With over 600 million users worldwide, Spotify is currently the most prominent music streaming service. But it is not restricting itself to music. It has had some success with podcasts and audiobooks and is trying to incorporate videos into its app.
It started with video podcasts and the platform added TikTok-like short-form video clips called, well, Clips. Just earlier this month, Spotify announced that it will now show music videos in some regions.
Now, in a move no one saw coming, it has partnered with four educational tech companies for its latest eLearning venture — BBC Maestro, PLAYvirtuoso, Skillshare, and Thinkific.
About half of Spotify Premium subscribers have engaged in education or self-help-themed podcasts.
Users in the UK can now access video courses on their Spotify app alongside the usual music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The courses on Spotify focus on four main
So far, Spotify’s courses revolve around four main subjects: making music, getting creative, learning business, and healthy living.
If you are in the UK, you can access these courses straight from the Course section under the Home tab and Browse tabs on the Spotify app. Desktop users can find the courses hosted under the “courses” subdomain.
It is not free, though. You still have to pay for courses you enrol in—even if you have an active premium Spotify subscription. You will be billed per course, with each course costing between £20 ($25) and £80 ($101).
That said, you can try the first two lessons of any course for free before you finally decide to purchase the course.
Spotify is currently testing the waters with online courses. The global rollout of the feature will depend on the success of the UK run.
Spotify’s experiment with different formats is getting criticized by a particular section of “audiophile” users who feel betrayed by the platform of the Hi-Fi streaming they were promised back in 2021.
Video Courses is among the slew features Spotify has announced in recent times. Other include Miniplayer, music videos, and AI Playlist.