Spotify to bring video and podcasts to you soon

Whether you’ve been looking for video content or podcasts on Spotify or not, the music-streaming service is bringing the feature to you soon. The new plans were announced back in May but we seem to be getting a more definite timeline now. Spotify will start rolling out to Android app users this week with iOS users getting the new features by the end of next week. The company is testing it out in four markets initially—the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, and Germany. They have partnered with the likes of ESPN, Comedy Central, the BBC, Vice Media, and Maker Studios to bring these new formats into the apps.

According to Shiva Rajaraman, vice president for product at Spotify, the content will consist a lot of short clips but with a mix of original, music-themed series like what Tastemade plans to do on the platform. They wanted to keep these short and compartmentalized so you can check the programs out at different intervals. Think thematic videos like “News of the Week” or “Laughs at Lunch.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

Find out what you listened to the most with Spotify’s ‘Year in Music’ recap

Did you have Taylor Swift’s music on repeat all year? Or was The Weeknd more your thing? Spotify’s “Year in Music” feature gives you a recap of the songs you listened to this year. It will even suggest new tunes you might want to check out in 2016 based on the songs you’ve listened to previously. The site will also show you what were the top songs you’ve listened to; who were the top artists you’ve listened to; and how long and how many tracks have you listened to on Spotify. And of course, you also get a new “Play It Forward” playlist based on your past year’s listening habits.

Source: TechCrunch

Beatles catalog now available from various streaming music services

Beatlemaniacs the world over have one more big reason to rejoice this Christmas as most of the iconic Beatles albums and singles are now available for streaming from the likes of Apple Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, Tidal and Microsoft Groove. Subscribers of these services can take a break from their Carols and Holiday Music and enjoy some of the best music ever made by John, Paul, George and Ringo. What a treat!

Spotify subscribers can now stream the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" OST

John Williams' iconic and masterful score for all the Star Wars movies has been one of the defining features of this beloved movie franchise and this continues for Episode VII. Just in time for the global opening of the film, Spotify is making available the entire soundtrack to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's a nice, spoiler free way to ruminate on the movie before or after seeing it and Williams delivers another dramatic and heroic score that's intrinsic to the movie's character.