Spotify is adding a new perk to its Premium service, but only in nearly a dozen countries. The streaming company announced today that it has started to roll out music videos to Premium Spotify users in 11 markets.
The new feature is still in beta, which probably the reason Spotify didn’t make music videos available worldwide. For now, music videos from a select catalog are available for Premium users in the following countries: Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.
Regardless of what platform they use to listen to their favorite music, Premium users can head to their device of choice and select the “Switch to Video” toggle for supported music tracks. The music video should immediately start playing from the beginning within the Now Playing view.
So many times in my own experience and for countless others, music videos play a key role in hooking you: taking you from being a listener to leaning in and becoming a fan. 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.
Spotify also implemented the ability to watch music videos in full screen by turning a phone/tablet to watch in landscape mode. When you’re ready to return to background listening, you can press “Switch to Audio.”
According to Spotify, this beta version of music videos features a limited catalog of hits from global artists like Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, and Ice Spice, as well as local favorites like Aluna and Asake.
