Spotify announces that video podcasts are now available for creators in new countries including France. It is also the first time that this possibility concerns countries where the mother tongue is not English.
” Video podcasts are a historically underutilized medium, but one that has the potential to grow by unlocking a new way to help audiences engage with their favorite podcasts. “, writes Spotify, referring to its Anchor platform for creating podcasts.
Apart from France, the other countries concerned are Germany, Brazil, Spain, Italy and Mexico. Last April and after only a limited number of creators through Anchor, Spotify opened up video podcasts to all creators in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
” On Spotify, fans can switch from active viewing (video in the foreground) to listening in the background. “The rollout includes monetization tools with subscriptions and features planned to drive engagement.
Spotify is also betting on gaming
As part of expanding its business beyond music streaming and to continue attracting subscribers, Spotify is showing strong interest in podcasts (audio or so with the addition of video), as well as audiobooks . More surprisingly, Spotify is making a foray into gaming.
The Swedish group is buying Heardle, an online music quiz game launched last March. This is for Spotify a ” music discovery tool. ” With a few notes, players must guess the title of a song. They are entitled to six answers with errors which allow them to obtain additional seconds of music in order to discover the song. Something to remember the online word game Wordle.
” For current Heardle players, the look and feel of the game will remain the same, and the game will remain free-for-all. And starting today, players can listen to the full song on Spotify after completing the game. “
The amount of Heardle’s takeover is not disclosed. With this acquisition, the game is only available for the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. For the moment, no opening to countries where the mother tongue is not English, unlike video podcasts.
.
The post Spotify opens video podcasts in France and plays the Heardle game appeared first on Gamingsym.