Spotify Starts Rolling Out Music Videos To Premium Subscribers, But Some Of Us Must Wait

Spotify is following in the footsteps of Apple Music and YouTube Music by delving into the world of music videos. The streaming giant has announced that it is bringing official music videos to its platform. The library is limited at the moment, even though it covers global faces like Doja Cat and Ed Sheeran, alongside some local artists. However, the company says it will expand the video catalog in the near future.

The test was spotted about three months ago by a Reddit user, even though the full video playback system wasn't functional yet. The approach is similar to YouTube Music, where you get a button at the top to switch between "song" and "video" modes. On Spotify, users will see a "Switch to video" or "Switch to Audio" button right above the song title on the playback page.

Video watching will be supported across both portrait and horizontal viewing modes. However, Spotify hasn't shared whether users will be able to download these videos and if there will be options to adjust the video resolution based on the network bandwidth available. As far as platforms go, music videos on Spotify will work just fine on mobile apps (Android and iOS), desktop clients, and smart TVs.

The shift to video is remarkable, but there are a few caveats. Right now, music videos are exclusive to Spotify Premium users. YouTube Music, on the other hand, allows video watching for non-paying users but throws ads into the mix while disabling perks like offline downloads and background play. Will artists get an extra payout for video streams? That remains a mystery. 

Another major disappointment is that music videos are currently a beta feature and are limited to users in a handful of markets. Spotify says it will start offering the audio-video switch to "Premium users in the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya" in the initial phase. Major markets like North America, one of the biggest contributors in terms of revenue as well as user base, have been excluded from the initial rollout.

Moreover, the company hasn't offered a solid timeline regarding the release of its new music video feature in the U.S. and other markets. On the positive side, the video push will also add some new elements to the UI, such as a "Related Video" carousel to discover more music videos relevant to the one you're currently watching. It would be interesting if the same treatment is given to playlists, allowing users to create a public or private playlist of videos.