Spotify tries out new video strategy after head of Original Video leaves company

In case you didn’t know, Spotify has experimented with video in the past. It even tried creating an original video series called Traffic Jams. But this approach hasn’t worked from the music streaming service. And with Tom Calderone, head of Original Video, leaving the company, people assumed the service was dropping video altogether. But it looks like they are taking a different approach. As Complete Music Update reports, a spokesperson from the company says they plan to build video content into its most successful playlists and will be linked to new music releases.

And we get to see that with the new single from Sam Smith. The new song “Too Good at Goodbyes” gets a video of Smith singing to the camera. Aside from that, the other songs in the playlist show cover photos of Smith’s other albums while the music plays. While the video can be played on both desktop and mobile, the cover art effect is obviously limited to mobile. Will we see music videos premiere on the service? Maybe or maybe not. Spotify hasn’t been aggressive with video or it just hasn’t caught on, especially with the service working more like a radio than a video platform. Will it work this time? We can’t say just yet.

Taylor Swift breaks Spotify and YouTube records for ‘Look What You Made Me Do’

You might love it or you might hate it but Taylor Swift’s new single “Look What You Made Me Do” has already started breaking records. There’s the global first-day streaming record on Spotify. It logged over eight million same-day streams on the service after it was released late Thursday. Another is on YouTube. The song’s lyric video got over 19 million same-day views on Saturday.

Swift is set to unveil the song’s music video at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and we won’t be surprised if that clip smashes another record. “Look What You Made Me Do” was written and produced by Swift together with frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff (from bands Bleachers and fun.). The song is the first single off of Swift’s upcoming album Reputation, which is set to come out on November 10.

Source: Billboard

Google adds support for free Spotify accounts to Home

Google announced at I/O that it was adding support for more streaming services as well as opening its Spotify support not just to Premium subscribers but those with free accounts, too. The latter is rolling out as Google adds support for those free users of the streaming service. To add your account, just head to the Home app and go to the Music section. You’ll find Spotify there. Just enter your login information and then you’ll be able to play music via voice commands. Here’s a complete list of the voice commands you can use.

Source: Android Police

Spotify tries out ‘driving mode’ for its Android app

Tinkering with your phone while driving is a dangerous thing to do. And that extends to trying to do things like switch playlists on your Spotify app. And it seems the music streaming service is doing something about it—or at least they’re testing something out. Some Android users seem to have gained access to a new driving mode feature that’ll keep your eyes and hands on the wheel while you use the app. As seen in the screenshots shared by Reddit user Chris54721, it features larger buttons, verbal song announcements, and voice control support. There seems to be a new car icon, too, which is obviously meant to toggle the feature. Spotify won’t comment about the feature and said they “test new products all the time and have no news to share.”

Source: Engadget