Spotify may be planning to turn its music app into YouTube rival

Spotify Technology is mulling adding full-length music videos to its app, which could help the music streaming platform compete with TikTok and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Also Read: OpenAI Brings Spotify, Canva, Coursera and More Inside ChatGPT: Here’s What You Can Do

Spotify, which did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, already allows artists to upload looping GIFs, which play when a music track is playing. Also Read: Spotify Hikes Premium Subscription Prices In India: Here's What You’ll Now Pay

Spotify, which already has more than 100,000 podcasts with videos, has begun talks with partners about the product, the report said. It is looking to attract more Gen Z audiences away from YouTube and TikTok’s short-form video platforms. YouTube already has a music streaming service dubbed YouTube Music, with music videos. Also Read: Instagram is Testing Some New Features like Feed Reordering, Quiet Posts and More

The new development comes days after it was reported that Spotify was considering introducing a new, more expensive tier for its Premium subscription to include the HiFi music quality. Announced in 2021, Spotify HiFi is the company’s lossless CD-quality music service that never launched. The reason could be Spotify’s rivals, Apple and Amazon, both of which also introduced lossless music streaming services with spatial audio in their apps at no additional charge. Their decision not to charge customers for additional features sort of derailed Spotify’s plans, which had initially planned to charge more from users for HiFi services.

To justify additional costs associated with the HiFi tier, Spotify has reportedly been planning to throw in more features. While it is unclear what these features would be, it is safe to assume the full-length videos could be a part of the HiFi tier. There is no official announcement as such, though.

Earlier this month, Spotify said it would cut 200 jobs from its podcast unit in its second round of layoffs, as it looks to restructure after years of heavy investment.

— Written with inputs from Reuters