Spotify to Test Full Music Videos for Premium Subscribers in Potential YouTube Faceoff

Music videos will be available to premium users in the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and some other countries in beta starting on Wednesday,

By Reuters | Updated: 13 March 2024 17:40 IST

Highlights

Spotify aims to reach 1 billion users by 2030
Spotify's new plan faces competition from Apple Music and YouTube
The streaming service also offers podcasts and audiobooks

Spotify to Test Full Music Videos for Premium Subscribers in Potential YouTube Faceoff

Spotify's roll-out will include a limited catalog of music videos

Photo Credit: Reuters

Swedish music streaming company Spotify is rolling out full-length music videos in a limited beta launch for premium subscribers, venturing into an arena that YouTube has dominated for nearly two decades.

Music videos will be available to premium users in the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya, in beta starting on Wednesday, the company said, as it attempts to grow its user base.

While it aims to reach 1 billion users by 2030, Spotify's new plan faces competition from Apple Music and Alphabet's YouTube, which allows users to watch music videos for free.

Spotify Will Allow In-App Purchases in Europe via iPhone in March

Spotify's roll-out will include a "limited catalog of music videos, including hits from global artists like Ed Sheeran ... or local favorites like Aluna," it said.

In March last year, Spotify had introduced "clips", under-30-second vertical videos that are uploaded directly to Spotify for artists.

The company has also expanded its offerings to include podcasts and audiobooks in a bid to attract more users.

Spotify to Launch Ad Marketplace for Podcasts in India, Other Select Countries

In February, it forecast premium subscribers would reach 239 million in the current quarter, above estimates of 238.3 million.

In January, Spotify said users in Europe would be able to buy audiobooks and subscription plans from within the music-streaming app from March as a result of the region's new competition law for Big Tech.

The move would help the company avoid Apple's 30 percent fee for purchases through its App Store, which has long been a source of contention between app developers and the tech giant.

Spotify has for years been in embroiled in a legal battle, alleging that it was forced to raise the price of its monthly subscriptions to cover costs tied to Apple's App Store rules.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.