Spotify has been talking about streaming video as well as music for almost a year now. But report from the Wall Street Journal quoting a Spotify exec claims that the service will be launched in several countries this week (excluding Australia).
The Journal says that video content will be available on Android apps “starting this week”, while those using iOS will have the service “by the end of next week”. It’s said to be arriving in the US, UK, Germany and Sweden, and the first wave of content will be provided by the likes of “ESPN, Comedy Central, the BBC, Vice Media and Maker Studios”.
Spotify has already been testing video with a small number of customers in some of those countries, but this will see the service open to all users located there.
Spotify already explained how the service could work last year, but seems to have learned some lessons throughout the beta testing it’s been carrying out. For instance, it will deliver “contextually relevant videos” based on the kinds of music you listen to, as well as short playlists of video content neatly packaged up to watch. The Journal suggests these might be along the lines of “News of the Week” or “Laughs at Lunch”.
It will face some stiff competition from the likes of YouTube, of course, but the move will also differentiate it from competing music services like Deezer. Let’s see how well it works.
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