Spotify is branching out beyond music, podcasts, and audiobooks. In a pilot program launched in the UK, the streaming giant is now testing video-based learning courses, aiming to become a one-stop shop for all things audio and visual entertainment, as well as self-improvement.
The development comes as Spotify aims to expand its user base and compete in an increasingly crowded digital media landscape.
The platform has teamed up with educational technology companies like BBC Maestro, PLAYvirtuoso, Skillshare, and Thinkific to offer courses across four main categories: making music, getting creative, learning business skills, and healthy living.
BBC Maestro is a subscription-based online learning platform created in partnership with BBC Studios. It offers pre-recorded video courses taught by experts in various creative fields. PLAYvirtuoso is another learning platform specializing in online music education through artist-led courses, mentoring, and structured curriculums
The Skillshare platform provides thousands of creative classes in topics including design, freelance, 3D animation, entrepreneurship, photography, productivity, and more.
Thinkific Labs Inc., another Spotify partner, is a platform for creating, marketing, and selling courses, digital products, communities, and learning experiences.
“Testing video courses in the UK allows us to explore an exciting opportunity to better serve the needs of our users who have an active interest in learning.”
Babar Zafar, Spotify
By partnering with established educational providers, Spotify is expected to benefit from pre-existing course content, allowing it to test the waters of video learning without having to invest heavily in content creation.
The pilot is available to both Free and Premium users in the UK. They can access at least two free lessons per course, allowing them to sample the content before committing to a purchase.
“Testing video courses in the UK allows us to explore an exciting opportunity to better serve the needs of our users who have an active interest in learning,” said Babar Zafar, VP Product Development at Spotify.
“Many of our users engage with podcasts and audiobooks on a daily basis for their learning needs, and we believe this highly engaged community will be interested in accessing and purchasing quality content from video course creators. At Spotify, we’re constantly striving to create new offerings for our creators and users, and having built best-in-class personalized music and podcast offerings, we look forward to exploring the potential of video-based learning on Spotify.”
To access the video courses, UK users can navigate through the Spotify mobile app’s home and browse tabs. Upon selecting a course of interest, they can transition to desktop for purchase. Once acquired, courses become available for viewing across both mobile and desktop platforms.
The cost of the courses range from GBP £20 (USD $25) to £80 on average. Spotify product director Mohit Jitani told TechCrunch that pricing choices were part of what Spotify was testing before considering how to roll out the service.
“With this launch, we’re trying to understand the demand first. Then we optimize how we can make it more compelling and exciting.”
Mohit Jitani, Spotify
“With this launch, we’re trying to understand the demand first. Then we optimize how we can make it more compelling and exciting,” Jitani reportedly said.
Spotify is expected to take a cut from the offering, according to Jitani, explaining to TechCrunch that third-party publishers own the videos and license them to Spotify. Spotify then facilitates the hosting and purchases of the courses, The revenue will be divided among the creator, publisher and Spotify.
Spotify’s move reflects a broader trend in the digital media space, with companies increasingly striving to become all-encompassing content hubs to keep users engaged within their platforms.
This foray into video learning follows Spotify’s recent beta launch of music videos in 11 markets, excluding the US, a move widely seen as a challenger to YouTube.
YouTube surpassed 100 million paid YouTube Music and Premium subscribers worldwide last month, while Spotify’s total monthly active users — combining paying users and ad-supported users — rose 23% YoY to 602 million at the end of December.
The platform’s global Premium subscriber base also expanded to 236 million paying users by the end of 2023.
Music Business Worldwide
