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Premium connectivity Spotify

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Recent software updates have disabled this 'feature'.
The latest update allows use of hotspot wifi from your phone while driving. Which means you can use Spotify without a subscription.

Make sure your phone is set up as a hotspot. Put the car into neutral. Click the network icon on the screen. Wifi will be off so turn it on. Your phone's wifi network should appear. Select it, turn on Spotify and drive away.
 
Which means you can use Spotify without a subscription.
Tesla Premium Connectivity or Spotify Premium subscription? My understanding is one or other (or both) required to get Spotify playing (phone hotspot would allow using Spotify subscription without Premium Connectivity).

Would be happy to be wrong though, I'm a cheapskate with neither, so wondering if you'd managed to get spotify going on the tesla account using phone hotspot - that'd be great news!
 
Tesla Premium Connectivity or Spotify Premium subscription? My understanding is one or other (or both) required to get Spotify playing (phone hotspot would allow using Spotify subscription without Premium Connectivity).

Would be happy to be wrong though, I'm a cheapskate with neither, so wondering if you'd managed to get spotify going on the tesla account using phone hotspot - that'd be great news!


Yes - my cars' Premium Connectivity expired in April & I can confirm that connecting to a phone hotspot after selecting drive allows the Tesla Spotify account to play including the playlist originally created (and added to). This has been the case throughout all subsequent software updates.

A users Premium Spotify subscription should work likewise.
 
Yes - my cars' Premium Connectivity expired in April & I can confirm that connecting to a phone hotspot after selecting drive allows the Tesla Spotify account to play including the playlist originally created (and added to). This has been the case throughout all subsequent software updates.

A users Premium Spotify subscription should work likewise.
Thanks for reply, unfortunately not working for me - selecting spotify I get a brief spinning wheel with the words "using the Tesla account" before it shows the below;
IMG20210809135445.jpg

WiFi hotspot connected ok, web browser works fine.
My premium connectivity expired in Sept 2020, maybe that has somethig to do with it.
 
@tj333 I believe this is an issue with the Tesla Spotify account related to your car as I had this on a previous occasion. A scroll wheel/brake pedal reset fixed it for me but if not for you then I suggest you contact Tesla service.

It will work in all Model 3s without Premium Connectivity using a deliberately frustrating setup every time drive is selected - presumably to encourage uptake of the £9.99/mth subscription.
 
This is interesting since as far as I'm aware the Tesla Premium Connectivity will only allow a 64 kbps Spotify downlink over its paltry LTE link whereas the iPhone link can provide 256-320 kbps for much better sound quality. Also, the bluetooth link in the Tesla supports the 256 kbps AAC protocol, so all of this higher bitrate actually makes it into the system. I would never use the Tesla built-in Spotify app over Premium Connectivity for this reason.

However, Tesla does have a nice GUI for their Spotify app, and if I can use it to connect to an iPhone hotspot logged in under my own Spotify Premium account that might allow me to still use the Tesla GUI yet have the higher quality sound of the iPhone link.

I need to go try this!
 
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Is there any way of transferring my own account's playlists to the car's Tesla Account?

I have Premium Connectivity for a year as it's a new car, but I'm still paying for my own Spotify Premium account so I get all my existing playlists on there.
 
Is there any way of transferring my own account's playlists to the car's Tesla Account?

I have Premium Connectivity for a year as it's a new car, but I'm still paying for my own Spotify Premium account so I get all my existing playlists on there.
No, your options are to log into your own account in the car which will give access to your existing playlists or use the Tesla account and its single playlist.
 
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64kbps?! Is this 1990??

I would have liked to have thought if you used a premium Spotify account it would increase the bitrate, I doubt this is the case.
Yes, that would be great. I honestly don’t know what happens if you log into your own Spotify account through the Tesla GUI and use the Tesla LTE, but I suspect the bitrate limit is due to the Tesla downlink bit budget rather than the Spotify account. The numbers I got were from a report where a user was able to measure the rates somehow. I will try to find it. But yes, 64 kbps (some say 96, but I believe 64 is the correct number).
 
