Spotify announced on Wednesday in New York the launching of a new feature that allows users to browse through playlists made up of music, podcasts and video.
"There's a profound change happening in music that we couldn't have foreseen when we started this company. Today we're introducing a new Spotify experience that's more accessible, personal, and usable than anything in music," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said.
Spotify also announced partnerships with Comedy Central, Vice News, ABC, BBC, ESPN, Elite Daily, TED, and others to put in the video content it intends to deliver. The new features, which also include new music like ones made for running that change tempo, will evetually reach the US, the UK, Sweden, and Germany in the coming weeks.
Some video content, aside from being exclusive, will be live first on Spotify before anywhere else. One such show will be Nerdist News, which will be live on Spotify three hours first before being shown elsewhere.
"We believe it will keep users happy and engaged with Spotify throughout the day," Ek said. Broad City's creators, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, were also on-hand to support Spotify. Broad City is one of the shows from Coedy Central which will be made available for users.
"We literally love Spotify. The way it feels under our fingertips, you know?" Glazer said.
"If I'm being honest with myself, it's one of my best friends," Jacobson said. She added that the show's short clips on Spotify will be perfect for users who have a few minutes to burn in the middle of the day.
This latest move from Spotify is seen as a move to compete with video streaming services like YouTube and Vimeo, and to edge out competition from Apple's Beats Music. The company is also said to be making moves to create original video content and talking to companies posting on YouTube to create new content for Spotify.
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