Why Spotify is growing its connected TV ad business

Spotify is eyeing connected TV ad dollars. The music streamer is launching video ads for its CTV apps, beginning with Roku as the first partner, in what will soon be known as the Spotify CTV Partner Network. The developing network is a vision for not just being able to disseminate its video advertisers among a variety of TV-screen platforms, but also to add to the loop of devices those advertisers can retarget audiences on. More CTV news: CB2 uses AI to make streaming TV ads “The dream is ubiquity—that we’re going to bring the Spotify experience with all of these new consumer and advertising products to every point of consumption,” said Emma Vaughn, head of advertising business development and partnerships at Spotify, who previously served in similar roles at NBCUniversal and Peacock. “CTV is essentially the highest growth category for where advertisers are spending [and] where the eyeballs are.” Ad Age Media Summit Hear from industry leaders during October event in NYC Register here Spotify and Roku will share duties for selling the video inventory coming to Spotify’s Roku app. For Roku, the partnership will be integrated into its Audience Network, which places advertising among over 100 streaming partners on its platform based on target audiences. Spotify and Roku declined to share how business from this partnership would be shared. “This is a continuation and further enhancement of a very long-term partnership,” said Regina Breslin, senior director of global content distribution at Roku. Breslin said the Spotify partnership is a message to “other partners that we will meet them and be able to work with them in ways to help them grow and expand their reach,” and Roku expects to expand its roster of advertisers as well. Also read: Spotify challenges ad creatives in latest B2B push Initially, Spotify will offer advertisers its Video Takeover product, which looks like traditional ad breaks served to viewers who are actively browsing Spotify’s catalog, and features interactive banners prompting user action. The format is already available on Spotify’s other devices, including mobile, tablet and desktop, which Vaughn said will offer utility in allowing advertisers to retarget users across all of their devices. Vaughn teased that additional products will roll out over time, such as video podcast ads. They will alpha test the CTV video ads in the U.S. next month, with additional markets to follow. While the Spotify app has been on Roku for more than a decade, Vaughn said the music streamer’s current “[CTV] consumption is growing massively,” although she declined to share the exact number of Spotify users streaming on CTV. And Spotify is aware that many users aren’t always looking at their screens when tuning in. Vaughn described Spotify’s video ads as “both a foreground and background experience,” which challenges advertisers to have audio that stands on its own with the additive appeal of video for viewers actively watching. “That’s something that we’ve been dealing with on all devices for a while, and something that is a strategic priority when it comes to CTV,” said Vaughn. As Spotify grows its network of CTV partners offering video ads, “we’re going to be able to reach exactly the type of audiences that our advertisers want to reach in what circumstances they want to reach them in,” said Vaughn. Spotify claims to reach a global audience of over 500 million listeners, and Roku reported 73.5 million global active accounts in its second-quarter earnings.

Why Spotify is growing its connected TV ad business

Featured Stories