How to Play Music on Discord: Bots & Spotify

Table of Contents

Introduction

Discord is a popular free voice, video, and text chat app that allows users to communicate in real-time across both desktop and mobile platforms. Originally launched for gamers, it has expanded beyond gaming communities to include groups focused on topics like music, entertainment, education, and more.

One of Discord’s most popular features is the ability to join voice channels where you can talk and hang out with friends and fellow community members. Naturally, people want to liven up these voice chats by playing music together. Listening to your favorite songs, playlists, and albums with your friends on Discord can be a blast. It creates a fun group listening experience where you can discover new music together and bond over your shared musical tastes.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn all the different methods for playing music in Discord voice channels. We’ll cover adding music bots to your Discord server to queue up tunes via chat commands. You’ll learn how to integrate Spotify with Discord for easy access to its massive music library. We’ll also explore options for playing YouTube music directly in Discord as well as sharing your computer’s audio. For mobile users, we’ll detail the best practices for listening to music on the go. Finally, we’ll troubleshoot any common issues and provide tips for creating the ideal shared musical experience on Discord with your friends. Let’s get started!

Using Music Bots on Discord

Music bots are third-party bots that you can add to your Discord server to play music in voice channels. They allow you to search for and play songs from YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, and more without having to share your screen or play music through your mic. Music bots are simple to use – you just need to invite them to your server and then control playback using text commands.

The most popular Discord music bots include:

Groovy Bot – The original and most full-featured music bot for Discord. Lets you play songs, playlists, radio stations and more from YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud and other sources.
Rythm – A slick music bot with playlist support, advanced audio filters, lyrics lookup and more. One of the easiest bots to setup and use.
FredBoat – A simple, high quality music bot focused on playing audio from YouTube. Supports playlists and queues.
Hydra – A unique bot that lets you chain multiple music bots together for expanded features.

To add a music bot to your Discord server:

Visit the bot’s website and click the "Invite" button. This will open up Discord’s authorization page.
Select the server you want the bot to join from the dropdown menu and click "Authorize".
The bot will now join your server. You may need to grant it permission to connect to voice channels.

After inviting the bot, you can start controlling music playback from any text channel using commands like !play, !skip, !queue, etc. The exact commands depend on the bot. Check the bot’s website for full command references.

Music bots provide a fun and easy way to play tunes in your Discord server without needing to deal with screen sharing or streaming from your own device. Give them a try!

Integrating Spotify with Discord

Integrating your Spotify account with Discord unlocks powerful music capabilities right within your Discord server. There are several major benefits to enabling Spotify integration:

Access Your Full Spotify Library: You can directly access your entire Spotify music collection including playlists, albums, artists and songs. No need to rebuild playlists!
Share What You’re Listening To: Let your friends on Discord see what you’re jamming to on Spotify in real-time. Great for sharing new music discoveries.
Listen Together: Play Spotify tracks and playlists through your Discord voice channels so you and your friends can listen together.
Remote Control: Use Discord chat commands to control Spotify playback like skipping tracks, adjusting volume, and more.

Connecting Your Spotify Account to Discord

Integrating Spotify is simple and only takes a couple minutes. Just follow these steps:

Open User Settings in Discord and go to the "Connections" tab.
Click on the Spotify logo under "Connected Accounts".
You’ll be redirected to the Spotify website. Log into your Spotify account if not already logged in.
Click "Agree" to authorize Discord to connect with Spotify.

Once connected, you’ll see a green checkmark by Spotify under your Discord Connections. You’re now ready to start using Spotify in your Discord server!

Playing Spotify Music in Discord Voice Channels

With your accounts linked, you can now easily play Spotify tracks, albums, playlists, and more directly into your Discord voice channels:

Join a voice channel on your Discord server.
Click the Spotify logo under the channel name.
A Spotify controller will pop up – search for songs, albums, artists, or playlists.
Select a track and click the "Play" icon. The song will start playing in your voice channel!

Your friends in the channel can pause, skip, shuffle, and queue up additional Spotify tracks to keep the music going. It’s a seamless way to listen together.

Controlling Playback from Discord

You also have granular control over Spotify playback right within Discord:

Pause/resume playback
Skip to next or previous track
Adjust volume up and down
View what’s currently playing
See playlist and queue for the channel

The Spotify controller makes it easy to manage the tunes without having to jump back and forth between apps.

So connect your Spotify account to unlock a whole new social listening experience on Discord! It takes just minutes to set up.

Playing YouTube Music on Discord

YouTube is home to a massive library of music that you can access for free. There are a couple ways to play YouTube music in your Discord voice channels.

Using YouTube Music Bots

One easy option is to use a Discord music bot that supports YouTube links and playlists. The most popular bots like Groovy, Rythm, and FredBoat all allow queuing up YouTube videos and playlists directly from Discord commands.

