Dive Brief:
- Spotify is rolling out programmatic advertising on the free version of its music streaming platform, the company announced in a release.
- The company has partnered with AppNexus, Rubicon Project and The Trade Desk to provide private marketplaces that allow brands to buy 15 or 30-second spots on the streaming service in real-time.
- Brands will be able to target based on Spotify's demographic data and music playlists.
Dive Insight:
Spotify has been actively adding advertising offerings for brands, such as allowing marketers to sponsor playlists beginning in May. Spotify also announced in May it would be tapping its users’ data in order to increase revenue via targeted advertising. This most recent announcement is part of that ongoing project.
The move into programmatic marketplaces should come as no surprise. CRO Jeff Levick announced in February that Spotify was planning to makes its entire service “fully open” programmatically this year.
The programmatic marketplaces allow marketers to target Spotify users through a variety of data points including age, gender, location and listening habits, including playlists and genres. Spotify is active in 59 markets worldwide, with 70 millions consumers using its free music streaming service.
While Spotify is using programmatic to broaden the advertising opportunities available to brands on the platform, video may be the streaming service's next big move.
"Music will always be most important, but our audience likes us and wants more from us," Tom Calderone, Spotify's content partnerships chief, told Bloomberg in May. "We have to figure out a second act, and I think it will come out of video. The idea is to make sure users know they can come here for something other than playlists."
