Q: I’m unclear whether this application requires that Spotify already be running. I’m looking for an app that will play Spotify from my menu bar.

Skip Tunes automatically skips, plays, or pauses whatever media is being played. If Spotify was previously playing then Skip Tunes will cue up Spotify. However, if you are using iTunes for music or movies then Spotify will need to be opened in order to cue up a song, as Skip Tunes will skip, play, or pause iTunes while it is being used.