You know how you can watch music videos on YouTube, for free, without the need for a subscription? Well, now you can do the same thing on Spotify with your $11.99 per month Premium subscription.
Unless you live in the U.S..
Spotify is now rolling out its Music Video feature to 85 new countries. It's still in Beta for now, and there's no sign when it will come to U.S. shores. If you're in one of the 85 new territories you'll be able to find the feature in your app now, although there isn't a massive range of videos that you can watch.
It's all about repeat streams
This isn't the first time that we've seen Music Video on Spotify. In March, the feature was initially launched in 12 locations, including the UK, Germany, Italy and more. That now brings Music Video availability to 97 markets in total. Why is it not available in the U.S.? There's nothing on Spotify's newsroom page, although the firm claims that it looks "forward to bringing it to even more users across more markets, including the US, in the future.” in a statement made to The Verge.
With these new markets come improvements to the feature as well. Here are Spotify's release notes:
- "Fans can easily find and discover new music videos to watch (on mobile and desktop) with video indicators on tracks.
- Users can also more easily find the music video they’re looking for alongside its related track by typing the track or artist into search."
You'll also be able to switch between watching music videos and just listening to music with a button on the now-playing screen labeled "Switch to video". There are some big artists included as well, including Charli XcX, LISA, Fontaines D.C., Nick Ward, and more.
Users can access the new features now from the Spotify mobile and desktop apps.
Why the big Spotify video push?
Spotify actually has some really interesting statistics to back up the new feature. Apparently, users who find a music video on the service will be 34% more likely to go back and listen to that same song again the next week. In addition, "songs discovered with music videos are 24% more likely to be saved or shared in the following week by those who watched."
So it's easy to see why Spotify is including the new feature in its app. It's a shame that its only coming for Premium subscribers, however. Given that anyone can just watch a music video on Youtube, it feels strange that this feature is only available for paying customers.
It does bring some more interest to the now-playing screen though. I like how it plays in the background while listening to music. But Spotify, I still have one question. Music Video is all well and good, but where's Spotify Hi-Fi?
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