab) (for almost half price, too), and the company has said that “existing devices will perform as intended” (per TechCrunch (opens in new tab)). What’s more, owners of so-called older vehicles who do want to listen to Spotify on the move are, in all likelihood, just as happy to mount their phones and use Bluetooth or an aux cable as they are buying a cheaper, third-party media player that functions in exactly the same way as Car Thing.Įssentially, then, Car Thing is dead because Spotify never really cracked who the product was for – but those who do still fancy buying one need not fear.

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