It seems that music might not be enough for Spotify, with sources claiming that the Swedish company is looking in to adding video streaming to its services in order to expand and tread on the toes of LoveFilm and Netflix.
Until now Spotify has been known as a music-specific service, offering millions of tracks for users to stream at will. Over time it has expanded, adding in social networking aspects, radio stations and most recently, mobile apps. Video looks to be the next step for Spotify, according to Business Insider. It says that Spotify is plotting to launch a video on-demand service in the future, according to two sources that are familiar with the company’s plans.
Upon hearing rumours of Spotify launching some sort of video service, our immediate thought was, “they could add music videos to watch as you listen to songs!” However, it seems that this isn’t part of the plan – yet. Sources claim that Spotify will offer TV shows on demand, and that they may even commission original content that’s exclusive to the service. Sound familiar? Netflix has done the very same with House of Cards and Amazon has recently commissioned a zombie show based on the Zombieland movie.
The report from Business Insider says that Spotify is currently out speaking to TV and film houses, attempting to sign deals that will add content to such a service in the future. Right now it would seem that both video and music will all fall under the same Spotify umbrella, although we suspect that separate software will be required for streaming telly stuff.
With the company being one of the leading players in the music streaming market right now, why would they want to complicate things with video? Well, it seems that in recent months the company has been struggling to negotiate deals with major record labels to both bring in new music and keep current catalogues on its service. Exploring the possibilities of video streaming could be an avenue to keep the money coming in.