Shares of the Swedish streaming giant rose nearly 4% in afternoon trading, contributing to a 28% gain for the year so far. The expansion follows a beta launch of music videos in nearly 100 markets last year and is intended to strengthen Spotify’s position against rivals like Apple Music and Amazon Music.
Spotify said the initial video catalog will feature content from artists including Ariana Grande, Olivia Dean, BABYMONSTER, and Addison Rae. According to the company, music videos drive engagement: when fans discover a track with a video on Spotify, they are 34% more likely to stream it again and 24% more likely to save or share it within the following week. Videos will be available to all premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada by the end of the month.
The expansion comes as Spotify continues to see strong engagement from its existing features. Its year-end Wrapped campaign, which summarizes users’ listening habits, attracted over 200 million engaged users within 24 hours, a 19% increase from the previous year. CFO Christian Luiga emphasized at the Morgan Stanley tech conference that engagement metrics are often more important than user counts for measuring success.
Spotify is also preparing to raise subscription prices in the U.S. in the first quarter of next year, according to the Financial Times. The company already increased its premium individual plan costs in more than 150 markets during the September quarter as part of a broader effort to drive earnings growth.
Meanwhile, Spotify founder-CEO Daniel Ek will transition to executive chairman in January, marking a leadership shift as the company enters its next phase of growth and competition in the streaming market.