Music-Streamer Spotify Plans to Add Video, Talks With Partners
Music-streaming service Spotify isn't content with audio and is planning to add video. That news was broken by The Wall Street Journal which quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Swedish company is hoping that video will make its visitors stick around longer. Rather than switching over to YouTube to watch video clips, they'll be able to stay on Spotify. Longer times on-site mean more ad opportunities.
According to The New York Times, Spotify has had talks with a wide variety of publishers, including NBCUniversal, Viacom, Vice and Vogue. It has offered some of those publishers millions of dollars in guarantees, as well as the chance for additional shared revenue.
Spotify is planning a media event for May 20th in New York City, which could be the official announcement of its video streaming plans.
The Journal reports that Spotify has 60 million users and 15 million paid subscribers. The service charges $9.99 per month for ad-free music streaming.
Venture Beat notes that this wouldn't be the first time Spotify offered video to its users. It previously launched the series "Live Sessions," where singers perform their songs in unusual locations. The site also points out that Apple is putting pressure on music labels to cut off access to their content for Spotify's unpaid listeners. If Spotify's free tier goes away, keeping members on the site with video will become even more important.
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