Digital audio advertising is exploding, recently becoming a $1.6 billion market. Spotify and Pandora continue to duke it out to be #1 in digital radio – but what happens when Spotify advertising lets users skip any and all ads…unlimited, and for free?

Spotify currently has a “Discover” algorithm that curates and recommends certain artists and songs based on the user’s listening history. You listen to a lot of Taylor Swift? Here, you might like Ed Sheeran too. It’s a system that works – so why not apply that same idea to the ads on the platform? That’s exactly what the unlimited skippable ads are planning to prove. You skip ads for laundry detergent but listen to makeup and beauty ads all the way through? Cool. We’ll save that information and show you more makeup and beauty ads, and less detergent ads. This way, the consumer only sees what they are interested in – and the advertiser only pays for ads put in front of an audience who is most likely to buy. This way, your Spotify advertising is a win-win.

The new Spotify advertising feature will be called “Active Media” and it will be a massive penny saver for advertisers – only pay for the ads that aren’t skipped, and don’t pay for the ads that are skipped. Big brands are loving this new idea, including Sam Kang, the VP of Media at Dollar Shave Club. Dollar Shave Club has recently amped up their spending on Spotify advertising and are seeing major results. Kang states Spotify advertising is “one of our key pillars in our marketing.”

The “Active Media” feature is currently being tested in markets in Australia. Depending on its success, we may see it roll in to the US as a permanent Spotify advertising feature. Only time will tell. It is highly dependent on if users actually listen to certain ads, or if they just skip them all. If this Spotify advertising feature is implemented, it will most definitely raise the bar for creative audio ads. The more intriguing the ad, the more likely it won’t be skipped. As an advertiser you need to stand out in a skippable world – and here at Push Button, we know exactly how to help.

Spotify Advertising 2018 Stats:

-180 million monthly active users

-30% are year-over-year

-101 million ad supported users

-Ad revenue is up 20%, totaling $158 million

Sources:

https://adage.com/article/digital/spotify-letting-listeners-skip-ads/314562/