Spotify has launched its first chart dedicated to music videos.
The Music Video Charts Global, which went live on Tuesday (July 21), ranks the top 50 videos worldwide by daily stream count, according to the company.
It arrives as Spotify also, for the first time, lets artists pitch their music videos directly to its editorial team for playlist consideration.
Both features are part of an expansion of video across the platform, which now counts nearly 100,000 artists in a beta that lets them upload full-length videos themselves.
The chart sits within Spotify‘s Charts and Music Video Playlists hubs, and every Tuesday the company says it will spotlight the top 10 videos across its social channels.
Video pitches work in the same way as Spotify‘s pitching tool for songs, with artists sharing a video’s concept, mood and visual style for consideration on playlists including Best New Videos, Live Performances and Today’s Top Videos.
Only videos that are unreleased, or released within the past seven days, qualify, whether delivered by a label or distributor or uploaded through Spotify for Artists.
Spotify framed the expansion around data it says links watching a video to more streaming, not just more views.
After watching a full-length video, listeners stream that song 64% more over the following three weeks than fans who only heard the audio, the company said.
They are also 1.4 times more likely to save, share or add it to a playlist.
Those listeners go on to stream the rest of an artist’s catalog 57% more over the same period, according to Spotify.
Listeners the company classes as “super listeners” stream that artist 62% more after watching a video.
That “super listener” lift equates to more than an hour and 40 minutes of additional listening on average, the company said.
“That listening lift isn’t accidental – it’s the result of Spotify building video into the core of how music gets delivered, pitched, discovered, and measured,” the company said.
Charlie Hellman, Spotify‘s Head of Music, said when the feature reached the US and Canada in December that music videos are “often the moment when an artist’s world really clicks for a listener – when the song and the visuals come together and turn a stream into fandom.”
Spotify first launched full-length music videos in beta in March 2024, across 11 markets that did not include the US.
It expanded the test to 85 more countries in October 2024, before bringing the feature to Premium users in the US and Canada in December 2025.
Until June, those videos reached Spotify only through labels and distributors, or via DistroKid‘s DistroVid service, which began carrying videos to the platform in June 2025.
That changed on June 17, when Spotify began letting artists in the beta upload live performances, studio sessions, covers and official music videos themselves, all of which it says are royalty-bearing and may be chart-eligible.
The rollout coincided with Spotify ending support for new uploads of Clips, its short-form video format, with the Clips tab on artist profiles set to become a Video tab over time.
Spotify has also leaned on video in podcasting, reporting in late 2025 that almost 500,000 video podcast shows were on the platform and that time spent with video content had more than doubled year-over-year.
In October, it agreed a deal with Netflix to bring video versions of Spotify Studios and The Ringer podcasts to the streaming service from early 2026.
The video expansion has run alongside licensing deals Spotify signed with Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group during 2025, each of which referenced audiovisual content.
Spotify also agreed an opt-in portal with the National Music Publishers’ Association for expanded audiovisual rights in the US.
The push steps up Spotify‘s challenge to YouTube, which has long dominated music video streaming globally.
YouTube offers official videos, live versions and covers alongside YouTube Music, which is bundled into YouTube Premium.
Apple Music and Amazon Music also carry music videos and high-resolution audio, while TikTok remains a rival for music discovery and for the listening time Spotify wants to keep inside its own app.
Spotify is expanding video as it works to lift engagement and revenue per user across a base of 761 million monthly active users.
The company posted record quarterly operating income of €715 million (USD $836.8 million) in Q1 2026, on revenue of €4.533 billion that was up 14% year-over-year at constant currency.
Its Premium subscriber base grew by 3 million in the quarter to 293 million, and its gross margin reached 33%.
That growth has been fueled partly by price increases, including a US hike announced in January and effective from February that raised the individual Premium plan from $11.99 to $12.99 per month.
Spotify has tied video to the same strategy behind its push to segment listeners and charge superfans more.
On an earnings call last year, co-founder Daniel Ek said the company was “going all in on [its] core and investing in more music experiences.”
“Think video, think the higher-priced Premium tier that we’ve discussed previously and new ways to bring fans and artists closer together,” he added.
Bloomberg reported in February 2025 that Spotify was weighing a “Music Pro” add-on of up to $5.99 a month, bundling perks such as early access to concert tickets, higher-fidelity audio and AI-powered remixing, though the tier has yet to launch.
Spotify has also pushed beyond music into audiobooks and video podcasts, and added a fitness hub with Peloton content in early 2026.
Newer Spotify features, including lossless audio and priority ticket access for Premium users, have arrived without an extra charge, folded into the standard subscription instead.
For Spotify, video is a way to increase the time users spend in the app and how often they return, supporting both retention and its case for charging more.
Co-CEO Alex Norström told analysts in April that “since the global rollout of our more personalized free experience, users in key markets like the US are listening and watching more days per month.”
Spotify reports its next set of results, for Q2 2026, on August 4.Music Business Worldwide
