Source: Spotify is testing video podcasts in its app, starting with two YouTube stars
Elon Musk: video conferencing … Tweets: Nathan Baschez / @nbashaw : Fascinating test! I am skeptical, given how annoying the videos in playlists like Rap Caviar were, but worth a shot I guess https://www.theverge.com/... Joss Fong / @jossfong : Why would you watch a podcast??? https://twitter.com/... Benjamin Cannon / @notbencannon : Great news. Looking ever forward to the time when podcast becomes a universal term for anything that helps pass the time. Learn more about it in this written podcast: https://www.theverge.com/... Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : Good scoop from @ashleyrcarman. FYI @eldsjal has made clear that Spotify is not very interested in being a major player in video. But adding a little video could certainly boost advertising sales. https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
This test is an early move in a long arc: Spotify had been signaling video ambitions since at least 2015, when it talked about applying its music playbook to video. By early 2021 it counted roughly 2M podcasts on the platform as part of a profitability push built on audio, but advertising ambitions were already pointing toward becoming "the YouTube of podcasting" as it approached $1B in annual ad sales.
First-order effects
- Two YouTube stars get a second distribution surface inside Spotify's app, putting video podcasts in front of Spotify's existing listener base rather than requiring them to leave for YouTube.
- Spotify's product team gets real usage data on whether its audience will watch, not just listen — the same question skeptics like Joss Fong raised publicly about why anyone would watch a podcast.
Second-order effects
- If the test converts viewers, Spotify gains leverage to court video-oriented creators directly from YouTube — a playbook it later escalated with reported seven-figure offers to entice them onto the platform.
- YouTube faces a rival bidding up creator economics, forcing it to defend its position with exclusivity money of its own rather than relying on being the default home for video.
Third-order effects
- The industry-wide pivot to video reshapes podcasting itself: Spotify's later viewing-threshold incentives and ad-free Premium video access formalize a format that started as this kind of quiet app test, even as critics warn video risks ruining what made audio podcasts satisfying.
- Podcasting consolidates around two platforms competing on video distribution and monetization, shifting power from open RSS-based audio toward walled-garden deals with top creators.
The trend: Podcasting is being absorbed into the platform wars between Spotify and YouTube, with video-first creator economics replacing the open audio ecosystem that defined the medium's growth.