- Spotify finally arriving on the smart TV completely changed the writer’s experience with the service.
- Music videos feel far more natural and enjoyable on a large television than on a mobile screen.
- Decade based playlists recreate the nostalgic experience of traditional music television channels.
- Spotify’s video feature is useful for both entertainment and discovering music history across generations.
For years, Spotify had been one of the most reliable apps in my digital life. It followed me from my phone to my headphones, laptop and speakers without much effort. Yet there was one screen where it was strangely absent: my smart TV.
That gap became increasingly frustrating because my Hisense TV runs VIDAA OS, and Spotify simply was not available on the platform for a long time. I could still listen through other devices, of course, but having to rely on workarounds felt unnecessary when Spotify was already such a familiar part of my everyday routine.
Then, almost by accident, I noticed that Spotify had finally arrived.
The discovery came after years of waiting, and I immediately installed it. What I expected was a convenient way to play my usual playlists through the television speakers. What I did not expect was that the app would completely change my relationship with Spotify’s music videos.
I owe Spotify an apology. I had been blaming the platform for something that was never really its biggest problem.
Music videos finally made sense on the big screen
My previous experience with Spotify’s music videos had mostly been on mobile, and I never enjoyed it very much. The interface felt awkward, switching between audio and video was not something I did naturally, and YouTube remained my default destination whenever I wanted to actually watch music.
That changed the moment Spotify moved onto the biggest screen in my home.
Suddenly, the experience made much more sense. Music videos are not always designed for the small screen in your hand. They demand attention, visual space and, ideally, decent sound. On a television, Spotify’s video feature stopped feeling like an extra feature hidden inside a music app and started feeling like a genuinely useful way to experience songs.
I still prefer audio when I am wearing headphones or listening on the move. But when Spotify is playing through my TV, I increasingly find myself choosing the video version whenever it is available.
That was the revelation.
The issue was never that Spotify could not compete with YouTube. For me, it was that I had been using Spotify’s music video feature in the wrong environment.
Goodbye YouTube, at least for my music video nights
YouTube had always been my home for music videos. It has the enormous advantage of being built around video, and its catalogue is difficult to ignore. But using YouTube for long music sessions also comes with frustrations.
Creating the perfect queue can become fiddly. Playlists can require more effort than they should, and interruptions can quickly break the mood. For casual viewing, that is manageable. For an evening built around music videos, nostalgia and background entertainment, it becomes much harder to ignore.
Spotify offered something different.
Once the app was available on my television, I began building large playlists based around different decades. The idea was simple: recreate the feeling of old music television channels, where one iconic video followed another.
I made playlists covering the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, with one strict rule. If a song did not have a music video available, it did not belong in the playlist.
The result has been far more entertaining than I expected.
Instead of searching for individual videos or constantly managing a queue, I can let a playlist run and enjoy the experience. It works for focused viewing, background entertainment and those moments when friends are around and you want something more visually interesting than an ordinary music playlist.
And the absence of constant interruptions makes a bigger difference than I realised.
The music video still has something special to offer
There is also something wonderfully nostalgic about watching music videos in long stretches.
For anyone who grew up during the peak years of music television, there is a particular pleasure in moving from one era to another and seeing how pop culture changed. A playlist can jump from the theatrical excess of the 1980s to the polished pop spectacles of the 2000s and the cinematic productions that dominate more recent releases.
Songs such as Bad Romance, Hot N Cold and Maneater are not just tracks to me. Their videos are part of the cultural memory surrounding them. Watching them again brings back the atmosphere of an era when music videos were events rather than simply promotional material.
But nostalgia is only part of the appeal.
Music videos can also be surprisingly educational. They offer a visual record of changing fashion, technology, performance styles and cultural trends. Exploring older videos often introduces me to artists I knew only through their songs, while occasionally revealing that a favorite track from decades ago had a visual identity I had never seen before.
That has become one of my favorite parts of using Spotify on the TV. It allows me to move through different generations of music in a way that feels more immersive than simply listening.
I can revisit songs my parents grew up with, discover videos from artists who influenced today’s biggest performers and spend hours moving between familiar classics and unexpected discoveries.
Looking back, I was far too quick to dismiss Spotify’s music video ambitions. The mobile experience still does not completely win me over, and I am not convinced that watching videos on a phone will ever be my preferred way to enjoy them.
But on a television, everything clicks.
Spotify did not need to become YouTube for me to appreciate it. It simply needed to be available on the screen where music videos make the most sense.
Now that it is, I cannot imagine going back to the way I used to watch them.
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