Spotify has included music videos in its mobile and desktop applications in certain markets. These music videos are seamlessly integrated with the company’s music library, allowing users to effortlessly switch between audio and video content on their devices.
As of now, music videos are only available in beta in 11 selected countries, with the United States not being part of the initial release. The countries where music videos are currently accessible are Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Poland, Philippines, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Sten Garmark, Spotify’s VP Global Head of Consumer Experience, stated in an email, “For this beta rollout, we chose these markets based on a number of criteria including market size and the availability of local content support. Stay tuned as we hope to expand the catalog of music videos and increase availability to more countries.”
To access music videos, users must reside in one of these countries and have an active premium subscription. Free users will still need to visit YouTube to watch music videos.
The process of playing music videos is straightforward. Instead of having a separate section within the app for browsing videos, users can start playing a music video directly from the “Now Playing” screen. When listening to a song with a corresponding music video, tapping on the “Switch to Video” button will transition the content to video mode.
The music video begins playing from the start, replacing the album artwork. To view the video in full screen, users can rotate their phones to landscape mode.
Unlike embedding YouTube videos or collaborating with third-party companies, Spotify hosts these videos directly and serves them to users without any advertisements. The company did not provide details on royalties when comparing music video streams to audio plays.
If users wish to return to background listening, they can tap on the “Switch to Audio” button to switch off the video. Additionally, if they watch the entire music video, Spotify will automatically play the next audio track in the queue.
On the desktop version, music videos are displayed in the right-hand column along with details about the current track and artist. Spotify has also extended this feature to TV platforms, making it accessible on various devices like Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, gaming consoles, and smart TVs.
Initially, Spotify will offer a limited selection of music videos, but the company plans to expand its video library in the future through distribution agreements.
“In our initial beta rollout, we’re starting with a limited subset of the full catalog, which includes thousands of music videos. Within this subset, we aimed to prioritize a wide range of genres and artists across our launch markets,” said Garmark.
This introduction of music videos by Spotify comes at an interesting time, especially with Universal Music Group withdrawing its songs from TikTok due to royalty disputes. By incorporating music videos, Spotify is enhancing its app with more visual content alongside Clips (short artist videos) and Canvas (looping album artwork).
Moreover, Spotify is aligning itself with other streaming platforms as YouTube Music offers music videos when searching for a song or viewing an artist’s page. Apple Music also features music videos in a dedicated section on each artist’s page, although transitioning between audio and video content is not as seamless as on Spotify.
Image Credits: Spotify
