Spotify now lets you search for songs and podcasts hands-free. It is rolling out the wake word “Hey Spotify” that will allow you to search audio with your voice. It builds upon the already-existing Spotify Voice feature that is available only for Premium users. Spotify Voice is a voice-based search that needs to be enabled by long-pressing the microphone icon on the search bar. It is similar to what Google and Apple offer with their voice assistants.

According to a report from GSMArena, Spotify is rolling out the wake word “Hey Spotify.” The report says that it appeared on the Galaxy S21 through a notification. I tried to replicate the findings but wasn’t able to locate any such feature in the Settings menu. Hence, it appears to be a region-specific roll-out. It is also unclear if this is a server-side update. However, you are advised to keep the app up-to-date on your smartphone.

As per the report, saying the wake-word “Hey Spotify” will prompt Spotify’s built-in voice search while the screen is on and the Spotify app is open. Therefore, it is likely that the app is continuously listening for the wake phrase. The company’s privacy policy for voice data usage states, “Audio will be recorded after we hear ‘Hey Spotify.’ Your voice input and other information will be sent to Spotify.” Spotify says it only holds recordings and transcriptions of the searches that you perform when tapping the voice button or saying the wake phrase.

You can say the wake word and ask Spotify to play your favorite song. For instance, you can say, “Hey Spotify, play Wonderwall.” Notably, you’ll need to keep the app open for the wake word to work. As pointed out by the report, the feature was spotted on Spotify Android v8.6.14.975. I’m on the same version in India but the feature hasn’t been rolled out for me yet.