How To Make Spotify Private With a Burner Phone

Listening to music is a universal human experience that is beloved around the world. Spotify is one of the world’s largest music platforms and boasts an active monthly user average of more than 365 million people.

There are a lot of music platforms that allow users to create their own playlists, review their listening activity, and receive music recommendations. Still, one thing that makes Spotify so special is that you can share the contents of your library, make your playlists public, and view the activity of others. 

While these features can make it easier to share your music tastes with friends, you should be careful with your information. Making your Spotify playlists private is a good way to stay safe online, but that’s really just the first step of effective online security.  

What Is Spotify? 

Spotify was founded in 2006 by the Swedish duo Daniel Elk and Martin Lorentzon. Music piracy was running rampant in the early 2000s, and record labels were getting desperate. Elk and Lorentzon offered a unique solution to the growing problem: share content on their digital music platform and receive 20 percent of the profits. 

The program officially launched in 2008 and became a global phenomenon overnight. It’s easy to understand the extreme popularity of Spotify. After all, simply creating a Spotify account grants users access to one of the largest collections of music, podcasts, and audio content in history. 

As if that wasn’t enough, Spotify operates on a “freemium” model. That means that users can have basic access to all the content and features of Spotify for free. The only downsides are that you’ll need an internet connection, you’ll have to hear advertisements, and your sound quality will be lower. 

Upgrading to Spotify Premium eliminates advertisements, allows you to download content, and provides higher-quality recordings. 

Why Should You Make Spotify Private?

Technically, Spotify is not a social media platform, but it does have a data-sharing arrangement with Facebook. Social media is notorious for harvesting personal data so you’ll need to be careful using Spotify. So-called “social media data mining” has been a major debate in the last few years and doesn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. 

Another potential privacy problem is that certain business models use your data to make money. Apps that offer paid subscriptions, freemium options, or are ad-supported are a risk to your privacy. Since Spotify employs all three of these models, you should take some extra precautions to protect yourself.

Lastly, Spotify isn’t exactly up to date on current security features. There is no two-factor authentication feature, which is extremely common for most apps. There is also no way to block people from following you on Spotify. 

How To Make Spotify Private

Spotify is an excellent app with a ton of features, but it sorely lacks in terms of security. Whether you use Spotify on an Android, iPhone, Mac, PC, or iPad, it’s up to you to keep your information protected.  

Below, you’ll find a few ways that you can make Spotify private.

Create a New Account

The first thing that you can do to improve your security is to create a new account. You’ll essentially be resetting the details of your Spotify account. Now would be an excellent time to use a Burner phone number instead of your real one when setting up your new Spotify account.

There’s no need to worry about losing your extensive catalog of music and playlists. Spotify allows you to transfer all your saved content for free. Unfortunately, you’ll lose your listening history, so make sure to create a few playlists before creating a new account.

The transfer process should only take a few minutes. Here is what you’ll need to do after you create a new account:

1. Open the “Spotify Contact Center” page.
2. Select “Account,” “Other,” “I still need help,” and “Start Chat.” 
3. A chat window will start with a Spotify bot. 
4. Type in the phrase “transfer playlist from an old account to a new one.”
5. The bot should connect you with a Spotify employee.
6. You’ll have the option to transfer your music without including any followers of your account or any accounts that you follow.

Unlink From Facebook

One of the easier ways to connect with your friends on Spotify is by using Facebook. The “Find Friends” feature of Spotify allows users to find people they are connected with on Facebook. By unlinking your Spotify and Facebook accounts, you’ll be able to keep your musical preferences anonymous from other Facebook users. 

There are only a few steps in this process:

1. Open the Spotify app.
2. Select the “Settings” icon and then the “Social” option.
3. Toggle the “Disconnect from Facebook” feature.

Make Playlists Private

Creating specialized playlists is one of the defining characteristics of Spotify. However, there is no reason that you need to make these playlists available to the public. You’ll have the ability to make specific playlists private or hide all future playlists from the public eye. 

Here is how you can make an individual playlist private:

1. Open the Spotify app.
2. Select the playlist that you want to make private.
3. Tap the three-dot icon located in the top right corner.
4. Select the “Make Secret” option.
5. You should receive a pop-up notification confirming that the playlist is now secret.

Here is how you can make all future playlists private:

1. Open the Spotify app.
2. Select the “Settings” icon and then the “Social” option.
3. Toggle the “Make My New Playlists Private” feature.

Start a Private Session

One of the most unique features of Spotify is that you can discover the music that your friends are currently enjoying. You’ll be able to find out what’s trending and share music easily. However, there will be times when you don’t want anyone to know what you’re into. 

Here is how you can start a private Spotify session:

1. Open the Spotify app.
2. Select the “Settings” icon and then the “Social” option.
3. Toggle the “Private session” button to listen anonymously. 

Stay Safe Online

Using Spotify is an easy way to connect with your friends through the powerful art of music. The problem is that Spotify leaves a lot to be desired from a security standpoint. Ultimately, it’ll be up to you to keep your data secure whenever you use Spotify. 

Creating a new account, disabling the link to Facebook, making your playlist private, and starting a private session are helpful, but you need extra protection to truly be safe.

Downloading the Burner app can help build an extra wall between you and spammers. Creating a Spotify account using your Burner number will keep your personal phone number and email private. Hackers pay a premium for phone numbers and emails. The less that you use them online, the safer that you will be.   

Visit Burner today to create your second number, and enjoy a free seven-day trial. 

Sources:

Freemium Definition | Investopedia

Spotify Revenue and Usage Statistics | Business of Apps

Social Media Mining: The Effects of Big Data In the Age of Social Media | Yale Law School