What the race for attention means for marketers—and how Spotify helps them capture it.
Attention is the name of the game—and for marketers, business is booming. But here’s the thing: the race for attention is the wild, wild west. In today’s swipe-and-scroll culture, choice overload is real. Consumers are bombarded everywhere they look and listen. Capturing attention has never been more difficult or more critical to driving business results.
For any brand, attention is quickly becoming an essential metric that informs marketing strategies. But how can you actually wrangle it from consumers in an authentic way? And how do we measure that attention in a constantly shifting landscape? Simply put: attention—what it means and how it’s quantified—is a moving target. We weren’t kidding when we said it’s the wild, wild west out there.
What we do know is that Spotify plays a key role in this often-discussed industry topic. We’re capturing attention, testing new methods of measuring it, and helping our advertisers harness it. Here’s how.
May I have your attention, please?
We’re obsessed with attention at Spotify. We genuinely care about giving people a positive experience in the app. Our mission of connecting creators with fans isn’t lip service; we actually believe in building a platform where this relationship can evolve and flourish. Creators can foster deeper engagement with their audience and develop their fan community while fans can discover more about their favorite creators and build those relationships.
The good news is, in-focus time on Spotify is up 38% in the US1, and that's a trend that’s reflected in almost every major market. This means people are spending more time engaging with our app—the kind of engagement that advertisers want: loyal fans focused on high-quality, entertaining content.
This is great news for brands: 93% of content engagement translates to ad engagement on Spotify.2 In an era dominated by highly skippable social media, we’ve designed our ad experience to capture attention. Our video ad solutions, for example, are only served when we know our app is in view—and our video ads capture 2x more engagement as social media ads.3 While our app-native Call-To-Action cards help our users recall an offer from an ad they previously heard.
Good content means a more focused and more attentive audience. And a focused, attentive audience means better results for everyone in the room, including advertisers.
Not all attention is created equal
Now that we have your attention, let’s consider for a moment that not all attention is the same.
Think of it this way: someone who comes across your offer as they scroll mindlessly through their social media feed is not going to pay as much attention as someone who is, say, listening to an uplifting playlist or watching an educational podcast with their children, and sees your video ad.
You get it: In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, attention has become a valuable commodity in marketing—arguably the most valuable. Advertisers who traditionally focused on metrics like impressions and reach are now expanding their approach to include more meaningful attention-based metrics that can directly correlate with engagement and conversation, giving them equal importance. As attention becomes the new currency, understanding how it’s measured is essential for businesses looking to thrive in this competitive environment.
29%
Spotify video ads drive 29% higher engagement than industry benchmarks.⁴
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New KPIs on the block
Attention is a nascent metric, and just like the early days of online video and mobile measurement, it’s a free-for-all right now; an attention gold rush—and everyone wants to hit the jackpot.
For years, the industry has relied on attention-tracking technologies that monitor how consumers interact with ads. Metrics such as time spent, visual engagement, and the emotional response it elicits provide a deeper understanding of consumer attention beyond basic views or clicks. Like viewable impressions—a video ad is counted as viewable if it’s only 50% visible for two seconds—which helps advertisers and brands better understand how often an ad appeared and where viewers noticed it.5
These legacy metrics are a valuable piece of the marketer’s toolkit, but measuring attention has evolved significantly. Research companies like AmplifiedIntelligence, Lumen, and Adelaide all measure attention in more lateral, inventive ways—giving marketers a more nuanced understanding of what works and what doesn’t, and ultimately more meaningful data to help them measure success.
Take active attention, for example—think scrolling, pausing, or watching a video for a certain duration—which considers the user’s interaction with content. Another measures attention by monitoring gaze patterns and using eye-tracking technology, revealing how long people stay focused on an ad. Additionally, emotional attention—where consumer reactions are measured via facial coding or biometric data—is gaining traction as a means of gauging the deeper impact of ads.
Spotify does not currently deploy these technologies, and measurement partners are building solutions with respect to user privacy. But the question everyone across the industry is trying to figure out is: Which method is more valuable? The answer depends on who you ask.
Spotify Video is a leader in active attention
One thing we do know is when it comes to active attention, Spotify is setting the benchmark. We’ve worked with trusted partners on significant third-party research that shows our platform garners quality attention.
According to the 2024 Spotify Advertising Amplified Intelligence Study in Australia, Spotify is a leader in grabbing visual attention: In fact, Spotify has a 34% increase in active attention compared to VOD on TV; a 55% increase in active attention compared to standard online video; and a whopping 503% increase in active attention over scrollable social media.6
Testing, testing (and learning)
At Spotify, testing and learning is in our DNA. We do it with our product—experimenting with bold creative messages, innovative UX designs, and exciting playlisting strategies. And we do it with our ad offerings, too.
The goal is simple: deliver more value for advertisers and solutions that can help you accomplish your goals. We want our app to be a superior experience for fans and advertisers.
This also applies to how we measure attention. We’re constantly iterating on what metrics matter and what measurements make the most sense for our advertising partners. But in truth, there is no agreed-upon industry standard for how to measure attention just yet. It’s a test-and-learn environment for everyone—and, at Spotify, that puts us firmly in our element.
Yes, it’s the wild, wild west of attention out there—but at Spotify, it’s actually in the Far East that we’ve seen some very promising results. We recently worked with Lumen Research to identify how we’re capturing attention in Japan:
The numbers tell the story: Spotify’s 30-second video ads deliver 2.9x more attention than an Instream platform, and 5.1x more attention than a social media platform. By comparison, our 30-second audio ads deliver 2.3x more attention than Instream platforms and 4.2x more attention than social media platforms.7
Oh, and did we mention that same study also found Spotify ads deliver the highest attentive seconds among non-skippable media? With Spotify, you can build sustained connections between brands and fans.
These initial results are extremely positive, and we’re actively investing in more partner-led attention research to prove the value of our platform and its ability to drive real results for brands.
The attention frontier is already here
It’s too soon to say who will ultimately win the battle for attention. But what we do know is that all the players—social media channels, streaming platforms, brands, and verification and research partners—see the advantage of capturing attention and are actively trying to measure it.
We also know that the methods for capturing and measuring attention will evolve in step with how we pay attention. The rise of AI and machine learning has enabled marketers to more precisely target their audiences, track how long a person interacts with an ad, and predict when attention is likely to peak—allowing for more personalized and relevant ad experiences. And when all of that is combined with the positive effects of non-intrusive advertising, the stars really do begin to align.
Marketers will need to innovate by creating ads that are less disruptive and more engaging, creating content that draws in our audience without feeling forced or interruptive.
And this isn’t just about the ads themselves. Attention metrics will influence everything from content creation and platform experience to ad placement and ad type. Advertisers who can effectively capture attention and align it with consumer intent and interests will drive better business outcomes, while those who rely on outdated methods will fall behind.
Plenty of room on the bandwagon
Regardless of your horse in the race, this is one bandwagon you should hop on—and fast. With improved measurement technologies and the increasingly important role of AI, the industry is on the cusp of a new era where attention is more accurately measured, understood, and applied strategically. The future of marketing will be driven by the ability to capture, measure, and hold consumer attention in ways that feel authentic, engaging, and unobtrusive.
The question you need to ask yourself: Are you ready for the attention frontier?
Connect with your audience on Spotify.
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