In the Spotify mobile app, you may see videos selected by the artist while their music is playing.
Spotify is most known for its music streaming service, but if a new experiment is successful, it may also become recognized for its music video streaming service.
According to TechCrunch, Spotify has acknowledged that it is testing a new tool called Discover, which provides a vertical list of music videos that users can scroll through. When a new video comes into view, it begins playing automatically, choosing to like or skip it.
Chris Messina, a Twitter user, captured the Discover feature in action in an iOS TestFlight (beta) build of the Spotify app. You may see it here:
Not only that, @Spotify Discover is basically a pared down version of a TikTok-style feed of vertical music videos (likely using their canvas format) that you can like or skip.#NewSpotify pic.twitter.com/hpOEZ8v9bl
— Messina.eth (@chrismessina) November 24, 2021
As part of the trial, the Spotify navigation bar has been changed, with a Discover symbol appearing on the fourth tab of the bar, between the Home and Search icons.
Although there are few details, it’s assumed that the artists used Spotify’s Canvas format to make the videos. Instead of releasing official music videos for some tracks, an artist may produce something unique for Spotify customers to watch while they listen.
It’s too early to determine whether music videos will become a primary feature, or at least an option, in the Spotify app because this is only an experiment that appears to have been discovered by mistake. Even if they do, listening to music is typically a passive form of enjoyment, with your smartphone safely tucked away in a pocket rather than handled and the screen observed.
