Are Spotify experimenting with music videos?
Rumours lead to Spotify expanding their video content on the app with music videos potentially coming soon.
Jane Wong took a dive into the source code of the latest Spotify update and found different options for showing content while listening to music, including the usual album art, Canvas (short looping visuals) and a new video player (maybe hosting full music videos). Users can switch tabs to choose their desired listening/watching method.
This isn’t unexpected from the music and podcast streaming platform. Spotify have been experimenting with video with the recent inclusion of Canvas, but some listeners prefer to not be distracted by data-eating visuals on the platform. A tabbed approach to music, visuals and music videos could be the right solution to appease all users.
Spotify’s move here appears to be in direct combat with YouTube Music, as the evolution of Google Play Music bring streaming music and music videos to millions of new users. YouTube Music has amassed over one billion downloads. The inclusion of music videos on Spotify may be a smart move to not lose subscribers to YouTube.
The feature is not live yet and this could just be Spotify internally testing new features, but it’s a promising sign for those excited by the idea of music videos directly on Spotify. Some of you may remember a few years ago when Spotify had a bunch of news shows and cartoons on their mobile app.