After launching its new subscription package, Premium Duo, earlier in July, Spotify is breaking ground on its next feature, video podcasts. Dubbed “vodcasts,” the content addition will be available to Spotify free users and subscribers alike, and will newly allow streamers to not only hear but also view participating podcasters.
Podcasts such as Fantasy Footballers, Book of Basketball 2.0, and The Morning Toast, among several others, are already slated to go the “vodcast” route. At present, the option to offer video podcasts is only available to select podcasters, but the functionality can be expected to be more broadly accessible in the months to come. To view the “vodcasts,” Spotify users need only to press “play” on a video-approved podcast, at which point the video will start automatically.
In recent years, podcasters have traditionally uploaded their respective audio shows to different platforms that support podcasts, such as Google and Apple, and their video components to YouTube. Now, with the introduction of its latest feature, Spotify is in a position to compete more directly with YouTube as podcast listening continues to increase across the nation.
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