News & Insights

5 reasons to invest in digital audio advertising

The global results from Kantar are in: When it comes to reach, relevance, and audience sentiment, Spotify is outperforming radio more than ever. Here’s what marketers need to know.

In today’s fragmented media landscape, the power of audio is louder than ever. And as the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service going 356M monthly active users strong, Spotify continues to make noise. A new study from Kantar shows that Spotify is reaching more listeners than radio in the US and around the globe,1 and adding significant incremental reach to other media channels.

Read the latest research on where and why people are listening — and how advertisers can act.

Be heard by more listeners compared to radio

Thanks to the personalization and convenience of digital audio, listeners are consistently tuning in to Spotify more than radio around the world. And here in the U.S., streaming continues to be mainstream: More than two in five U.S. adults in this study listen to Spotify on a weekly basis.1 Across the country, Spotify Free specifically reaches more than one in four adults weekly in major markets.1

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Add unique weekly reach to your other media channels

From waking up to working out, from long drives to quick showers, Spotify can be there for listeners in screenless moments that other media channels can’t easily reach. As a result, Spotify provides incremental unique reach to other media channels. Check out the breakdown of Spotify’s exclusive weekly audience reach across various media:

Connect with listeners throughout the day

Knowing the context in which people listen is what sets digital audio apart from the rest. People soundtrack their lives and daily moments with Spotify, listening across devices under one logged-in identity. Kantar's study found that among Spotify Free listeners who create playlists, 69 percent of them make them for specific activities — whether at home, on the move, chilling solo, or with friends.1

Tap into culture

Beyond simply giving people more moments to listen, Spotify also gives listeners a direct connection to where culture is headed through editorial playlists, personalized experiences, and more. Listeners tune into Spotify hubs like EQUAL, Black History Is Now, Pride and more to experience socially conscious curated content, in addition to personalized playlists that tap into artists they love — and help them find their obsession. It’s no surprise that Spotify users have spent over 2.3B hours streaming Discover Weekly playlists since the feature’s launch in 2015.

Listeners are twice (2X) as likely to view Spotify as “trend-setting” and “enjoyable” than radio.1 This cultural relevance has a halo effect for brands. Listeners are more likely to pay attention to digital audio, because it’s both culturally and personally relevant.

Reach an engaged, attentive audience

Bottom line: Spotify listeners aren’t a passive audience. They’re leaned in, paying attention, and open to hearing from brands. On average across all markets, attention paid to content on Spotify was +12 percentage points higher than content on radio.1

That attention is driven by the relevant, personalized content that Spotify provides.

  • 59% of Spotify Free users explicitly say they “pay more attention to advertising on Spotify than on radio.”1
  • 51% of Spotify Free users say they pay more attention to ads on Spotify because they are more relevant or tailored.1
  • Podcast advertising on Spotify drives attention: 71% of Spotify podcast listeners pay full or most attention to advertising when listening.1

Across all of these results, one thing is clear: The world is listening to digital audio. For advertisers, that means a huge opportunity to have all ears on you as people stream what they love.

1 Spotify & Kantar: TNS Research, US Age=16-64, 2020

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