On iOS? This feature is new in iOS 13, so there was no way Spotify could have offered this capability before, right? Of course, there is no such limitation for Apple's apps.
Background transfer service could do this. Also, background fetch and background notifications both allowed arbitrary background execution, but only up to 30 seconds.
This feature replaces background fetch.
I'm not complaining about this feature, I'm talking about overall feeling of their priorities. It took them ages to have an Apple Watch up with folks like VOX had it no time.
Their priorities are unclear, highly voted feature take ages to appear in the apps, the apps itself look like compromise and attempt to save on developers and reuse as much of web version as possible. It just doesn't feel like a carefully designed experience.
I'm not saying Apple Music is perfect or anybody else, I just choose the less annoying thing for myself.