Video at scale: The hard problem Spotify quietly solves

For over a decade, the digital landscape has been littered with the remains of would-be “YouTube killers.” Well-funded startups have tried and failed to unseat the reigning king of online (medium length) video. Their failures can largely be attributed to a common strategic flaw: a full-frontal assault on a well-entrenched incumbent. They built platforms with the explicit goal of being a YouTube competitor, a proposition that has proven to be a recipe for failure.

However, from my perspective a new challenger is emerging, not with a bang, but with a calculated, incremental strategy. That challenger is Spotify, and its approach to video is fundamentally different from those that have come before.

Where is Spotify going

As a Spotify user since 2010 (time flies), I’ve had a front-row seat to its evolution. What started as a revolutionary music streaming service has, over the years, made subtle but significant moves into YouTube’s territory.

First came the audio-only podcasts, which felt like a natural extension. Then, video podcasts, or “vidcasts,” began to appear, blurring the lines between pure audio and full-fledged video. Now, we’re seeing proper video episodes from creators looking to reach their audience in a new way. This incremental journey wasn’t a random series of feature additions; it feels like a deliberate, long-term strategy to acclimate both creators and users to video on the platform.

The advantage of Spotify

It’s tempting for outsiders to think adding video support is a straightforward task, just add a ⁠<video> tag and you’re done. This view fundamentally misunderstands the monumental challenge of delivering high-quality video at a global scale.

It’s not just a UI problem; it is a deeply complex technological and operational feat. The expertise in building and maintaining the infrastructure required for seamless, planetary-scale streaming is not acquired overnight. Spotify has spent more than a decade compounding its technical knowledge and operational maturity in the audio domain.

This accumulated experience in delivering content at scale is its true competitive advantage, making it one of the few players with the capability to enter the video arena and not be immediately overwhelmed.

Also not to forget the challenges of content moderation, an operation which is not a minor feat as you scale.

Recap

Me staying in Swedish the last 5 years might make me biased, but I am genuinely bullish about Spotify’s growth in the coming year. Their patient, technically grounded strategy is precisely why they might succeed where so many others have failed. I truly hope we are about to witness the emergence of another major player in the video space, finally bringing some much-needed competition.

Self-promo

Video streaming is hard, so is building a low-latency pair programming app, so it feels as if you sit next to your colleague. If interested in low-latency pair programming with HD image quality, check out my product Hopp, its open source too.