Spotify has its own speaker icon, next to the volume slider in the Now Playing bar, and picking a device there sends Spotify's audio straight to it over your network, skipping your Mac's own audio system entirely. That is different from setting an output at the macOS level, and mixing the two up is why Spotify sometimes seems to ignore whatever routing you have set elsewhere.
This matters most when you want Spotify on one speaker and everything else, calls, videos, notification sounds, on another. It looks like a job for your Mac's own per-app routing, and often it is. But Spotify runs its own separate routing system underneath, and the two can end up fighting over the same speaker without any error message telling you why.
What the Spotify Connect icon actually does
Click the speaker icon in Spotify and you get a list of devices: your Mac ("This Computer"), plus anything on your network that Spotify recognises, AirPlay 2 speakers, Chromecast-enabled devices, Sonos systems, smart speakers and soundbars that carry Spotify Connect certification. Pick one of those, and Spotify streams to it directly over Wi-Fi. Your Mac does not process or forward that audio. It is Spotify's app talking straight to the speaker, the same way it would from your phone.
That is a genuinely useful shortcut when the speaker is on the list. There is no output to set, no app to install, and switching rooms is one click inside Spotify itself. The catch is that this only ever happens for Spotify. Every other app on your Mac, Zoom, a browser tab, Music, system alerts, still goes through your Mac's normal audio output, with no relationship to whatever Spotify Connect is doing.
Where it conflicts with your Mac's own routing
The confusing part shows up when Spotify Connect is left pointed at a device and you then try to route Spotify a different way at the macOS level, through Sound settings, AirPlay from Control Center, or an app like Chorus. None of that has any effect while Spotify Connect is active, because Spotify never hands that audio to your Mac in the first place. There is nothing for macOS to intercept or redirect. From the Mac's side, it looks like Spotify has simply gone quiet.
This is the actual mechanism behind a common complaint: "I set Spotify's output in my routing app and it's still coming out of the wrong speaker." The routing app did its job. Spotify Connect just was not asking it. The fix is always the same: open Spotify's own speaker icon and set it back to This Computer. Once Spotify is playing through your Mac like any other app, whatever you have set at the macOS level takes over again.
Every feature free for 30 days. No account, no card details.
Download for MacWhat Spotify Connect can't reach
Spotify Connect's device list is built from Spotify's own compatibility work, not from whatever your Mac happens to be connected to. It covers AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Sonos and Connect-certified speakers and soundbars, and stops there. A USB DAC, an audio interface, a specific pair of powered monitors, or a Multi-Output Device you built yourself in Audio MIDI Setup will never show up, because Spotify Connect has no idea those devices exist. It only knows about the short list it was built to support.
That is the real line between the two systems. Spotify Connect is for sending Spotify to a speaker Spotify already recognises, and nothing else. Getting Spotify onto an arbitrary output, one that is not on that list, or one you want mixed in with how the rest of your Mac's audio is routed, is a macOS-level job, which is what per-app routing is for.
Using Chorus alongside Spotify Connect
The two are not competing for the same job, so there is no need to pick one permanently. When Spotify Connect covers the speaker you want, its own picker is the simpler route: one click inside Spotify, no setup, and the audio never touches your Mac's own routing at all. When it does not, a USB-connected interface, a Multi-Output Device, or any output outside Spotify's supported list, set Spotify Connect to This Computer and hand the job to Chorus instead.
With Spotify Connect out of the way, Chorus lists Spotify like any other app playing audio and lets you assign it a real output directly, separate from what everything else on the Mac is doing. That assignment is remembered the next time Spotify launches, so music keeps going to the right place without checking Spotify's own picker every time. Chorus does not add anything to Spotify's own AirPlay or Chromecast support, and it is not trying to. It is there for the outputs Spotify's own picker cannot reach.
A quick way to check which one is in control
If Spotify is not coming out where you expect, check Spotify's speaker icon before anything else. If it names a specific device, that is where the audio is actually going, regardless of any routing set elsewhere. If it says This Computer, Spotify is behaving like a normal app, and your Mac's own output, or an assignment set in Chorus, is what decides where the sound comes out. That one check resolves most of the "it's ignoring my settings" reports, because it usually is not ignoring anything: it is following a different setting altogether.
For exactly how the device picker works, see Spotify's own Spotify Connect guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is Spotify Connect and how is it different from my Mac's own audio output?
Spotify Connect is the speaker icon inside Spotify's own player. It lets Spotify stream directly to a supported speaker over your network, without going through your Mac's audio output at all. Your Mac's Sound settings and apps like Chorus control a separate thing: which output your Mac itself sends audio to. When Spotify Connect is pointed at a device, Spotify bypasses that entirely.
Why does Spotify keep playing on the wrong speaker even after I change my Mac's output?
Because Spotify Connect is still set to a device, and it takes priority over whatever your Mac is set to. Changing your Mac's output, or an app's output inside Chorus, only affects audio that actually passes through your Mac. Open Spotify's speaker icon and check it says "This Computer" if you want your Mac's own routing back in control.
Can Spotify Connect send audio to a USB DAC or a Multi-Output Device?
No. Spotify Connect only lists devices Spotify has built specific support for, mainly AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Sonos and a handful of Connect-certified speakers and soundbars. A USB DAC, an audio interface, or a Multi-Output Device you built in Audio MIDI Setup will never appear in that list, because Spotify Connect does not talk to arbitrary Mac hardware at all.
Does Chorus work with Spotify Connect, or do I have to pick one?
The two do different jobs, so use whichever one fits the speaker. For a speaker Spotify Connect already supports, its own picker is simpler and needs no setup. For anything else, a USB DAC, a specific pair of speakers, or a Multi-Output Device, set Spotify Connect to "This Computer" and let Chorus send Spotify's app audio to that output instead.
What's the easiest way to send Spotify to one speaker while everything else stays on another?
Set Spotify Connect to "This Computer" so Spotify behaves like any other app, then open Chorus and assign Spotify its own output from the per-app list. Everything else on the Mac keeps playing through your default speaker, and Spotify's assignment is remembered the next time it launches.
