Spotify is finally letting the United States join its music video party. Music videos begin becoming available in beta today for Premium users in the US and Canada, introducing not only official artist videos but also new formats like live performances and covers.
The music video first arrived in 11 countries last year, but the United States wasn’t one of them. The reason for this was simple – Spotify did not have the rights. However, last month the streaming service reached an agreement with the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) that included new provisions for video content, paving the way for the new feature.
Here’s how to access the music video. If you’re a Premium subscriber in one of Spotify’s beta markets, you can simply open a track (on TV, desktop, IOS and Android devices) and tap “Switch to video.” The music video will then start playing where the song left off. To return to background listening, press “Switch to audio.” You can get the full-screen experience by turning your device to landscape mode.
When the service first launched, it was limited to “thousands” of music videos, but Spotify promised that the list would expand rapidly. Discussing the benefits to artists, the company said earlier this year that “Users who search for a song and then watch a music video on Spotify are 34 percent more likely to re-stream the song the following week.” In a job listing viewed by The Verge, Spotify said it planned to “build a best-in-class video experience to rival the biggest players like YouTube or TikTok.”
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