Spotify is taking the next step toward becoming a video platform, announcing on Tuesday (October 15) that it will expand music video streaming to 85 new markets.
Spotify did not specify which countries or regions are included in the rollout, but noted that the new offer is only available to Premium subscribers and comes with a “limited catalog of music videos.”
The Sweden-headquartered company initially announced the launch of music videos in beta back in March, when it offered the service in 11 countries – the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Kenya. Later it added Egypt to the list.
Spotify said in a blog post that music videos drive engagement on the platform, citing data showing that users who discovered the song and then watched the video 34% Users who only stream audio are more likely to stream the song again in the next week. The song discovered through the music video is twenty four% Spotify says it’s more likely to be streamed or shared next week.
Spotify has also expanded music video functionality, including a new tab indicating that a given song has a video option. Music videos will now also appear in search results.
In addition, users will be able to switch “seamlessly” between video and audio-only versions of tracks, Spotify says, meaning if the user switches from audio to video, the song will play at the same point in the video.
If the user tilts the mobile device to landscape mode, the video will also appear full screen.
Spotify said it plans to roll out the music video feature in more markets and further expand the music video feature.
The move is the latest sign that Spotify aims to improve the value it offers subscribers as it raises prices in numerous markets around the world.
Earlier this year, co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek Spotify uses a “value-to-price ratio” to determine whether it can raise prices in a specific market, it said.
“As long as we can deliver more value to consumers, then we should be able to increase pricing.”
Daniel Me, Spotify
“As long as we can bring more value to consumers, then we should be able to increase pricing,” Ek said on the earnings call.
Spotify has held prices steady for a decade as it built its user base, and last year implemented its first price increase in what became a series of price hikes in a number of markets, including the U.S., U.K. and Europe.
“When user growth…slows down…then price increases become [an] A more important tool in the toolbox,” Ek said on the earnings call.
In order to improve its “cost-effectiveness”, Spotify has expanded into various new media in recent years, including podcasts and audiobooks. It launched a video version of the podcast globally in 2020.
However, not everything Spotify does in this regard has met with approval from the music industry. The company’s decision to bundle audiobooks with music in its premium subscriptions met with resistance from U.S. music rights holders, where DSPs can pay lower mechanical royalties for bundled music.
The decision is now the subject of litigation Machinery Licensing Collective (MLC), which collects mechanical royalties from digital service providers in the United States.
May, national music publishers association (State Drug Administration) sent a letter to Spotify warning the streaming service of failing to obtain licenses for lyrics, videos and podcasts that appear on the service.global music business
