Spotify planning third reboot of video efforts as Apple prepares to spend $1B

While Apple is busy readying a slate of high-budget TV shows, Spotify is resetting its attempts at original video for the third time in three years — hoping to finally find some traction beyond on-demand music, according to one report.

The company is not only canceling current shows but ones it has yet to release, Bloomberg sources said on Thursday. Spotify's new head of video and podcasts, Courtney Holt, is said to be exploring the creation of a format codenamed Spotlight which would merge audio, images, and video.

The service's previous attempts at video have included licensed material from Disney, Vice, and Viacom, as well as original shows with famous producers like Tim Robbins and Russell Simmons. None of them have garnered much attention, something typically blamed on a lack of promotion — the company's desktop and mobile interfaces are extremely music-centric, to the point that many people may not even be aware they can find video.

Apple is reportedly working towards a handful of original TV shows for 2019, with a budget of at least $1 billion to pick up projects. Instead of keeping them exclusive to Apple Music, like "Planet of the Apps" or "Carpool Karaoke," Apple may target everyone with one of its devices, possibly through the "TV" app for iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV.

Those hoping for an Apple equivalent of "Game of Thrones" may be disappointed, as the company is said to be refusing shows with HBO-style violence, nudity, or profanity. The one show already in the company's stable is said to be a reboot of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories."

Spotify is still the world's most popular on-demand music service, with over 60 million paid subscribers and many more on its ad-based free tier. Apple Music has somewhere north of 30 million paid customers, and no free option beyond a three-month trial.

7 Comments

paisleydisco 137 comments · 7 Years

About 7 years ago

just stopping by with my bag of popcorn to see the predictable spotify bashing...

cali 3494 comments · 10 Years

paisleydisco said:

just stopping by with my bag of popcorn to see the predictable spotify bashing...

Nope. Apple fans are more rational and mature than that. If they “bash” it’s based off facts and not rumors or some propaganda from a blog or YouTube.

I was actually gonna criticize Apple here.
Their Shows and Movies section isn’t much easier to find either. Integrating with the TV app makes more sense especially with content moving away from music.

My sister has Apple TV and she was unaware of the Music Shows and Movie content. She just uses iTunes for paid content and Hulu for everything else. If she finds out about Movies Anywhere I know she’s dumping Apple for a cheap stick.

NY1822 620 comments · 8 Years

I really don’t see any symmetry with Apple’s video vision...
Planet of the Apps on Apple Music, their video content on iTunes...
Apple has outgrown the iTunes branding and needs to create “Apple Video” to compliment “Apple Music”
What does a tune have to do with a video?

NY1822 said:

I really don’t see any symmetry with Apple’s video vision...
Planet of the Apps on Apple Music, their video content on iTunes...
Apple has outgrown the iTunes branding and needs to create “Apple Video” to compliment “Apple Music”
What does a tune have to do with a video?

It worked for a decade I just think it’s a little weird to have original TV in the Music App. I think this is temporary until Apple gains more content then it will be part of TV App and hopefully free or at least free with Apple Music.

I think a year free for Apple TV buyers will entice more sales. But right now no one wants or cares for 2 Shows and 4 documentaries. Not enough to be a stand alone service or entice people to jump to Apple.

jbdragon 2312 comments · 10 Years

paisleydisco said:

just stopping by with my bag of popcorn to see the predictable spotify bashing...

Here you go! Spotify hasn't made a profit since day one. In fact they lose more and more money every year. Now they want to get into Video which will be costly. I don't know about you, but I'm not signing up for it. To be fair, I haven't signed up to Apple Music either. I think it's to much money for what little music I tune into. So I just use the free Music Streaming you get with Amazon Prime Service. Service I've been paying for long before they had streaming music and free prime Movies and TV shows.

Apple's lame shows so far are just that! Now it's "Amazing Stories"? A show that was canceled on TV. A show that could easily be on normal TV. Not even Cable, let alone a paid streaming service. This whole PG, family entertainment ONLY is just dumb.

Spotify seems to want to burn through other peoples money faster. Those would be all the dumb Investors that keep giving them money in the hope some day they can start making money before they go bankrupt.

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-02-08/spotify-needs-a-little-help-from-its-friends

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/06/15/spotify-lost-more-than-600-million-from-3-3-billion-in-revenue-in-2016/#45bb54707008

Just showing facts! Sign up, help Spotify lose even more money!!!