Spotify enables ad skipping for free users
Streaming service Spotify has given users of its free service the ability to skip ads, under the banner of Active Media, with the proviso that advertisers won’t pay for skipped over ads.
Andrea Ingham, head of sales at Spotify AUNZ
The announcement;
SPOTIFY ANNOUNCES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND AUDIO INNOVATION
Active Media (Active Audio & Active Video) launches to all free users in Australia – Users will be able to choose whether they want to listen to or watch an ad – Advertisers will only pay if a user listens to or watches their ad to completionStarting today, music fans using Spotify’s free, ad-supported tier in Australia will receive an interactive video and audio ad experience, called Active Media, which allows users to choose whether they want to hear, see, or skip your ad. Advertisers will only pay for completed listens/views.
The Active Audio product is not only the first of its kind in the Australian audio space, but the first of its kind globally. As one of the few platforms that can offer audio, video and display at scale, Spotify continues to innovate and deliver on its commitment to providing advertisers effective, accessible, and measurable ad solutions.
How will it work?
1. A Spotify user is listening to music on our ad-supported free experience.
2. The user will receive an ad break consisting of targeted audio and video ads.
3. The user will be able to choose whether they want to hear, see, or skip your ad.
4. Spotify will learn from each interaction, allowing us to deliver a more personalised ad experience.
With the ubiquity of audio streaming dramatically changing how, when and where people are listening, this couldn’t come at a better time. Screenless listening globally continues to grow at a fast pace, with multi-device listeners spending 2.5+ hours streaming on Spotify , 50 million using Spotify in the car and an increase of +40% in streams per day on smart speakers on our platform in the last six months. (First Party Data, Global, free users, based on daily content hours/daily active users).
The opportunity for marketers to reach consumers in key screenless moments on the commute, while out running, or even while cooking, has never been more tangible.
Andrea Ingham, Head of Sales at Spotify AUNZ, said; “At Spotify we’re committed to delivering the best possible free user experience. Active Media is a win-win for listeners and advertisers; listeners benefit from an improved experience, allowing them to choose which ads they want to engage with, and in turn, we can offer advertisers better cut through and ROI.
While Active Media certainly evolves our video products for today, it will redefine the audio format for tomorrow.”
Spotify’s streaming intelligence will be fueled by each engagement so the personalisation of the ads will soon match the personalisation capabilities of some of Spotify’s most popular playlists, like Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Your Time Capsule.
To support the launch of Active Media in Australia, Spotify has also launched “Be Heard”, an invite-only initiative which has tasked Australia’s top creative agencies, including Cummins&Partners Sydney and Isobar Sydney for clients Pernod Ricard and PayPal, respectively, to innovate on the audio ad format, with Spotify’s new user-choice experience in mind.
The introduction of Active Media comes just two months after Spotify’s launch of its new free user experience.
From a Spotify media release
It’s great to see big companies take user approach to advertising. The CPM on completed ads listened to must be huge to keep Spotify afloat and advertisers interested.
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How will they earn money though, ads is the only way, like all social media and tv stations
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