Spotify pilots video learning courses

The initiative is being piloted in the UK, and Spotify users will encounter video courses for purchase, spanning four main themes: making music, fostering creativity, mastering business skills and embracing healthy living.

BBC Maestro offers pre-recorded lessons across various disciplines, while PLAYvirtuoso provides artist-led music courses. Skillshare hosts a wide array of creative classes and Thinkific is a platform for creating and selling courses and digital products.

“Testing video courses in the UK allows us to explore an exciting opportunity to better serve the needs of our users who have an active interest in learning,” Spotify’s VP of Product Development, Babar Zafar, said. “Many of our users engage with podcasts and audiobooks on a daily basis for their learning needs, and we believe this highly engaged community will be interested in accessing and purchasing quality content from video course creators.”

According to the company, the introduction of video-based learning courses also presents an opportunity for educational creators to reach a broader audience, especially with about half of Spotify’s Premium subscribers already engaging with education or self-help-themed podcasts.

During this trial period, both UK Free users and Premium subscribers can sample at least two lessons per course for free before deciding to purchase additional content. These courses can be accessed and purchased via a dedicated web page.

To explore these courses, UK users can navigate through the mobile app’s home and browse tabs to find a selection of courses across the four categories. Upon selecting a course, users can purchase it on the desktop version, after which the content becomes accessible on both mobile and desktop platforms.

“At Spotify, we’re constantly striving to create new offerings for our creators and users, and having built best-in-class personalised music and podcast offerings, we look forward to exploring the potential of video-based learning on Spotify,” Zafar said.

Earlier this month, Spotify started incorporating music videos into its mobile and desktop applications in 11 markets as part of efforts to bolster artist-fan connection. The initial rollout features a limited catalogue that includes hits from the likes of Nigerian Afrobeats star Asake as well as global artists such as Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat and Ice Spice.