Spotify revealed on February 22 that it plans to monetize its podcast investment. The company announced that it will launch a new audio-visual advertising marketplace, the Spotify Audience Network, which will allow advertisers to use their own programs, Spotify Originals and Exclusives, as well as podcasts and ads from Megaphone and the creation tool Anchor. It is said that it will be possible to reach listeners such as music. The company also plans to offer podcasts on its self-service advertising platform, Spotify Ad Studio, and said it will be in beta testing in the US, starting with Spotify Originals and Exclusives.
The company plans to extend this to third-party podcasts in the future, the company said in an online live event “Stream On” on the 22nd.
Today, Spotify Ad Studio has been used by advertisers in 22 markets since its launch in 2017, reaching Spotify music listeners in both audio and video ads. Spotify said the service was the fastest-growing purchasing channel, but didn’t provide specific figures detailing its growth.
Image Credit: Spotify
But the big news on the advertising side was the launch of a new audio-visual advertising marketplace, Spotify Audience Network. Like some other forward-looking announcements, Spotify didn’t want to go into the details of how the Spotify Audience Network actually works. The company just said it was in the “early stage of developing the service” and that it would be able to share more information at a later date.
But especially for podcasters looking to make money from advertising and advertisers who want to reach the company’s hundreds of millions of audiences, both inside and outside Spotify, the company is a “game changer.” It is positioned as.
The news follows a research report reported by The Verge in early 2021, which says Spotify is now in fact, despite its promise to find sponsors for smaller podcasters. It turned out to be the main sponsor of Anchor’s advertising. It seems that Spotify didn’t prioritize outreach to advertisers in the process of building advertising marketplaces and tools to fulfill those promises.
Image Credit: Spotify
With the recent acquisition of Megaphone, Spotify will be able to extend Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) technology, which was launched in early 2020, to publishers other than its own audio-visual programs Originals and Exclusives. It was revealed that it would be. Currently, SAI is available in the US, Canada, Germany and the UK, but plans to expand to other new markets in 2021.
Since its debut, SAI has rolled out new features such as audience-based buying, native ad placement, and creative performance reporting. In late 2021, Spotify said it will make SAI available to Megaphone podcast publishers and creators of “major” Anchors.
But advertising isn’t the only way Anchor creators can grow their revenue.
As TechCrunch previously reported, Spotify briefly said that within a few months it will begin beta testing new features that will allow Anchor creators to publish paid podcast content on Spotify to their most enthusiastic fans.