Spotify will disable all Car Thing devices

Spotify is throwing in the towel on its Car Thing dashboard accessory, which will become obsolete on December 9.

Designed as a convenient piece of dashboard-mounted hardware that could act as a remote control for Spotify on your phone, the Car Thing never seemed popular. It went on sale in February 2022, but production was stopped five months later. Now, after December 9, Spotify says the device will be retired and will no longer work (basically become a brick). We ask all customers to factory reset and dispose of the device responsibly.

When it was on sale, Car Thing cost $90. No refunds or subscription credits will be offered to other users. Spotify also confirmed that it has “no plans to release a replacement or new version of Car Thing” on its discontinuation FAQ page.

“We understand this may be disappointing, but this decision allows us to focus on developing new features and improvements that will ultimately provide a better experience for all Spotify users,” the company explained. Read the full statement here.

The announcement of Car Thing’s demise comes just months after Spotify announced a new royalty model and its intention to introduce remixing tools directly within the program. Last month, Spotify also announced that it would raise prices again.