We introduced the Spotify Audience Network at our virtual Stream On event back in February. After a successful launch in the United States in April, we are excited to announce that we are expanding this first-of-its-kind marketplace to Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

A quick reminder: the Spotify Audience Network is an audio-first advertising marketplace that makes it possible for advertisers of all sizes to connect with listeners across a broad range of content on- and off-Spotify, including Spotify Originals & Exclusives and content from third-party Megaphone publishers.

In other words, we’re unlocking audience-based buying for marketers like we’ve never done before. Why does this matter? Advertisers have historically bought podcast ads on a title-by-title basis. And while title-based buying remains an effective way to align with trusted podcasts and hosts, an advertiser’s reach is limited to a specific title. This has made it challenging to target your customers at scale.

With the Spotify Audience Network, advertisers have a broad range of easy-to-use, audience-based targeting tools including demographic targeting, geographic targeting, and even audience segment targeting. Advertisers can reach highly engaged, targeted audiences within podcasts both on- and off-Spotify. Today, the network includes the audiences listening to podcasts from our four studios (Spotify Studios, The Ringer, Gimlet, Parcast) and leading third-party podcast publishers like ViacomCBS and the Wall Street Journal.

Advertiser reaction has been promising: within three months of launch, nearly 60% of Spotify’s US podcast advertiser base is advertising with the Spotify Audience Network.¹ Advertisers like Volkswagen and Saks have taken advantage of this new offering.

In a recent report, Advertiser Perceptions asked over 200 podcast advertisers,² “Which buying method works best for achieving your company’s podcast campaign KPIs?” The top two responses by a wide margin were “by audience segment” and “across a podcast network”. This survey further validates our conviction that audience-based buying is the future of audio advertising. Lee Brown, VP, Global Head of Spotify’s Advertising Business notes, “Over the last few years, Spotify has made significant investments to ensure the podcast industry and audio overall reaches its full potential and we believe the introduction of audience-based buying to podcasts is essential to making this happen. The early success of the Spotify Audience Network in the US is incredibly motivating and with the expansion to more markets, we’re making it possible for even more advertisers and publishers to make the most of this booming industry.”

Since our April launch of the Spotify Audience Network, we’ve been able to extend the reach and scale of marketers’ Spotify campaigns with the addition of Megaphone publisher content. Kimberly Gardiner, SVP of Marketing at Volkswagen, notes, “Podcasts have been on our radar for some time; however, the lack of audience targeting has largely restricted us from investing in the space. We are excited to have recently partnered with Spotify to launch our first podcast advertising campaign ever, leveraging the Spotify Audience Network to drive awareness and consideration for our first electric vehicle, the Volkswagen ID.4.”

It isn't only advertisers that benefit from the Spotify Audience Network; publishers do, too. Megaphone podcast publishers who have opted in to the network have seen meaningful improvement in their ability to monetize. Opted-in podcast publishers have seen fill rates increase by over +10%, CPMs increase by over +40%, while the number of unique advertisers in their content is increasing, with some publishers seeing that number double.³

And this is just the beginning. With innovation in our DNA, we’re exploring how to make podcast advertising easier to buy, evolving the podcast ad experience, and working with podcast publishers and creators to improve their monetization. Come join us on this journey.

For marketers, reach out to your Spotify sales rep to learn more about how your business or brand can be part of the future of podcast advertising. For publishers, contact your Megaphone account representative or reach out through the Megaphone website to connect with someone who can speak with you directly about how to monetize your content more effectively through the Spotify Audience Network.