YouTube has challenged Spotify by investing in music-based content and video podcasts. Now, Spotify is returning the favor. The audio platform’s Premium subscribers can now watch full-length music videos from major artists on the Spotify app.
Premium users can start watching videos by tapping a “switch to video” prompt on tracks that have a music video uploaded to Spotify. Mashable found available clips from many notable musicians, including Dua Lipa, Beyoncé, and Doja Cat. Music videos can also in a carousel that appears on Spotify’s artist pages.
Spotify already offered short-form snippets of music content through a vertical video format called Canvas, but it is now offering full-length music videos as well. Premium subscribers in 11 countries — Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Poland, Philippines, Sweden, and the United Kingdom — can access the new YouTube-style uploads. Spotify has not indicated when it might bring its long-form videos to other markets.
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“At Spotify, we know that the most powerful time to reach fans is when they’re engaging with the music,” Spotify Associate Director of Consumer Product Alex Bousquet told Mashable. “So Spotify is really the best place for fans to dive deeper into an artist’s music.”
Spotify has already made a significant investment in video content, and video podcasts in particular. It faces stiff competition from YouTube in that category. The Google-affiliated platform has helped its creators add long-form shows to their channels by publishing podcasting guides and developing new audio-related tools.
As YouTube leverages its creator base to compete in the world of podcasts, Spotify can apply its own advantages to its music video library. The audio app already has deals in place with labels for its streaming library, so it is unlikely to run into the sort of licensing issues that have plagued platforms like TikTok in recent months. So if you’re a Premium subscriber in one of the qualifying markets, now’s the time to check whether Spotify has stocked your favorite artist’s hit video.
