Music-streaming site du jour Spotify has graduated from showing audio adverts to showing video ads — and the Swedish company told Content:UK that this could open the door for original video content such as TV clips and full shows to be added in the future. The company has partnered with Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures to promote its new thriller The Taking of Pelham 123 and it has hired the Manning Gotlieb OMD agency to sign more video-ad deals, but its flash-based player’s versatility allows Spotify to show any video content it wants.
The company tells us in a statement: “As of now we’re concentrating purely on providing the best music service possible, but of course the long-term potential to move into new areas is there“. The spokesman adds that the player is not just for video ads either: “As it’s essentially a flash player hosted in box, what we host is really up to the advertiser — from an interactive flash site to a data-capture form or promotional page.”
Given its success in signing content deals with major and independent music labels to add hundreds of thousands of tracks, similar content deals with TV content owners are only one step away. US VOD player Hulu is hopeful for a UK launch its year, but could Spotify fill the UK gap for an ad-funded VOD player before then?
Spotify is keeping video ads non-disruptive for the moment: the video pops up when users click on a banner ad, and an accompanying audio ad implores users to do just that. So instead of automatically interrupting the music, as audio ads do every 20 minutes (for users who haven’t forked over for a premium subscription), video ads are an opt-in distraction.
Meanwhile, Spotify is keeping a close eye on its inbox for Apple’s decision on whether to approve its iPhone app, although one enterprising developer has managed to create his own app for jailbroken iPhones.

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