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Anna Barclay / Contributor (opens in a new window)
AI and the rise of the universal entertainment app
All the big entertainment apps are starting to look the same, and that’s not an accident. For a decade, platforms fought over who would dominate a single format: music, video, podcasts, audiobooks. Now, powered by AI, they’re fighting over something bigger — becoming the app you default to whenever you have time to kill, no matter what form the content takes.
There are several reasons why this is the case. The market for entertainment apps is reaching maturity, so growth has slowed, pushing companies to compete on time spent and revenue-per-user instead of new sign-ups. In addition, today’s creators often work across formats, so it makes sense to provide a home for all their content, not just one piece of it.
AI adds a third reason. It makes it easier for a single company to build and run several formats well, and the wider the content mix, the more time users spend in the app, which in turn drives both ad revenue and subscriptions.
Netflix is one clear example of this trend, as the service over the past several years has added gaming, live sports and other events, and, more recently, short video clips and podcasts. The idea is to capture more of users’ time, even when there’s not a TV or movie they want to watch, as well as to find a way into the smaller bits of free time that people usually fill with scrolling social media, playing casual games, or watching TikTok or Reels.
Spotify has also been expanding its footprint beyond its original premise as a home for streaming music. After adding podcasts, the company added support for video podcasts, social features like Q&As and commenting, stories, and messaging, as well as different types of content like fitness classes, audiobooks, narrated magazines, and even physical book sales.
Meanwhile, YouTube, originally the home to longer-form creator content, moved into short-form content to compete with TikTok, while also adding dedicated space for podcasts, gaming content, music, movies and TV, sports and news, shopping, and more. Now, you can watch free movies and TV, supported by ads, stream live content, or rent or buy TV and movies to add to your library. At this rate, folding YouTube TV and YouTube Music into YouTube proper — and selling tiered access to the whole bundle — looks like a matter of when, not if.
Even TikTok, largely known for short videos, offers support for long-form content and other features, like travel planning, shopping, local exploration, buying tickets to live events, and more. It even has its own standalone app for microdramas and another called TikTok Pro Events for sporting events — like the FIFA World Cup — plus music festivals, and more.
While there are still some differentiators between the services today, there’s an obvious trend toward convergence over a similar set of features focused on providing users with access to content to watch, listen, play, or shop.
This is also where AI comes into play. 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’s role in building the entertainment operating system of the future
AI makes content recommendation across formats easier, sharpening personalization while also giving users more direct control over how those recommendations get made.
Spotify, for instance, is testing a tool that will let you edit your Taste Profile, its AI-built model of your preferences. It’s also building AI features that let users chat with AI directly about what they want or build playlists of things they like — and not just music.
Netflix has made a similar case. Co-CEO Greg Peters told investors in the company’s first-quarter call 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 in the first place.
Plus, 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, for instance.
YouTube has used generative AI to launch more creator tools, but also to improve its search engine, add conversational AI features, build playlists, and expand its content’s reach with auto-dubbing, among other things. Earlier this year, the company said 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.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has framed AI as central to the YouTube experience for creators and viewers alike.
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 are, of course, 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.
As the lines between music, video, podcasts, books, and games blur, the coming battle is no longer which format will win, but which app will become the place to go for entertainment, regardless of what form that comes in.
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