Spotify will add music videos in some countries, challenging YouTube Music

Ben Schoon | Mar 13 2024 - 9:48 am PT

Spotify has announced that it will start showing music videos, but only in select countries.

In an effort to further improve “artist-to-fan connection,” Spotify is adding music videos to the “Now Playing” screen, with a “switch to video” button that will show the official music video for a song you’re listening to on a phone or TV. The feature works rather similarly to YouTube Music, which has supported a switch between music and video since its inception.

Spotify explains:

They’re a powerful way for fans to discover and connect with music, and a natural fit to live on Spotify. That’s why we’re excited to launch music videos in beta for Spotify Premium users across 11 markets, adding another way to enhance the artist-to-fan connection.

The beta version of music videos on Spotify begins rolling out today with a limited catalog of music videos, including hits from global artists like Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, and Ice Spice, or local favorites like Aluna and Asake.

The feature will be available across Android, iOS, and Spotify’s apps on TVs and desktop. Users are able to switch between audio and video while the song is playing, and switching to the video on mobile is also as simple as just rotating the device to landscape orientation.

Right now, though, music videos on Spotify are only in beta, and limited in where they’re available. Spotify says that music videos will be available in the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya for the time being, before expanding elsewhere in the future.