Spotify has originated a beta test offering music videos to Spotify Premium users in 11 markets, excluding the United States.
This move plans to challenge YouTube’s dominance in music video streaming. The limited-catalog beta features videos from a host of artists, including Afrobeats star Asake. The other participating artists include Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Ice Spice, and Aluna.
The 11 launch markets included the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya.
The United States is a notable omission from the list, but Spotify had said in an official announcement that it “hopes to grow the catalog of music videos and bring the feature to more users and countries subsequently.”
In addition to this launch, Spotify is introducing a new way for premium users in these markets to experience music, watching music videos directly within the app.
The videos can be accessed on iOS, Android, desktop, and TV devices respectively. The platform has said it will keep innovating and recapitulating on its music video feature based on user and artist feedback, suggesting the experience will grow for the duration of the beta phase.
Spotify’s diversification into full-length music video content follows the introduction of its ‘Canvas’ feature back in 2019, which offered looping GIFs under 10 seconds, coinciding with the music playback.
The streaming platform had observed and revealed ton Wednesday hat Canvas visuals had been “shown to drive engagement, with users sharing, saving, or adding songs to playlists at an increased rate.”
