The device, which launched in 2022 and costs $90, enabled users to have Spotify playback in older car models has been scrapped and will be no longer supported from December 9.

The streaming giant said: "We're switching gears.

"As of December 9th, 2024, Car Thing will be discontinued, and will stop operating. While this chapter is closing, we're working on new, innovative ways to enhance your drives in the future. Thank you for being on this journey with us, safe travels."

The demise of Car Thing comes after Spotify quietly removed its lyrics feature from its free version.

The app used to offer the in-sync lyrics feature to all users, whether they paid a monthly subscription fee or used the ad-based service, but as of early May 2023, it has a feature that has been quietly granted to just premium customers.

Free users now see a message that reads: "Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium."

Towards the end of 2023, Spotify had been giving free users a "monthly limit" of lyrics access and explained at the time that it was "only a test" to see what impact the change had.

CJ Stanley, Spotify’s co-head of global communications said: "At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning, In keeping with our standard practices, we’re currently testing this with a limited number of users in a pair of markets."