Spotify Adds Video, Podcasts And More, But Will They Keep Their Customers?

Jay-Z may have tempted the world to join his League Of Extraordinary Douchebags this week by broadcasting a burger-filled slumber party with Bey and Nicki Minaj, but Tidal is definitely still struggling in the global streaming market. Not only are Pandora and Spotify still far and away the most popular music platforms in the app store, but Apple is also about to shake things up with their highly-anticipated re-launch of Beats Music next month.

Now — most likely intimidated by the latter (a $3 billion program purchased by a much-loved tech powerhouse) rather than the former (a maligned internet clubhouse for renowned members of the Illuminati) — Spotify are really upping their game.

This morning at a New York press conference-cum-futuristic appeasement ritual to the tech Gods, the streaming platform announced they would now be expanding to also deliver video, podcasts, and original content.

Artists like Icona Pop and Tyler the Creator will now be presenting their very-own radio shows; you can stream The Nerdist and Moth podcasts; you can watch musicians talks riff on their favourite things to sing in the shower, or what will be played at their funeral; and there will even be a weird series that “[brings] chefs and musicians together for an intimate performance and meal”. More useful than all that, you’ll also be able to watch short clips from places like Vice News, BBC, ABC, TED, Slate, and Comedy Central.

Main takeaway: the Broad City girls will now be streamed direct to you, sitting in your hot little pocket for whenever you need them most in life.

Of course, there’s news on the music side too. In an attempt to create a “true soundtrack to your life”, Spotify will soon be stocked even more specific playlists like ‘Music To Wake Up To’, ‘Music To Sing In The Shower’, ‘Music To Listen To When You’re On Your Way Out Of The House And Regretting All Your Life Decisions And Wondering If Shit Would Have Just Been Easier If You’d Just Studied Accounting Like Your Parents Wanted’ etc etc. This will all be managed from the apps homepage called ‘The Now’, and suggested by both the time, your demographic and previous listening preferences.

To prove that you should pretty much succumb to the inescapable grip of technology right here and now, they’ve also announced a new program called Spotify Running. This one not only tracks your previous musical taste, but also your average speed and tempo so it can deliver songs with an appropriate beat.

While this all sounds pretty handy, it’s already been met with a bit of skepticism. Wired were quick to point out that “there are already plenty of companies satisfying [this] appetite for music and video” as we already access a heap more mobile video content on YouTube daily. Others have criticised the expansion, accusing Spotify of finding another way to exploit artists. Though The Verge have this week reported on leaked Sony documents that seem to make the case the record companies are actually the ones failing musicians, this morning The AV Club ran the headline: “Spotify adds video content so it can give even more people no money”. It does seem strange that despite all these major additions, the price of Premium Spotify services will stay unchanged.

Whatever you think about it, it’s clear the music streaming market is in a real moment of flux. Are they trying to take on Netflix now? Will small-time artists ever get paid enough? Will Apple swoop in and monopolise the whole thing? HOW WILL ALL THIS MADNESS END?

All we know for now is that Spotify won’t be the worst of the bunch. While they were announcing all these interesting ideas and getting Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer on stage to make awkward jokes and yell at people, Tidal’s main sales push today consisted of Jack White poorly answering questions about the platform’s perceived elitism on his record label’s blog:

The Last Of The World’s Tidal Supporters: “I totally understand wanting to help out smaller artists. My musician buddies are all struggling.”

Jack White Basically Telling Him To Fuck Off: “But also bigger artists, medium artists, whatever. If PSY gets viewed 2 billion times and makes a couple grand, where did all his money go?”

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The Spotify Running feature is available now, but video content hasn’t quite reached Australia yet. It launched in the US, UK, Germany and Sweden this morning, but is coming to us “in the near future”.