Spotify considering full-length music videos

A Bloomberg report claims that the move, which arrives years after Apple Music implemented the feature, aims to enhance user experience, competing with platforms like TikTok and YouTube, and attract a larger Gen Z audience.

The DSP’s video content is currently limited to podcasts, short storytelling clips and looping GIFs accompanying songs.

Since the beginning of this year, Spotify has progressively integrated video features into its service, notably Clips, which seeks to drive streams of the artist’s music, prioritising music consumption over likes. Arriving in the style of TikTok videos, Clips are under-30-second vertical clips that artists can upload directly to Spotify to highlight the artist and their music. They can be attached to the artist profile, a song, an album or an upcoming release. Viewers can engage with Clips on the artist profile, album pages and the new Countdown Pages feature. 

The company’s previous foray into video content, such as incorporating TV content from networks like Comedy Central and ESPN, has also yielded mixed results.

Meanwhile, Spotify’s Q1 earnings results showed a global paying subscriber base of 210 million at the end of March 2023, with an addition of 5 million net premium subscribers during the quarter. During the National Music Publishers Association’s recent annual meeting, it was revealed that Spotify had also reached 44.4 million paying subscribers in the US alone as of February.

Last month, the DSP announced a round of layoffs that will primarily impact its podcast division. The company’s head of podcast business Sahar Elhabashi stated that approximately 200 employees, accounting for around 2% of the company's workforce, will be affected by the reductions. This follows a similar announcement in January when the company cut over 500 jobs. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek attributed the decision to the need for a more balanced approach following the company’s expansion.