United Brings Spotify to In-seat IFE

At first glance the partnership announced between United Airlines and Spotify last week is relatively unimpressive. It includes a curated selection of content pre-loaded into the inflight entertainment system for passengers to consume. But come 2026 the companies have plans for something far more interesting on board.

The curated content represents a return to music for United’s IFE systems after more than a decade. In 2013 the carrier was sued by Sony Music over its inflight audio library, one of several similar suits at the time. Now Spotify will embed roughly 450 hours of music (though apparently not Rhapsody in Blue), podcasts, and audio books into the seatback systems.

United also mentions that passengers can stream their Spotify content for free on planes where Starlink is active. Again, nothing particularly special about the partnership here, as passengers can stream whatever they want over the Starlink connection. And streaming audio has worked on some of the other United connectivity from time to time as well.

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True Integration for IFE/C

The truly unique and interesting part of the relationship is slated to come online next year:

In 2026, United passengers will be able to use their personal devices to log in to the Spotify app on the in-flight entertainment screen. This will allow passengers to enjoy their favorite personalized content on the seatback so they can pick up their favorite podcasts, music, and audiobooks from right where they left off.

The IFE screens will take advantage of the satellite connectivity link and deliver streaming content – tied to the passenger’s credentials – from a third party service. This is the sort of thing IFE providers have been talking about for years, and it is finally going to happen.

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