To play a YouTube video with a bot, simply use the play command followed by a YouTube URL:

!play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

The bot will join your voice channel and begin playing the audio from that YouTube video. You can queue up additional videos or playlists to create a queue that will play continuously.

The main benefits of using a YouTube music bot are convenience and expanded music selection beyond traditional streaming platforms. The commands are straightforward and you can easily build playlists and queues of your favorite YouTube music.

Screen Sharing YouTube Audio

Another method is to screen share the audio from YouTube videos playing on your computer. To do this:

Join a voice channel in Discord
Play a YouTube video in your browser with the audio turned on
In Discord, click the "Go Live" button and select to share your screen
Select your browser window as the application to share
The audio from your YouTube video will now play in Discord

The advantage of screen sharing is that you don’t need to rely on bots. However, it does require manually playing each video on your end. You also won’t have access to queue management features.

Overall, YouTube music bots provide the most seamless experience for playing YouTube music in Discord voice chats. With the ability to queue videos and control playback entirely through Discord commands, music bots are ideal for listening parties and hanging out with friends.

Sharing Your Computer’s Audio on Discord

Discord gives you the ability to share your computer’s system audio in voice channels with your friends. This allows you to play music, videos, or any other audio from your computer directly into Discord.

What is System Audio Sharing?

System audio sharing means broadcasting all the sounds that are currently playing on your computer to a Discord voice channel. This includes music from media players, game sounds, YouTube videos, and more. When you enable system audio streaming in Discord, it captures your computer’s audio output and routes it through Discord so others can hear it.

Sharing Computer Audio on Windows

Here are the steps to share your system audio on a Windows PC:

Join the voice channel where you want to share your audio.
Click your profile picture in the bottom left and select "Voice & Video Settings".
Go to the "Voice" tab and check the box for "Share Computer Sound".
Adjust the "Audio Transmission" slider if needed to control volume.
Click "App Settings" and add apps you want to share audio from like Spotify.
Join the voice channel again and your system audio will now be shared!

Sharing Computer Audio on Mac

Follow these instructions to share system audio on a Mac:

Join the desired Discord voice channel.
Click on your profile picture and go to Voice & Video Settings.
Select the Voice tab and check "Share Computer Sound".
You may need to allow Discord access to your Mac’s microphone in System Preferences.
Adjust the sound capture volume for optimal audio quality.
Rejoin the voice channel and your Mac’s system audio will be shared.

Use Cases

Sharing your computer’s audio enables some great use cases, like:

Playing music from media apps like iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, etc.
Sharing sound from games, videos, and other applications.
Streaming audio from YouTube videos or other sites.
Broadcasting music for an online listening party.

With system audio sharing, you can play sound from nearly any app or website and send it directly into your Discord voice chat. It provides more flexibility than bots or other methods.

Using Discord on Mobile Devices

Discord has official mobile apps for both iOS and Android that provide the core Discord experience on your phone or tablet. The mobile apps allow you to join voice channels and chat just like on desktop.

To play music in a Discord voice channel from your mobile device, you have a few options:

Use a mobile-friendly music bot like Rythm or Groovy. These bots work great on mobile and allow you to queue up tracks and control playback right from your phone. Just make sure the bot is already set up on your Discord server.
Share music directly from your phone’s media apps. On iOS you can share music from the Apple Music app or your device’s native Music app. On Android you can share tracks from apps like Spotify, YouTube Music, etc. Just make sure you’re in a voice channel and tap the "share audio" button.
Download songs or playlists for offline listening in apps like Spotify, then connect to voice chat and play them directly from the app. This avoids streaming over cell data.
Use a third-party app like Stereo to connect your music services with Discord voice chat. These specialized apps can make it easier to control playback and share high-quality streams.

The main limitation with mobile is that some desktop-centric features like screen sharing don’t work the same. But overall, mobile Discord users can absolutely listen to music together in voice channels using the methods above. Just make sure you have a stable internet connection for the best audio quality.

Troubleshooting Music Issues on Discord

Playing music on Discord doesn’t always go smoothly. You may encounter problems like laggy audio, playback disconnecting, music bots not responding, and more. Here are some potential solutions and troubleshooting steps for common music issues on Discord:

Laggy or Low-Quality Audio

Make sure you have a stable internet connection. Discord requires decent bandwidth to transmit high-quality audio.
Try changing your Voice & Video settings in Discord to optimize for audio quality instead of automatically adjusting.
Lower the audio bitrate setting of your music bot if available. This will reduce audio quality slightly but may help with lag.
Turn off any audio enhancing features like "Noise Suppression" as they can sometimes cause latency.

