Spotify rolls out music videos
Music streaming giant Spotify is dipping its toes into the world of music videos with a new beta feature. Currently available only in select markets and for Premium subscribers, the feature allows users to watch music videos for supported songs directly within the Spotify app.
While the library is limited at launch, featuring artists like Ed Sheeran and Doja Cat, Spotify promises "thousands" of music videos to be added eventually.
Accessing music videos is simple. On the Now Playing screen for supported tracks, a "Switch to Video" button appears. Tapping it restarts the song and begins playing the music video. Users can switch to fullscreen on mobile devices and return to the audio-only interface with a dedicated "Switch to Audio" button.
The initial rollout is limited to eleven markets including the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya. Spotify says these markets were chosen strategically based on factors like market size and local content availability.
This new feature expands on Spotify's existing support for video content, which includes video podcasts and short artist videos called Clips. By offering music videos, Spotify hopes to provide artists with another avenue to connect with listeners and foster deeper engagement.
My Thoughts
This is a BIG deal, and perhaps such a big deal that it could, if executed correctly, give YouTube a run for its money. Of course, it won’t be easy to pull the current majority of music video watchers from YouTube, but that’s not to say it can’t be done. If anyone is ever going to do it, it’s going to be Spotify. Afterall, they’ve been trying to compete with YouTube in the video space for a long while now since the music streamer introduced podcast videos just a few years back.
I’m a Spotify user. I know they get a bad rap when it comes to not supporting artists as well as they should due to low payouts per stream, but I’d argue there’s no other streaming platform out there that does more for an artist. The fact that it’s so easy to put your music on the platform, advertise and sell merch, sell tickets to shows and get discovered, and now provide another way to share your content (that is music videos) with your monthly listeners, I’d say Spotify is 1000% better than what people and artists give them credit for. And the best part? These helpful features won’t be the last.