Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Entertainment

Spotify explores adding music videos to its streaming app

Spotify is reportedly in talks to adding full-length music videos to its streaming service.

The music streaming giant has yet to earn a profit
The music streaming giant has yet to earn a profit - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Joe Scarnici
The music streaming giant has yet to earn a profit - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Joe Scarnici

YouTube and TikTok need to watch out. Spotify is reportedly in talks to adding full-length music videos to its streaming service.

Testing full-length music videos

Bloomberg noted this would increase its competition with other streaming platforms and apps; moreover, it would allow its users to watch music as opposed to just listening to it, and that’s an added bonus.

As indicated by Engadget, the videos that are currently allowed on Spotify are limited to podcasts, half a minute storytelling clips (where artists can talk about their creative content), as well as 10-second GIFs, which loop while one is listening a particular tune.

According to Billboard, Spotify had launched a TikTok-Like Vertical Feed at Stream On back in early March, which is a swipeable, video-based interactive feed that automatically plays previews of music, podcasts and audiobooks for users; however, this was meant for users to discover new music and podcasts, as opposed to being geared towards viewing music videos.

As of last week, Spotify revealed that it has surpassed 100,000 podcasts with video.

Major layoffs in 2023

Earlier this year, in mid-January, it was reported that Spotify laid off six percent of its employees, which included Dawn Ostroff, its Chief Content Officer, as well as 200 employees in the podcast department.

All of these mass layoffs were due to a downturn in the economy, and also due to hiring sprees (From 2021 to 2022, Spotify had hired over 3,100 new employees).

Spotify wasn’t the only big tech that cut jobs in 2023, so did such corporations as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Music videos on Spotify: A blessing or a bane?

There has been pressure for Spotify to find new sources of income as well. With the inclusion of established music videos, that could help improve the company’s financial situation, especially since they do not require a large production team.

The video clips do supplement audio income, and have a chance of substantially improving visibility and exposure for recording artists and musicians.

On the other hand, music videos do not generate much direct revenue by themselves. They rely on revenue from the advertisements, and the money earned from those ads, would then subsequently have to be split amongst artists and record labels, as well as other parties.

Being a consumer of music and music videos, this music aficionado thinks that overall, if it this deal goes through, it would be a good move for the streaming service Spotify, and that would eventually translate with an increase in its number of users and its revenue, thus being a win-win for all.

Thus far, the music streaming giant Spotify has declined to comment, and it is unsure who would support this feature, or when it will take place.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 21,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

You may also like:

Social Media

Ottawa said Wednesday it is shutting TikTok's operations in Canada following a security review.

Social Media

Australia will move to pass new laws banning children under 16 from social media.

Business

Japanese automaker Nissan on Thursday announced 9,000 job cuts as it slashed its annual sales forecast.

Business

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point.