Spotify Launches ‘Video Podcasts’

Spotify Technology on Tuesday (July 21) augmented its big push into podcasting with a major new offering, as the music streaming service announced plans to let select creators roll out videos along with their core audio offerings.

Promising a “visual and audio feast,” Spotify said that both free and paid subscribers will now have access to “video podcasts” from the creators of podcasts like Book of Basketball 2.0, Fantasy Footballers, Misfits Podcast, H3 Podcast, The Morning Toast, Higher Learning with Van Lathan & Rachel Lindsay and The Rooster Teeth Podcast.

With people across the country homebound for much of the spring amid coronavirus lockdown measures, Spotify has moved to beef up its podcasting content.

The music streaming service now has a lineup of more than a million shows, up from 700,000 as recently as March. In a big coup, the music streaming service recently inked a $100 million deal for exclusive content from star podcaster Joe Rogan.

“Many podcast fans love watching their favorite podcasts as much as they enjoy listening to them,” Spotify said in a press release. “Through these visuals, fans can get to know their favorite podcast hosts even better, and creators can more deeply connect with their audiences.”

Spotify said users who want to watch as well as listen to select podcasters will be able to do so by simply pressing Play on their desktop or mobile app, with the creator-made videos syncing automatically with the video feed.

Spotify’s move into “video podcasts” comes as it pushes to extend its lead in streaming over Apple and Amazon.

Spotify had more than 124 million premium subscribers at the end of 2019, roughly double that of either Apple Music or Amazon.

The music streaming service is also featured prominently, alongside TikTok, in the latest edition of the Harvard Business Review, which cites the company’s success in going head-to-head with Apple.