How it works

notch.fm and Spotify

notch.fm is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Spotify, and it is not made or reviewed by them. This page is the complete account of what it does with a Spotify account you connect, and what it will not do.

Last reviewed 13 September 2026

You do not need Spotify to use notch.fm. Rating, tagging, comments, playlists and every chart built on them work on an account with nothing connected at all. Connecting a service is what makes the songs play.

What it reads#

Only what it uses. Each of these maps to something you can see on screen, and nothing is read speculatively or kept for later.

Your saved songs: The library you rate. Read once when you connect, then on demand when you press refresh.
Track and album details: Title, artist, album, year, length and cover art, so a song you are rating looks like itself.
What is playing now: The current track and its position, so a score lands on the right song and a comment can be pinned to a moment in it.
Search results: Only when you type a search. Nothing is searched in the background.

What it writes, and only when you press something#

Saving a like. The heart on a song writes that like back to your Spotify library, because that is where you would expect to find it later.
Creating a playlist. When you build one from your ratings and choose to push it across.
Playback. Play, pause and skip act on your own account, on the device you already have open.

There is no background writing of any kind. notch.fm does not follow artists for you, does not reorder anything you did not reorder, and never writes a rating into Spotify - a score is notch.fm’s, and Spotify has nowhere to put it.

What it never does#

It hosts no music. Nothing is downloaded, stored or re-served. Audio plays from Spotify, on your account.
It sells no music. A notch.fm subscription buys notch.fm features. It is not a music licence and it does not include Spotify.
It does not read your Spotify social graph. Who you follow there is not who you follow here. Suggestions come from ratings people set by hand in notch.fm.

Why some buttons need Spotify Premium#

Starting, pausing and skipping a track through another app is something Spotify’s API allows for Premium accounts only. That is Spotify’s plan, not notch.fm’s, and paying notch.fm cannot change it.

On a free Spotify account everything else still works: rate, tag, comment, build playlists and read every chart. You press play in Spotify and notch.fm follows along.

Taking it back#

Disconnecting is one button in Settings, and it takes effect immediately. You can also revoke access from Spotify’s own side at any time, without asking us, at spotify.com/account/apps.

Your ratings, tags, comments and playlists are notch.fm’s own and survive disconnecting. What stops is the music playing.

Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB. notch.fm is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Spotify.