Netflix, Spotify, YouTube and TikTok are expanding beyond the formats that first defined them, adding combinations of video, audio, games, books, shopping and live content. AI is supporting that shift by helping the platforms recommend material across formats, develop new features faster and offer creators additional production tools.
The companies are competing for more of each user’s free time as growth from new sign-ups becomes harder to sustain. Offering several types of entertainment within one service can increase advertising inventory, subscription revenue and the amount of behavioural data available for recommendations.
Platforms Move Beyond Their Original Formats
Netflix has moved beyond films and television by adding mobile and television games, live sports, events and short-form clips. These formats give subscribers something to use when they do not want to watch a full programme.
Spotify has expanded from music into podcasts, video podcasts, audiobooks, social features and video-based learning. The company describes itself as a multiformat service where users can listen, watch and interact.
YouTube now combines short and long videos with music, podcasts, gaming, news, shopping, live broadcasts and advertising-supported films. TikTok has moved in the opposite direction by supplementing short clips with longer videos, shopping, travel services, event discovery and other specialised experiences.
AI Directs Users Across Content Types
As platforms offer similar formats, recommendation quality becomes more important. AI can connect listening, viewing, reading and shopping activity to predict what a user may want next.
Spotify’s Taste Profile lets listeners see and adjust how the service interprets their preferences across music, podcasts and audiobooks. Prompted Playlist also allows users to describe what they want and create personalised selections containing music or podcasts.
The company said generative AI lets people state their preferences directly instead of relying only on signals such as skips, saves and listening history. Its AI functions include DJ, Prompted Playlist and tools that give users more control over recommendations.
AI Also Supports Production and Advertising
YouTube uses AI for video creation, automatic dubbing, search, conversational discovery and creator assistance. TikTok has added AI-driven recommendations, search and video-production functions, including ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 model within its Symphony advertising tools.
The platforms also apply AI to advertising by helping marketers create campaigns, identify audiences, select placements and measure results. A service that supports more content formats can collect a wider view of user behaviour and sell advertisements across more parts of the same app.
Users may consequently have fewer reasons to leave once a platform can provide something to watch, hear, read, play or buy. The same expansion gives each company more opportunities to keep subscriptions active and serve advertisements throughout the day.
Featured image credits: Magnific.com
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