After branching into podcasts, audiobooks, video, and even physical books, Spotify announced on Monday its latest category: fitness content.
The company aims to transition from being known for energizing workout playlists to being the complete hub for workouts themselves. To achieve this, Spotify has partnered with several renowned wellness creators and Peloton, an exercise equipment manufacturer.
Workouts from these providers will be available through a new “Fitness” hub within the app or by typing “fitness” in the search box. Their offerings in both music and video formats will be accessible on Spotify’s mobile, desktop, and TV apps.
Initially, both free and Premium users will have access to dozens of playlists and workout instructions from creators like Yoga With Kassandra, Caitlin K’eli Yoga, Sweaty Studio, Chloe Ting, Pilates Body By Raven, Abi Mills Wellness, Sophiereidfit, and others.
The partnership with Peloton grants Spotify’s Premium users in select markets access to over 1,400 ad-free, on-demand workout classes led by well-known instructors. These classes span various activities such as strength, cardio, yoga, meditation, running, and more, without needing Peloton’s specialized equipment.
Currently, these workouts are available in English, with some Spanish and German options. They can also be downloaded for offline use.
Participating creators can leverage Spotify’s existing monetization tools, like the Spotify Partner Program. However, Spotify hasn’t disclosed its deal terms with Peloton. In the future, Spotify may explore additional monetization avenues but hasn’t confirmed if this includes paid classes or subscriptions.
Spotify’s drive to invest in fitness content stems from user data, showing that nearly 70% of its Premium subscribers exercise monthly, and there are over 150 million fitness playlists on the platform. Additionally, there was increased interest in workout music following the launch of its AI-powered Prompted Playlist feature.
However, adding yet another content category to what started as a music-only app might not appeal to users who feel the platform has become overly cluttered. Spotify seems to address this concern by recently allowing users to disable all videos in the app.