Kenyan music lovers subscribed to Spotify have something to smile about. According to Spotify, the popular streaming service is making history by introducing support for music videos for the very first time on the African continent, with Kenya as the exclusive launchpad.
This new beta feature is a major step for Spotify, granting premium subscribers access to a select number of music videos from renowned artists like Ed Sheeran and Ice Spice. Users can easily switch between video and audio formats right on the now-playing screen, offering a dynamic new way to enjoy their favorite tunes. With rivals like YouTube and Apple Music already offering music videos, this addition puts Spotify on a level playing field with other players.
“We’re starting with a limited subset of the full catalog, which includes thousands of music videos. Within this subset, we aimed to prioritize a wide range of genres and artists across our launch markets,” explained Sten Garmark, Spotify Vice President and Global Head of Consumer Experience. To experience this game-changing feature, Kenyan users will need to upgrade to a Premium Spotify account. The music video option will seamlessly appear when listening to supported tracks. You can easily dismiss the video by tapping on the drop down arrow in the top-left corner, as seen in the screengrab below from one of the supported songs.
This announcement is a thrilling development for Kenyan music fans and sets the stage for the expansion of Spotify music videos in Africa. In addition to Kenya, Spotify is also rolling out music videos to mobile and desktop users in the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, and Indonesia. There’s no word on when Spotify users in other countries across Africa and the rest of the world will receive this feature.
Spotify says Premium listeners in these markets can select the “Switch to Video” toggle for supported music tracks on iOS, Android, desktop, or TV device. Then, the music video will start playing from the beginning within the Now Playing view. Pressing the “Switch to Audio” option takes you back to background listening, although you can also watch music videos in full screen by switching to landscape mode.
