Netflix Meets Spotify: The [Possibly] Real Story

Two of the biggest subscription services on Earth are beginning to cross into each other’s lanes — but what looks like a simple distribution deal might actually be the early stages of a much bigger shift in entertainment.

Part 1 — What’s Actually Happening Between Netflix & Spotify Right Now

Here’s what we know for sure:

✅ Netflix is adding Spotify content

• Netflix is now licensing video podcast shows produced by Spotify Studios and The Ringer.

• Titles include The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Rewatchables, Dissect, and more — all debuting first in the U.S., then rolling out internationally.

• This is a new type of “audio-visual filler” content for Netflix — something users can put on while cooking, working, or falling asleep.

  
  

✅ Spotify is building video distribution pipelines

• Spotify launched a FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) channel, “The Ringer from Spotify,” on Samsung TV Plus — a format currently exploding in viewership and ad dollars.

• Spotify upgraded its Apple TV app to support video podcasts, music videos, lyrics, and TV-large interfaces.

• Spotify quietly rolled out music videos (beta) to Premium users across multiple territories.

• In short: Spotify is testing video, but hasn’t fully monetized or promoted it yet.

  
  

Part 2 — Why Netflix Needs This More Than It Seems

Netflix has 301 million paid subscribers worldwide. Growth has slowed. Core markets are reaching saturation. Password-sharing is already clamped. So what’s left?

They need:

• More minutes per user. Investors don’t just care about subscriptions; they care about engagement time.

• Passive content. You can binge-watch one season — or play podcasts, talk shows, and ambient content all day while you live your life.

• Cheap content fillers. Video podcasts and talk formats are far less expensive than scripted dramas.

Netflix isn’t just adding podcasts for fun — it’s trying to become something people leave on all day, not just when they’re in “binge mode.”

Part 3 — But Here’s the Twist: Spotify Might Be the One Quietly Poised to Win

While Netflix is brushing up against a ceiling, Spotify is staring at a runway.

Platform	Paid Subscribers	Total Users
Netflix	301 million	N/A
Spotify	276 million	696 million

Spotify has:

• Nearly 700 million users, hundreds of millions of whom already open the app daily.

• A user base that is trained to engage for hours per day — on commutes, at work, at the gym.

• A comparatively low adoption of video so far… which means enormous upside if they crack the conversion puzzle.

  
  

In many ways, Spotify is where Netflix was before streaming video overtook DVD-by-mail — dominant in one medium, cautiously testing another.

Part 4 — Think MTV: The Blueprint Already Exists

This has happened before.

• MTV started as a music video channel.

• They built an audience.

• Then they pivoted into long-form shows, reality TV, and scripted content.

• They didn’t abandon music — they expanded beyond it.

Spotify is quietly laying the same foundation:

• Music → Music Videos

• Music Videos → Video Podcasts

• Video Podcasts → 24/7 FAST Channel

• FAST Channel → ??? (Movies? Series? Live events? Originals?)

All they need now is:

1. More screens (Roku, Fire TV, LG, Vizio, airline entertainment, car dashboards).

2. A marketing switch that says to users: “Don’t just listen — watch.”

3. One breakout hit. The Stranger Things moment… but for Spotify.

Part 5 — Why This Matters in the Next 3–5 Years

If Spotify converts even 10% of its existing free users into regular video viewers, it instantly becomes:

• A top-5 global video platform by active audience.

• Bigger (in users) than Paramount+, Peacock, Hulu, or Max.

• A serious contender for music documentaries, live concerts, stand-up specials, and eventually… films.

And unlike Netflix, Disney, or Amazon, Spotify doesn’t need to win Hollywood right away. Their playbook is:

Convert ears into eyeballs. Convert eyeballs into hours. Convert hours into advertising and subscription dollars.

Conclusion: Netflix Meets Spotify — But Who's Following Who?

Netflix is clearly extending into Spotify’s world of passive listening.

But Spotify? It’s inching—quietly, carefully—into Netflix’s world of video entertainment.

Give it less than five years, and we might be saying something that today sounds ridiculous:

“Should we release the film on Netflix… or Spotify?”