Technology

In the UK, Spotify introduced instructional video courses

In the past, you would go to one place for music, another for education, and so on. However, in an effort to stay in business, many organizations are now trying to become jacks of all trades. Spotify is the most recent example; it just revealed a test for courses that use videos as instruction. The portal now offers audiobooks, podcasts, and music in addition to this new capability.

Spotify has formed partnerships with Thinkific Labs Inc., Skillshare, PLAYvirtuoso, BBC Maestro, and other content providers. They provide information in four primary areas: studying business, creating art, creating music, and leading a healthy lifestyle. “With this offer, we are exploring a potential opportunity to provide educational creators with a new audience who can access their video content, reaching a bigger potential swath of engaged Spotify users while expanding our catalog,” Spotify said in its press release. According to the platform, about 50% of users have “engaged” with instructional or self-help podcasts.

Only users in the UK can access the test courses, and both free and premium subscribers get two free lessons per course. The series will cost between £20 ($25) and £80 ($101), based on the subscriber’s tier. Users with desktop or mobile devices can access them. If the feature progresses past the test stage, specific costs and availability may vary.

This entry into the world of video-based education comes soon after Spotify released music videos in beta. Similar to the classes, they are only accessible on a few tracks and are not available to US members (the UK is one of the 11 nations having access).