Written by Tim Ingham — Spotify is not renewing its video licensing agreements with a number of major media partners – but has committed to the future of the format.Doubts around Spotify's dedication to video surfaced earlier today when Scandinavian tabloid Breakit reported that the company appears to have dropped new content from the likes of ESPN and Vice Media from its video platform.
The publication's sources estimate that since announcing its video ambitions at a New York press conference in May last year, Spotify has invested around 500m SEK ($56m) in the service.
The feature spent six months in Beta before being quietly opened up to the public earlier this year.
Breakit reports that Spotify's traffic from video is "almost non-existent."
However, recent months have seen Spotify announce a wide-ranging slate of new video content, while launching a Landmark Metallica documentary (pictured) and announcing a 'Flash Frame' show with Blink 182.
"We're one hundred percent committed to video and podcast content and exploring new and fresh ideas for our audience, and we have lots of great original content available now or coming soon, such as our Landmark Metallica documentary," a Spotify spokesperson.
"We work with many different non-music content partners to develop and deliver content, and that roster of partners naturally changes from time to time."
It appears that, rather than rely on third-party licensed content, Spotify seems ready to create the bulk of its banner programming itself.
That's a risky – and expensive strategy – but ultimately much more commercially rewarding… if your programming proves popular.
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