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Spotify has announced adding full music videos to its platforms, amid a flurry of new features. The music streaming giant, however, clarified that the beta phase would only be rolled out to a handful of countries for Premium subscribers.
U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya are among the markets which will get access to this new feature.
The beta version of music videos on Spotify was released on Wednesday (March 13) with a limited catalog of music videos, including hits from global artists like Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, and Ice Spice, or local favorites like Aluna and Asake.
Listeners can head to their iOS, Android, desktop, or TV devices and select the “Switch to Video” toggle for supported music tracks. Then, the music video will start playing from the beginning within the Now Playing view.
It will also allow users to watch videos in full screen by turning their mobile device to watch in landscape mode.
In a statement posted on Spotify’s website, Vice President and Head of Music Product Charlie Hellman said: “So many times in my own experience and for countless others, music videos play a key role in hooking you: taking you from being a listener to leaning in and becoming a fan.
“They’re an important part of so many artists’ tool kits, and it’s a natural fit for them to live in the same place that more than half a billion people choose to listen to music,” he added.
It comes as Spotify revealed that it would cut 17% of its workforce in December 2023.
A potentially positive year ahead for Spotify
Despite the job losses, Spotify stock went up around 11% after the announcement. CEO Daniel Ek stated at the time, “Over the last two years, we’ve put significant emphasis on building Spotify into a truly great and sustainable business – one designed to achieve our goal of being the world’s leading audio company and one that will consistently drive profitability and growth into the future.”
It aims to cut operating costs at a time when capital costs are increasing, undoing several investments made during 2020 and 2021. Ek continued: “We now find ourselves in a very different environment. And despite our efforts to reduce costs this past year, our cost structure for where we need to be is still too big.”
Featured image: Canva
