Tag: video

Listen—and Watch—Your Favorite Creators as Video Podcasting Comes to Spotify

October 21, 2021

When you head to Spotify to stream your favorite podcast, sometimes you’re looking for an active listening experience—one with the option to more deeply engage with the content you’re listening to. That’s why we’ve created features like Polls and Q&A for a chance to interact with creators. It’s also why we’ve incorporated video podcasts alongside our audio offering so fans can get to know their favorite podcast hosts even better, and creators can connect with their audiences in a much deeper way.

When we began rolling out video podcasts on Spotify, we tested the format with a variety of Spotify Originals. Since then, we’ve found that our users want the option to easily switch between audio only and video depending on where they are, what they’re doing, and what they’re enjoying. So today, we’re beginning a major expansion of our video podcast catalog—by putting it in the capable hands of creators. 

Soon, Spotify users will see a lot more video podcasts on the platform as we open up access for creators to begin publishing video podcasts to Spotify. This tool will be accessible through Anchor, Spotify’s podcasting platform, and will offer a seamless way for creators to upload video content and publish to Spotify. 

We’ll be launching on a rolling basis with a number of key creators, including existing podcasters who are expanding to video as well as video creators looking to extend their offering to Spotify listeners. Some of these include Philip DeFranco, The GaryVee Audio Experience, Jasmine Chiswell, The WAN Show, Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald, Mark Manson, Tap In w/ Harry Jowsey, and many more to come. These shows join Spotify Originals and Exclusives including The Ringer’s Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay and The Joe Rogan Experience. Expect to see more original video podcasts from Spotify in the future.

Ready to take a watch and a listen? Here’s how to find video content:

  1. Open the Spotify mobile app. 
  2. Navigate to the show you’re excited about and go to the episode page.
  3. Hit “Play” on a podcast episode.
  4. Tap the play bar at the bottom of the screen to view the video full-screen.
  5. Sit back, listen, and watch! (Or if you want to go back to just listening, you can easily do that too). 

More video podcasts will soon be coming to Spotify, so keep an ear—and an eye—on your favorite creators and shows.

Are you a podcast creator? Head over to Anchor’s blog to learn more about the video podcasting feature.

Watch 15-Year-Old Jazz Pianist Joey Alexander Share His Passion for Music

August 17, 2018

Each time jazz musician Joey Alexander opens Spotify, he sees something that most 15-year-olds don’t: his fourth studio album. What’s more, he sees the numbers: 400,000-plus listeners from around the world follow the Indonesian jazz pianist.

The care and delight Joey expresses with each stroke of the keyboard is apparent in his performance of his own free composition, “Eclipse,” seen in an exclusive interview and performance with Joey at Steinway Hall in New York City. Between his utter surrender to the melody and the excitement with which he shares his story, it is clear that when Joey plays, he pours his heart and soul into the music and instrument he loves.

Music has always been a part of Joey’s life. He taught himself piano when he was 6 years old by both listening to his father’s jazz albums and sitting down at the piano to practice playing the notes himself. At 9, he won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Master-Jam Fest, an international, all-ages jazz competition. And when he was 11, he became the youngest jazz artist ever to be nominated for a Grammy. But what’s most important in all of this, he says, is “to enjoy every moment.”

It’s more than talent and dedication that have pushed Joey decades ahead of his peers in his musical career. His passion for jazz, belief in music’s ability to bring people together, and love of storytelling through composition all fuel his playing—and keep him going. Joey’s musical influences and inspiration span decades of jazz expertise, as you can hear in his Inspiration Playlist:

Between his utter surrender to the melody and the excitement with which he shares his story, it is clear that when Joey plays, he pours his heart and soul into the music and instrument he loves.

‘See You Again’: Charlie Puth’s Musical Homecoming

July 30, 2018

Most people visit their alma maters excited to see their old dorms or to catch the homecoming tailgate and football game. But when Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/producer Charlie Puth stopped by his old stomping grounds at Berklee College of Music in July, it was for slightly more academic reasons: to be a frank, off-the-cuff guest lecturer for students looking to perfect their music and pursue their passion, just as he did.

The Berklee grad (class of 2013) walked away from college with a degree in music production and engineering, as well as knowledge and experience that helped him land his first major label deal, with Atlantic, in 2015. From there, he collaborated with Meghan Trainor on their hit single “Marvin Gaye,” and Wiz Khalifa on the Grammy-nominated number “See You Again.” He released his debut album, Nine Track Mind, in January 2016.

Yet throughout his burgeoning fame he hasn’t forgotten his roots. On July 12, Puth joined up with Spotify and one of his former Berklee teachers, Grammy-nominated hit songwriter and former “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi, to host a special workshop and live performance for current top-performing upperclassmen at campus hot spot Cafe 939. He reflected on his time at the school and launching his career, workshopped with students, provided tips for improvement, and even performed some of his hits, including “Done for Me,” “How Long,” “Attention,” “The Way I Am,” and “See You Again.”

“I’m on cloud nine right now, you know why?” Charlie asked the class. “I played a show in front of 15,000 people last night. But my first show ever was in this room. It’s come full circle.”

Listen to Charlie Puth’s newest, self-produced album, Voicenotes.