Spotify makes it possible for Podcasters to publish Video

Spotify has announced that all artists in five important regions, including the United States, will be able to publish video podcasts, as well as a slew of new tools for…

By Nivedita Bangari

April 22, 2022

3 min read

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Spotify has announced that all artists in five important regions, including the United States, will be able to publish video podcasts, as well as a slew of new tools for podcasters, including subscription support, embeddable videos, statistics, and more. Last October, the business began testing support for video podcast creation through its Anchor platform, although it was only available to a small number of podcasters at the time.

Any creator in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, or the United Kingdom now has access. Creators will be able to contribute video content to Spotify via the Anchor platform, just as they can already do with music. Additional markets will be supported in the future, according to Spotify, although no date has been set.

In addition, the firm is also releasing a set of new tools and services for video podcast creators, including a method to monetise their work. Spotify’s existing Podcast Subscriptions product will now be accessible for video podcasts, allowing authors to charge whatever they want for access. They may, for example, offer subscribers exclusive video content or charge for all videos while keeping the audio version of their show free. Spotify also adds that more monetization alternatives are on the way, which almost certainly means an advertising model.

With this debut, several interactive capabilities that were previously only available to audio podcast creators are also available for video. This includes support for Polls and Q&As, which were handed out to artists and users throughout the world last fall.

Spotify forms a partnership with Riverside for its Video feature

Spotify also announced a new relationship with Riverside, which would allow producers to use Riverside’s tools to record and publish video content for free, then broadcast their video podcast to Spotify via Anchor.

Over the years, the firm has spent roughly $1 billion on podcasting through acquisitions, exclusive arrangements, and other collaborations. The deal with Joe Rogan alone is reported to be worth more than $200 million. That’s a hefty investment in audio’s future. However, with the inclusion of video podcasts, Spotify can compete not only in the audio ad business but also in the video ad industry. The difficulty may lie in persuading creators to adopt the format, as many prefer podcasts to publish and edit videos for sites like YouTube.

As one might assume, YouTube took notice of Spotify’s entry into its industry. Its podcasts roadmap was recently released, and it revealed plans to test the ability to collect RSS fees through a separate YouTube website.