Spotify Users Can Watch Music Videos in 97 Countries Now
Written by djfrosty on October 15, 2024
Spotify subscribers in 97 countries will no longer have to leave the app to watch their favorite artists’ music videos, the company announced on Tuesday (Oct. 15).
The beta test, which started earlier this year in around a dozen countries — including the U.K., Germany, Brazil and Colombia — will also expand to South Korea soon. It has already been used by artists like LISA, Charli XCX, Fireboy DML and Fontaines D.C.
The feature is not currently available in the U.S. or Canada.
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In a world hooked on bite-sized clips from TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, music videos don’t have as much oomph as they used to. But Spotify’s announcement claimed that music videos on the app have helped bring listeners back for more.
“On average, listeners who discover a track with a music video on Spotify are 34% more likely to stream it again the following week,” the company wrote. “Plus, music videos inspire action — on average, tracks with videos are 24% more likely to be saved or shared.”
In recent years, Spotify has pushed to add visual components to its listening experience, in part to compete with longstanding rivals like YouTube as well as newer ones like TikTok. The platform added a swipe-able vertical feed in 2023 to make the app “feel alive,” as CEO Daniel Ek put it at Spotify’s Stream On event.
At the same presentation, Spotify discussed the launch of Clips, which lets artists add 30-second videos to their profiles. “We built Clips to give artists a platform that inspires fandom and long-term success, not quick hits of content that just tap into the latest meme,” the company explained in a video. “Clips… help drive metrics that really matter to your career, like saves, follows, and streams.”