Spotify to Adopt Apple's Technology for Video Podcasts

Spotify announced plans to adopt Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) technology for video podcasts, enabling creators to distribute video shows across both Spotify and Apple Podcasts without changing their existing workflow. The integration will support Apple’s enhanced video podcast experience, introduced in March for iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, and the web, though Mac and Apple TV support is not yet available. The update will be rolled out later this year through Spotify for Creators and Megaphone platforms, marking a step toward seamless cross-platform distribution. Spotify emphasized collaboration with Apple to finalize the integration, with further timeline details to be shared soon. Creators will retain monetization capabilities on Apple Podcasts, ensuring they can balance audience reach and revenue without compromise. Spotify clarified that video content must be uploaded directly to its platform to enable features like engagement-based monetization and real-time analytics, while RSS distribution to other platforms remains unchanged. Additionally, Spotify confirmed that several podcast hosting providers—Libsyn, Podigee, Audioboom, Audiomeans, and Podspace—now support video distribution via the Spotify Distribution API. These integrations allow creators on those platforms to distribute video content directly to Spotify and monetize eligible shows through the Spotify Partner Program. More partner integrations are in development.