Spotify has begun rolling out music videos as a beta feature exclusively for its Premium subscribers in eleven countries, with more to follow later.
A March 13 press release in the Spotify Newsroom says visuals drive engagement with users sharing, saving or adding songs to playlists “at a higher rate.”
Music videos from Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, Ice Spice and others are rolling out to Premium subscribers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Kenya.
How to watch music videos on Spotify
To watch a music video, start playing a song in the Spotify app on your iPhone, iPad, Android, desktop or TV device and touch the Switch to Video toggle.
If the toggle is missing, the selected song lacks a music video on Spotify. In that case, check back later as Spotify is constantly growing its catalog of music videos.
The music video will start playing from the beginning within the Now Playing view. To watch the video in fullscreen mode, simply turn your device upside down to landscape mode. To return to background listening, hit Switch to Audio.
A beta feature designed to drive engagement
Music videos are a beta feature so expect quirks. Based on user feedback, Spotify will continue iterating the feature, expanding the catalog of music videos and bringing it to more users and countries. When the company concludes the feature is ready for prime, music videos will lose the beta tag.
The leading music service is playing catch-up to Apple Music, which has had music videos since its inception even if they are something of an afterthought.
Spotify wants to turn music videos into a vehicle for subscription growth because they’re locked behind a Premium subscription, which may not be the best way to go.
On the other hand, Spotify’s rival in Cupertino is working to simplify switching from Spotify to Apple Music. To that end, the company is working on a feature letting Apple Music subscribers import libraries and playlists from rival services.