Spotify video podcast bitrate: 25 Mbit/s at 1080p, 35 at 4K

Spotify's video specs recommend 25 Mbit/s CBR for a 1080p source and 35 Mbit/s CBR for 4K. Sume's Timeline can assemble up to 1800 seconds of audio with video slots into one MP4, but its docs do not let you set bitrate or codec, so check an output against Spotify's list before you upload.

Spotify's specs

The Spotify page lists the following, checked on 2026-10-03.

What Timeline can and cannot match

Timeline 1.0 takes one audio spine of 1 to 1800 seconds plus 1 to 200 ordered video[] slots and returns one MP4. The default output is 1080 by 1920, which is vertical, so set output.width and output.height for 16:9. Width and height are even integers from 256 to 2160, so 1920 by 1080 fits and 3840 by 2160 does not.

• output.fps accepts 24, 25, 30 or 60; 50 is not in the list.
• Codec and crf keys are rejected with a 400, so bitrate is not a request field.
• Public rate is $0.10 per output minute, rounded up; a 30-minute render is $3.00.
• Every URL must be a media.sume.com artifact; import first.

A 1080p landscape render

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/timeline-1.0/render \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: podcast-ep01" \
  -d '{
    "audio": { "url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/ep01.wav", "duration_seconds": 1500 },
    "video": [
      { "source_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/cover.png", "start": 0, "duration": 1500 }
    ],
    "output": { "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "fps": 30 }
  }'

Check before upload

Use POST /v1/timeline-1.0/plan for an unbilled preflight of duration and cost. After the render, inspect the artifact's actual bitrate with your own tools; if Spotify requires the CBR target, re-encode with software you control.