Spotify is launching new functionality for artists: the ability to upload full-length videos to their profiles.
The option to upload videos will soon appear on the Spotify for Artists dashboard. It’s currently in beta testing mode.
Artists participating in the beta test will be able to upload music videos, live performances, studio sessions, and covers – as long as the clip contains music and it’s uploaded in landscape mode, it’s eligible for posting.
However, while it’s allowing the above options – videos that are “royalty-bearing and may be chart eligible” – visualisers, lyric videos, multi-song concerts, and videos that don’t feature music won’t be allowed.
As Music Ally reports, the ability to post music videos on Spotify isn’t a new development. In fact, record labels and distributors have released them on the streaming service for a year, while artists have also utilised the platform’s Clips functionality, which will shutter following the official launch of music videos.
While record labels and distributors have been posting music videos on Spotify for a year, this marks the first time artists will be able to do the same.
In its blog post about the changes, Spotify claims that fans streaming videos on the platform leads to more listens.
“After streaming a video, listeners stream that song 64% more often over the following three weeks on average,” the streaming service notes. “They’re also 1.4x more likely to save it, share it, or add it to a playlist. And they go on to stream the rest of your catalog 57% more during that same period.”
Spotify added that an artist’s “super” listeners – aka their most active monthly listeners – end up streaming an act’s music “62% more” over a subsequent three-week period, on average, after checking out a video stream on Spotify.
Artists in the initial beta can start uploading videos today by logging in to their Spotify for Artists account and opening the Videos & Visuals tab. You can find out more about the changes here.
The music video news follows the announcement that Spotify’s Turn Up Aus initiative returns for a second year, with Hooligan Hefs and Genesis Owusu leading the reveal of participating artists.
