The Convergence of Entertainment Apps

The entertainment landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, with major players in the industry converging towards a single, universal entertainment app. For a decade, platforms fought over who would dominate a single format: music, video, podcasts, or audiobooks. However, with the advent of AI, they’re now competing to become the go-to app for users, regardless of the content format.

Source: techcrunch.com

The market for entertainment apps is reaching maturity, leading to slowed growth. As a result, companies are focusing on competing on time spent and revenue-per-user rather than new sign-ups. Additionally, today’s creators often work across multiple formats, making it essential for platforms to provide a home for all their content.

Source: techcrunch.com

AI is a key driver of this convergence, enabling companies to build and run several formats well. The wider the content mix, the more time users spend in the app, driving both ad revenue and subscriptions. This trend is evident in the expansion of platforms beyond their original premises.

Source: techcrunch.com

Netflix, for instance, has added gaming, live sports, and other events, as well as short video clips and podcasts. The goal is to capture more of users’ time, even when there’s no TV or movie to watch, and to find a way into the smaller bits of free time people usually fill with social media, casual games, or TikTok or Reels.

Spotify has also been expanding its footprint, adding podcasts, video podcasts, social features, stories, and messaging. The company has also introduced different types of content, such as fitness classes, audiobooks, narrated magazines, and even physical book sales.

YouTube, originally a platform for longer-form creator content, has moved into short-form content to compete with TikTok. The company has also added dedicated space for podcasts, gaming content, music, movies, and TV, sports, and news. YouTube has even enabled users to watch free movies and TV, supported by ads, stream live content, or rent or buy TV and movies to add to their library.

Even TikTok, known for short videos, offers support for long-form content and other features, such as travel planning, shopping, local exploration, buying tickets to live events, and more. The company has even developed stand-alone apps for microdramas and TikTok Pro Events for sporting events and music festivals.

The Role of AI in Building the Entertainment Operating System of the Future

AI is playing a crucial role in building the entertainment operating system of the future. With format no longer a differentiator, the value these apps offer comes down to how well they connect users with what they want next.

AI makes content recommendation across formats easier, sharpening personalization while giving users more direct control over how those recommendations get made. Spotify, for instance, is testing a tool that lets users edit their Taste Profile, its AI-built model of their preferences. The company is also building AI features that let users chat with AI directly about what they want or build playlists of things they like.

Netflix has made a similar case, with Co-CEO Greg Peters stating that new model architectures are improving personalization and letting the team iterate faster. AI-assisted coding is also speeding up how fast these companies can build and launch new content areas.

Generative AI can be used for content creation, though the subject remains controversial as artists worry that AI tools will use their work for training purposes or even put them out of work. Netflix, for better or for worse, has leaned into AI, having recently bought Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking company for $587 million.

YouTube has used generative AI to launch more creator tools and to improve its search engine, add conversational AI features, build playlists, and expand its content’s reach with auto-dubbing, among other things. The company has also stated that more than a million channels used its AI creation tools and 20 million consumers used its Gemini AI-powered content discovery tool in the month of December.

TikTok has assembled its own version, with an in-app AI chatbot, AI video-creation tools, AI-driven search and recommendations, and AI-powered accessibility features. All four platforms are also applying AI to their ad stacks, helping marketers write ads, target audiences, price placements, and measure results.

For consumers, this convergence means fewer reasons to switch apps at all. Whichever one you land on gains an advantage – more data on your habits, more lock-in – making it harder to leave even if prices climb or quality drops.