Video content will initially be available only on Android devices, with iOS support to be added by the end of next week, the first week of February. The service will be available only in the US to start with, but plans to distribute content to the UK, Germany and Sweden are in the pipeline. Video content will be available only on the mobile apps and not the web player or desktop apps.
Spotify announced in May 2015 that it planned to bring videos and podcasts to its service and had partnered with several digital content providers including Comedy Central, the BBC and ESPN.
Spotify’s vice president of product Shiva Rajaraman has said the company has been testing video - mainly short clips - on its apps over the past several months. Some companies have been looking into making music-themed series specifically for Spotify, in a similar vein to Netflix and Amazon’s original programming.
Rajaraman has also said that video is expected to be delivered in various compartments, such as “News of the Week” or “Laughs at Lunch”, after finding during the beta period that it was giving users too many ways to find video content.
Spotify has announced that video content will be available to all users - including those using the free, ad-supported tier - giving it an estimated total user base of 100m. Rajaraman added: “This is fundamentally about giving music fans what they want.
“We are doing fine on monetisation. This is primarily a demand play.”
Rival streaming services Tidal and Apple Music offer curated video content and music videos as part of their paid subscriptions.
