How to keep your Spotify activity private on Facebook, permanently

Don’t want everyone on Facebook to know about your addiction to the soundtrack of “A Chorus Line”? If so, think twice before teeing up “I Hope I Get It” or “What I Did For Love” (hey, they’re great songs!) on Spotify, the free music-streaming app that’s stirred up a storm of controversy for requiring users to log in on Facebook.

Execs at Spotify have announced that a new “private mode” on the Spotify desktop software will keep the titles of the music tracks you’re listening to from popping up in the new Facebook ticker, for all your friends to see. Nice—except we may have to wait weeks for the update to arrive. Update: Actually, you may already have the latest version of Spotify, which has a “Private Listening” option under the “Spotify” menu at the top of the screen. Be aware, though, that you must remember to enable the “Private Listening” setting each time you launch the Spotify app. What follows is a more permanent solution.

But here’s the thing, You can actually keep all your Spotify activity on Facebook private right now—and permanently—in just a few steps. Here’s how.

1. Log on to Facebook, click the little arrow in the top-right corner of the page (next to “Home”), then select “Privacy Settings.”
2. Scroll down the page near the bottom, until you find the “Apps and Websites” section, then click the “Edit Settings” link on the right.
3. Next, in the “Apps you use” section at the top, click the “Edit Settings” button.
4. You should now be looking at a list of apps that you’ve authorized on Facebook—and somewhere in the list, you should see Spotify. Once you’ve found its listing, click the “Edit” link to the right.
5. The Spotify entry will expand, revealing all its settings. From here, you can do any number of things to keep it from notifying your Facebook friends what you’re listening to. For instance, you can revoke its access to your News Feed, or stop it from posting updates to your wall.
6. But here’s the easiest way to keep your Spotify activity private: go to the “App activity privacy” section, click the pull-down menu, and pick a new privacy option, from Public to Friends only.
7. Don’t want anyone to see—or hear—what you’re listening to on Spotify? Select “Customize,” click the pull-down menu under “Make this visible to,” and click “Only Me.”

Looking for more Facebook tips and how-tos? Click here!