Spotify courses, involving everything from meditation to cooking, could soon be arriving in the U.S. Photo Credit: Gokul Gurung
Spotify’s bundle just got bigger, as the platform is now doubling down on educational courses, which could be poised to arrive in the U.S.
Technically, Spotify’s been testing the video-learning waters for some time; we reported on a U.K.-only pilot back in March 2024. But the subject just recently reentered the media spotlight after the service in a release encouraged users to “level up with courses on Spotify.”
Said courses, involving everything from cooking to “communication fundamentals at work” and meditation to “self-care through creativity,” remain live in the United Kingdom, per Spotify. Amid a rather aggressive focus on diversification and bundling, however, the resources could soon become available in the States.
As identified by Ride Home Fund general partner Chris Messina and reported by TechCrunch, U.S. users can now search for the courses category – though the actual offerings therein are inaccessible.
While Nebula-partnered Spotify hasn’t commented publicly on the subject, logic suggests that lessons may have a near-term debut in the States – with major royalty implications to boot.
We’ve covered the royalty impact of Spotify’s audiobook bundling bonanza in detail; DMN Pro recently found that less than 1% of Spotify U.S. subs are classified as standalone music-only packages.
Long story short, the platform benefits from a material statutory royalty discount on bundled revenue – a discount that’s fueling massive savings and, in turn, spurring continued pushback from songwriters and publishers.
Furthermore, the MLC is challenging the bundling craze in court, and Spotify remains adamant that the maneuvering is entirely above board. (A case management conference took place on Tuesday, and in a nutshell, a multifaceted discovery showdown means the legal battle is plodding along.)
Bigger picture, Spotify is leaning into other non-music entertainment areas as well, with the most conspicuous of these expansions concerning video.
On top of the main video podcasts category – which, incidentally, is inundated with all manner of non-podcasts, including a multitude of TikTok clip compilations, for instance – that initiative encompasses TV shows, concert specials, and more.
Also worth keeping in mind during 2025 are the aforementioned audiobooks. Spotify, which today plugged a “Thoughts That Count” audiobook collection in an email to U.S. subscribers, started adding video content to audiobooks towards the end of November 2024.
And earlier this week, the company moved to hire a senior audiobooks editor as well as an audiobooks backend engineer. Among other things, the latter employee will work on “enabling the scalable addition of new content types” for audiobooks, the appropriate job description shows.