Indonesia & Philippines among 11 countries beta-testing Spotify’s music video feature

Looks like Spotify has followed the steps of competitors YouTube Music and Apple Music in venturing into a more visual approach: music videos.

Vice President and Head of Music Product at Spotify Charlie Hellman, mentions “Music videos play a key role in hooking you: taking you from being a listener to leaning in and becoming a fan.”

He goes on to add how they are “an important part of so many artists’ tool kits, and it’s a natural fit for them to live in the same place that more than half a billion people choose to listen to music.”

The new feature, which rolled out on March 13, is currently undergoing beta testing and is exclusively available to premium subscribers in 11 countries including Indonesia and the Philippines.

Joining the two Asian countries are the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, and Kenya.

For premium subscribers in the above countries, accessing music videos is pretty straightforward. Instead of going to a different part of the app to find them, you can start watching them right from the "Now Playing" screen and simply toggle between audio and video modes.

Though you’re halfway through listening to a song, music videos will start playing from the start of the track. If you want to watch in fullscreen mode, simply rotate your phone sideways.

On computers, music videos show up on the right side along with details about the song and artist — a feature which is also available on TVs.

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Unlike simply embedding YouTube videos, Spotify hosts the music videos directly, ensuring an ad-free experience for users. This approach aligns with Spotify's broader strategy of providing a seamless and immersive music streaming experience.

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However, the streaming giant has not clarified whether the royalty system would differ for artists between getting their songs played in an audio stream or in video format.

So far, the music video catalogue seems quite limited and only features global hitmakers such as Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Ice Spice, Aluna, and Asake. The company hopes to expand its list to include more artists plus roll out the feature in more countries.

Via: For the Record & TechCrunch

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.