Spotify is testing TikTok-like vertical video stream in its app – TechCrunch

TikTok has had its abridged video feed copied by a multitude of competitors, from Instagram and Snap to YouTube and even Netflix. Now it looks like you can add Spotify to this list. The company has confirmed that it is currently testing a new feature in its app, Discover, which features a vertical stream of music videos that users can scroll through and possibly like or ignore. For those with access to the feature, it appears as a fourth tab in the navigation bar at the bottom of the Spotify app, between Home and Search.

The new addition was first spotted by Chris Messina, who tweeted a video of the Discover feature in action. He described it as a “stripped down version” of a TikTok-style music video stream.

Messina told us he found the feature in the TestFlight version of Spotify (a beta for iOS), where a new icon in the navigation toolbar immediately takes you to the video stream when you tap it. You can then swipe up and down to move around the stream, much like you would on TikTok. Besides tapping the heart to love songs, you can also tap the three-dot menu to view the standard song info sheet, he notes.

Messina also speculated that the feature could take advantage of Spotify’s existing Canvas format.

Launched on a large scale in 2019, Canvas allows artists to create videos that accompany their music on the Spotify app. The feature received mixed reviews from users, as some said they preferred to see only the static album art when listening to music and found the video and its looping images distracting. But others said they liked it. Canvas, however, appears to drive the engagement metrics that Spotify wants – the company reports that users are more likely to continue streaming, sharing tracks, or saving tracks when they see a Canvas.

From the video Messina shared and others that we have watched, we can confirm that the videos showing in the vertical feed are the artists’ existing Canvas videos. But Spotify would not confirm this directly to us.

TechCrunch asked Spotify for more information on the feature, including whether it plans to roll it out further, whether it is available on both iOS and Android, which markets have access to the feature, and more. The company declined to share details on the feature, but confirmed, via a statement, that it was exploring the idea of ​​a vertical video stream.

“At Spotify, we run a number of tests on a regular basis to improve our user experience,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Some of these tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others are only for important learning. We have no further news to share at the moment, ”they added.

In other words, the test is still very early and might not be made public. But if it did, it wouldn’t be a surprising move from Spotify. The company has previously turned to popular social media formats to engage its users. In the past, Spotify tested a Stories feature that allowed influencers to post Stories to feature their own curated playlists. But this option never became available to all Spotify users.

While the TikTok format has been adopted by major social platforms including Instagram (Reels), Snapchat (Spotlight), YouTube (Shorts), and Pinterest (Idea Pins), it is also proving to be an ideal format for content discovery. . Netflix, for example, recently embraced the abbreviated vertical video stream in its own app with the launch of its “Fast Laughs” feature, which offers clips from its content library and tools for saving programs to a watchlist or just start broadcasting. them. Likewise, Spotify’s video-based Discover feature could help users discover new music and provide a way to report their interests to Spotify in a familiar format.