Thanks to a May report, we already knew that Spotify was testing video podcasts. Today, the streaming service announced the format’s official debut on a handful of shows. The company calls the current iteration “the first version” of the feature, a tool that will allow “fans to get to know their favorite podcast hosts better, and creators to connect more deeply with their audiences.” Basically, podcast creators can upload videos they make while recording their shows to play along with the audio. Most of what there is now is images of people talking into microphones. To get started, you can view the images in podcasts as Book of Basketball 2.0, Fantasy Footballers, The Misfits Podcast, H3 Podcast, The Morning Toast, Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay and The Rooster Tooth Podcast.
Spotify says you won’t need to do anything different than you would when listening to an audio-only podcast. Just navigate to the show page and choose an episode. Videos will appear when you press play on Spotify desktop or mobile app. On mobile devices, for example, they appear on the player’s home screen and replace any static art show, complete with an option for full-screen viewing. The company says that any video content will be synced to the audio source. Also, when you swipe to another app to multitask, the audio will continue to play in the background. And to listen offline, you can still download the audio version of any program.
