Spotify launches new multimedia format Spotlight
Music streaming service Spotify, in collaboration with eight partners, is now publishing articles that include text, photos, and videos in the categories of music, news, sports, and politics. This new feature is currently available only in the U.S., but will soon be rolled out to other markets as well.
Spotlight is the name of Spotify's new format, with which the music streaming service is introducing visual elements to enrich audio content such as podcasts, audio books and news. Spotlight gives fans a deeper look into the world of their favorite artists, playlists or audiobooks, according to a press release. When users call up a playlist, for example to listen to a chapter, new photos, videos and text appear. During the month of February, more such content will be added on an ongoing basis.
The content comes from various partners Spotify is working with on the project. These include Buzzfeed News, Cheddar, Crooked Media, Lenny Letter, Gimlet Media, Genius, The Minefield Girl, Refinery29 and Uninterrupted. Plus content from self-produced series such as Rise, Secreit Genius and Viva Latino Podcast.
"We're excited to launch Spotlight, a new format that brings together storytelling, news, information and opinion with visual elements in playlists," Courtney William Holt, Head of Studios and Video at Spotify, is quoted as saying in the announcement. In addition to music, content categories include news, sports and politics. So far, Spotlight is only available in the U.S., but Spotify plans to introduce the format in other markets soon. (pd/ank)
