No — Spotify doesn't have a built-in music visualizer, on the TV app, on desktop or on phones. People have asked for one for years: the idea to add visuals for desktop and TV on Spotify's community board was first posted in 2020 and has more than 1,400 votes.
The way to get one is a visualizer that listens to what Spotify is playing. Run it on a laptop and send the picture to the TV.
What Spotify shows instead
On the TV app you get the album art and the track. On phones and desktop, some songs have Canvas: a short looping clip the artist uploaded. Canvas is the same few seconds every time — it doesn't move to the sound — and plenty of tracks don't have one.
Tips that circulate online, like typing a hidden command into the desktop app to open a visualizer, stopped working years ago.
If Spotify plays through a speaker or the TV
Spotify Connect to a Sonos, a Bluetooth speaker, the TV's own app — it doesn't matter. The laptop's microphone hears the room.
- Open dancyants.com on a laptop in Chrome, Edge or Brave, in the same room as the music.
- Choose the microphone when it asks how to listen, and allow it.
- Send the picture to the TV — HDMI and Send to Screen 2, or AirPlay from a Mac. See the TV guide.
- Press play on Spotify as usual.
If the TV's own Spotify app is playing and Dancy Ants is on the same TV, the TV is showing the laptop — so the music needs to come from somewhere else. Easiest: play Spotify on the laptop (below), and let the sound go to the TV over the same HDMI cable.
If Spotify plays on the laptop
Use Listen to this computer. It takes the sound straight from the laptop, which is cleaner than a microphone.
- Spotify in the browser (open.spotify.com): share that tab and tick Share tab audio. Works in Chrome, Edge and Brave.
- The Spotify app: share the whole screen with its sound. That works on Windows, and on macOS 14.2 or later with a recent Chrome or Brave.
Only the sound is used. The screen-share picker is just the browser's way of asking permission; the picture is thrown away, and the sound never leaves the laptop.
Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, SoundCloud
Exactly the same. Dancy Ants doesn't connect to any music service — it listens — so it works with all of them, and with music that isn't streamed at all.
A record player
A turntable is the easiest case: put the laptop in the room, choose the microphone, drop the needle. If your amplifier has a line or record out, an audio interface plugged into the laptop gives it a cleaner signal.
Questions
How do I turn on the Spotify visualizer?
There isn't one to turn on. Spotify's apps don't include a visualizer; use one that listens to the music instead.
Does Dancy Ants connect to my Spotify account?
No. It never sees your account or what you're playing — only the sound. That's also why it works with Spotify Free.
Is my audio uploaded anywhere?
No. The sound is analysed on your laptop and never leaves it.
Does it work with Spotify on my phone?
Yes, as long as the phone's sound comes out of a speaker in the room — the laptop hears it.