Where streaming services are concerned, Spotify and Netflix are without doubt the two most popular names in their respective fields of music and video streaming. Netflix got 2016 off to a good start by launching in 130 new countries during CES 2016 earlier this month. Now, Spotify looks set to expand their offerings as well, but rather than expand globally, they’re to introduce a new feature and new content to go with it; video.
This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Spotify branch out beyond just music, as last year they introduced select podcasts alongside their massive music catalogue, and at the same time they outlined plans for a video addition to the platform. This new platform is said to be launching this week, if the Wall Street Journal has their facts straight. When the video part of the service was outlined last Summer, it was said to be launching in four markets: the UK, the US, Germany and Sweden. Content is to be provided by networks from all over the world like the BBC, Comedy Central, Vice Media and Maker Studios (the same firm behind YouTube star PewDiePie’s new YouTube network). This content seems to be smaller snippets of larger content, rather than a fullblown Netflix solution, but shorter content should complement music better than a Netflix option.
Shiva Rajaraman, Spotify’s VP of Product, told the WSJ that users were more inclined to watch a video if it were contextually-relevant to the music they were listening to. It appears as though Spotify’s video offerings will follow a similar path as their playlists will, by offering certain content at certain times and recommending curated content based on your previous choices and such. In the four markets that will go live at launch, 10% of Spotify’s users have been able to test the new content, and Shiva Rajaraman says that the company is still learning on how to present this new content, but bundling videos together into packages seems to work well. It appears as though the rest of Spotify’s 20 Million subscribers won’t need to wait too much longer to get their hands on even more content from the green app.