Spotify Adds Toggle to Disable Music Videos
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- Spotify added a settings toggle that disables music videos entirely, sitting alongside separate controls for Canvas animated album art and video podcasts.
- On mobile, the toggle lives under the user profile icon → Settings and privacy → Content and display → Videos and Canvas; on desktop it's under Settings → Videos and Canvas.
- Music videos previously auto-played by default in the background whenever an artist uploaded one, sometimes featuring audio that differed sharply from the album version.
- The author tested the toggle and confirmed the music video icons disappeared from playlists, albums, and artist pages after disabling.
- A "Switch to video" button remains in the Now Playing sidebar but triggers an error message telling users to re-enable videos in settings.
- Disabling all three toggles—music videos, Canvas, and other videos—notably reduces Spotify's bandwidth consumption, per the source.
Why it matters: Spotify users frustrated by music videos auto-playing with sketch-laden or effect-heavy audio now have a direct opt-out. The combined toggle also covers Canvas and video podcasts, cutting bandwidth and battery use across both the mobile and desktop apps.