Yes, that would be great. I honestly don’t know what happens if you log into your own Spotify account through the Tesla GUI and use the Tesla LTE, but I suspect the bitrate limit is due to the Tesla downlink bit budget rather than the Spotify account. The numbers I got were from a report where a user was able to measure the rates somehow. I will try to find it. But yes, 64 kbps (some say 96, but I believe 64 is the correct number).
That's pathetically low, especially for a £9.99/month 'premium connectivity' option.
 
Yes, it is very low, but you get a some other wireless stuff over that link, and where else can you get a cellular data plan for 9.99? Oh well, this first year is free, we’ll see after that.
 
Tesla Premium Connectivity or Spotify Premium subscription? My understanding is one or other (or both) required to get Spotify playing (phone hotspot would allow using Spotify subscription without Premium Connectivity).

Would be happy to be wrong though, I'm a cheapskate with neither, so wondering if you'd managed to get spotify going on the tesla account using phone hotspot - that'd be great news!
Neither. I can use the Tesla Spotify app with my phone hotspot.
 
I have Spotify premium account and using premium connectivity on my M3. If I'm playing a song on Spotify and switch to radio for example and go back to Spotify, it won't resume to what I was playing and I would have to research the playlist and find the song I was listening to. Is there a way to resume Spotify when switching between sources??
 
This is interesting since as far as I'm aware the Tesla Premium Connectivity will only allow a 64 kbps Spotify downlink over its paltry LTE link whereas the iPhone link can provide 256-320 kbps for much better sound quality. Also, the bluetooth link in the Tesla supports the 256 kbps AAC protocol, so all of this higher bitrate actually makes it into the system. I would never use the Tesla built-in Spotify app over Premium Connectivity for this reason.

However, Tesla does have a nice GUI for their Spotify app, and if I can use it to connect to an iPhone hotspot logged in under my own Spotify Premium account that might allow me to still use the Tesla GUI yet have the higher quality sound of the iPhone link.

I need to go try this!
Did this work for you? thanks
 
I don't remember. The sound quality of Spotify streaming over the Tesla built in app using Tesla LTE sounds great to me now so I never bother with connecting to my iPhone wifi hotspot any more. Maybe Tesla improved the bitrate? Whatever the case, I am happy enough. Tried Tidal for a while too. It is a little bit better but only when hotspot is available. For me, convenience of built in Spotify app trumped any SQ improvement that I could discern.
 
I don't remember. The sound quality of Spotify streaming over the Tesla built in app using Tesla LTE sounds great to me now so I never bother with connecting to my iPhone wifi hotspot any more. Maybe Tesla improved the bitrate? Whatever the case, I am happy enough. Tried Tidal for a while too. It is a little bit better but only when hotspot is available. For me, convenience of built in Spotify app trumped any SQ improvement that I could discern.
there's a test somewhere on the internet which tests how well you can tell apart these different bit rates.

I'm sure some here can, but for me I could distinguish any difference reliably. Add in to that cabin noise and for me this whole bit rate conversation is a bit of a distraction! so I'm perfectly happy with the spotify app....
 
Reading back through this, really can't believe the included Spotify account is limited to 64 kbps, it sounds much better than that.

But, it isn't as good as 320 kbps MP3s played from the USB stick, and that was when the car would've been connected to the house wi-fi (if it actually makes a difference to Spotify). Not noticed a difference in Spotify quality when not connected to wi-fi, although not specifically tested it.

If anyone had the time you could rip a track from CD at various bit rates and then compare to the Spotify, maybe even compare MP3 to AAC quality too.

As others have said, the Spotify quality is perfectly adequate for most situations, but I do notice the increase in quality when switching to a 320 kbps MP3 (USB), though.