Spotify to launch video streaming this week

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Spotify will start showing video content from selected third-party partners this week as the company tries to broaden its appeal beyond straight music streaming in the face of strong competition from rivals. The first video content on the platform will only be available to Android users in the US, UK, Germany and Sweden, but iOS users will have to wait until next week.

Spotify has been gradually testing video on its apps over the past several months with less than 10% of its users in the four launch markets, said Shiva Rajaraman, Spotify’s vice president of product. The content mostly consists of short clips (think snippets from “Jimmy Kimmel Live”), though some companies, like Tastemade, are also developing original, music-themed series specifically for Spotify.

It’s not clear exactly what content will be available at launch, but last year, Spotify announced a number of partners including the BBC, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, and Vice News. The WSJ says that the video service currently consists of mostly short clips, and mentions shows including Jimmy Kimmel Liveand Maker Studios’ popular web series Epic Rap Battles. Rajaraman says that Spotify wants its content partners to curate their offerings for the music service, and that the app will present video content sorted into accessible categories like “News of the Week” and “Laughs for Lunch.”

Much as Spotify makes money by selling an ad-free subscription service, or by showing ads to nonsubscribers. The new video content will be available to all users. “This [launch] is fundamentally about giving music fans what they want,” Mr. Rajaraman told WSJ “We are doing fine on monetization. This is primarily a demand play.”

Here is a Youtube video that shows hints on the video streaming service

https://youtu.be/N_tsgbQt42Q

This service will definitely please music fans but good curation will be a key to its’ service’s success.

Credit: Wall Street Journal