Music Playback Disconnecting

Music bots sometimes disconnect if they haven’t been actively used in a while. Try using a command to "nudge" the bot like .play to reconnect it.
Switch music bots or restart the one you’re using if disconnects persist. Bots can sometimes get overloaded and crash.
Make sure your internet is stable. Any connection drops will interrupt music playback. Consider switching WiFi networks or turning off bandwidth-heavy apps if needed.

Music Bot Not Responding

The bot may not have permission to connect to voice channels. Make sure it has the proper role permissions.
Try restarting the bot or kicking it from your server and re-inviting it to reset things. Bots can get stuck sometimes.
Use the bot’s recommended troubleshooting steps if available, like the !debug command for Rythm bot.

Optimizing Audio Settings

Lower bitrate settings in Discord and your music bot for slower connections. This reduces audio quality slightly.
Turn off any audio enhancements like noise cancellation that could cause latency.
Use Discord’s "Automatic Gain Control" to normalize audio levels and prevent loud spikes.
Adjust your operating system’s default sound settings. Turning off audio enhancements helps.

With some tweaking of your Discord voice settings and music bot configurations, you can usually resolve any playback issues that arise when playing music together. Be prepared to experiment with different troubleshooting steps to optimize the listening experience.

FAQs

How do I give my music bot permissions?

Most music bots like Groovy and Rythm require certain permissions to function properly on your Discord server. You’ll need to ensure the bot has access to connect to voice channels, send messages, embed links, read message history, and more. Check your specific bot’s documentation for the recommended permissions. Typically you can authorize these permissions when adding the bot to your server.

What should I do about copyrighted music?

Playing copyrighted music in your Discord server can potentially get your account suspended. Most music bots try to avoid issues by only using YouTube videos, but problems can still occur. One option is to ensure everyone in your server has the rights/subscription to play the copyrighted music. Alternatively, focus on playing copyright-free music or songs from creative commons sources. Ultimately it’s best to educate your users and moderate carefully.

Where can I find command references for music bots?

Most Discord music bots offer extensive references for all their supported commands. Check the bot’s official website or documentation for a full list of commands. For example:

Refer to these guides to learn all the commands for queues, playlists, filters, administrative functions, and much more.

Conclusion

Discord has so many great options for listening to music together with your friends or communities. Throughout this guide, we covered the main methods available:

Using music bots – These handy bots like Groovy, Rythm and FredBoat allow you to queue up millions of songs with just a few commands. They’re easy to setup and provide advanced DJ controls.
Integrating Spotify – Connect your Spotify account to share songs and playlists directly in Discord. Seamlessly listen together in voice channels.
YouTube music – Queue up all your favorite YouTube music videos and playlists using bots or screensharing.
Sharing computer audio – On desktop, you can share your system’s audio playing from media apps and browsers. Mobile users can share phone audio too.
Mobile apps – The Discord mobile apps make it easy to join voice channels on the go and share your phone’s music library.

No matter which method you choose, listening together on Discord can be an absolute blast. We highly recommend trying out some of these music features on your own servers. Experiment with different bots, playlists and voice channel settings to optimize the experience. Discover new favorite tunes together and bond over shared music interests. Enjoy the ability to quickly play anything at the click of a button or command. Most importantly, have fun jamming out with your friends on Discord!

Related Keywords

Discord music bots are a popular way to stream tunes in your server. With bots like Rythm, Groovy, and FredBoat, you can access millions of songs just by typing a few commands. These handy bots allow you to queue up playlists, adjust volume, skip tracks, and more.

When it comes to playing Spotify music in Discord, the official Spotify integration is a handy feature. You can connect your Spotify account to share songs, playlists, and control playback right from Discord. It provides another great option for listening together with friends on voice channels.

If you prefer tracks from YouTube then you have a couple choices. Use a YouTube music bot to queue up all your favorite songs, or try screen sharing your YouTube tab’s audio. Both methods allow you to access YouTube’s massive music library.

For sharing your computer’s local music files and audio, Discord’s system audio streaming is quite useful. You can broadcast music from media players like iTunes or Spotify using this method. It’s perfect for listening to your personal music collection together.

On mobile devices, you can join Discord voice chats and play music too. The mobile apps let you connect to music bots or share your phone’s audio just like on desktop. Mobile-optimized bots like Rythm provide a smooth listening experience.

With all these options for playing tunes on Discord, you may run into occasional issues like laggy audio or disconnections. Troubleshooting steps like adjusting voice settings, reinstalling bots, or restarting Discord can help resolve many problems.

If you need any help setting up music bots, connecting Spotify, or sharing your audio, there are many useful Discord guides and FAQs available. Music bot docs provide command references while Discord support covers the basics of voice channels.

So whether you want to rock out to curated playlists, spin your favorite vinyl records, or belt out karaoke songs, Discord has you covered. With this guide, you’ll be a pro at streaming music and engaging with friends in no time. Discord’s amazing music features offer endless ways to liven up your server.