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Spotify Music Videos Are Launching -- With One Big Catch

Look out, YouTube.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter
Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
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Abrar Al-Heeti
2 min read
Spotify's logo on a phone

Get ready for music videos on Spotify.

 Sarah Tew/CNET

Music streaming service Spotify is adding full music videos to its platform, the company said Wednesday, but not everyone will be able to access the new feature just yet. For now, it's available in beta in about a dozen countries for Premium subscribers across mobile, desktop and TV devices. 

The company is starting out with a smaller catalog of artists, including Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat and Ice Spice. The Premium add-on is limited to users in the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia and Kenya, but not yet in the US.

Now those subscribers will be able to hit Switch to Video when listening to a track to open up the music video. Turning your phone to landscape mode will open up full-screen videos, similar to the experience on YouTube. Tapping Switch to Audio will take you back to just the music. 

"Music videos play a key role in hooking you: Taking you from being a listener to leaning in and becoming a fan," Charlie Hellman, Spotify's vice president and head of music product, said in a release. "They're an important part of so many artists' tool kits, and it's a natural fit for them to live in the same place that more than half a billion people choose to listen to music."

The addition of music videos pits Spotify against YouTube, which has dominated the music video scene for almost two decades. YouTube Music also offers listeners the option to toggle between audio and music videos. Apple Music has a section for watching an artist's music videos, too.

Spotify's superpower is its user base; the company says it has more than 602 million users, which includes 236 million paid subscribers. YouTube Music and YouTube's paid Premium tier, by comparison, has 100 million subscribers. But the perk of the baseline YouTube app and site is that you can watch music videos for free (you may just need to sit through some ads if you don't subscribe to Premium).

Last year, Spotify rolled out Clips, which are 30-second vertical videos artists can create to connect with fans. They resemble videos on TikTok -- a platform where music also takes center stage. 

See also: Best Music Streaming Service of 2024