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.