Spotify is a streaming music service with over 16 million songs. It has three tiers - free with ads, unlimited streaming, and premium with no ads. Advertisers can run audio, display, and other ad formats. To be effective, ads need to identify users' music interests, adapt to their context and mood, connect through shared passions, and encourage co-creation like branded playlists. Interrupting users negatively impacts brands, while engaging ads add value.

1. CHANGING
YOUR TUNE
A quick guide to Spotify

2. What is it?
Spotify is an on-demand streaming
music service offering digitally
restricted streaming of selected music
from a range of major independent
record labels.
“Access is replacing ownership,
like it or not.”
Gerd Leonhard, author of The Future of Content

3. How it works
There are three streaming services available; Free streaming,
Unlimited Streaming and Premium.
Access to millions Unlimited streaming Spotify on your Offline mode for
No Advertisements
of tracks of music mobile playlists
FREE
UNLIMITED
PREMIUM

4. Functions
FUNCTIONALITY DISCOVERY MOBILITY
Access to millions Related artists Use anywhere
of tracks
Import local files Artist radio Mobile music
Create custom playlists Bibliographies Offline mode

5. Why it works
Streaming music services negate both the
cost and compatibility problems users have
with music downloads.
“It’s all the music you can listen
to, served to you in real time and
it’s FREE!– which is why Spotify
is the hottest thing going
right now.”
Michael Miller author of The Ultimate Digital
Music Guide: The Best Way to Store, Organize,
and Play Digital Music

6. Why should you care?
“Spotify’s launch in Australia has been the
most successful launch globally to date.”
Radinck van Vollenhoven, Senior Sales Manager, Spotify, Australia & New Zealand
— Library of 16 million songs, with 10,000 new tracks
added every day.
— Estimated 10,000 new subscribers a month.
— +2.5 million global users in the last month.
— 20 million monthly active users (5M paying subscribers,
15M non-paying).
Spotify
— Estimated 700+ Playlists created every day. Music Ally
Billboard

7. WHAT’S ALL THE NOISE ABOUT?

8. Spotify Ads
There are 8 different ad units on Spotify;
Audio ads, Display ads, Billboard ads, MPUs,
Homepage Takeovers, Branded Playlists,
Lightbox and Advertiser Page.
The units include spots of up to
30 seconds of advertising.
Marketers also have the opportunity to build
upon Spotify’s already established platform
by developing branded apps.

9. Advertising on Spotify
The best and worst thing about Spotify ads is that they’re unavoidable.
Although you’re guaranteed eyes and ears,
you’re still interrupting the listener’s experience.
Ads on Spotify can either:
1. Detract value from the listener’s experience
_ +
2. Add value to the listener’s experience.

10. Detracting value (interrupting)
Spotify Ads are often
confronting, invasive
“I would rather listen to toothpaste fighting
and irrelevant. cavities”
_ Abruptly interrupting “Obnoxiously long - and the content is odious”
a user’s listening “It’s frustrating when the ads are completely
experience with irrelevant to me”
marketing jargon will
“What is very annoying are ads that are not even
only lead to negative close to the genre of music that I’m listening to.
brand association When I’m playing a classic rock album, I get ads
for a hip hop artist”
and backlash.
“...it’s the fact that they’re really compressed, loud
If not done right, it’s a and interrupting my peace that I can’t cope with”
lose-lose situation to
both the listener and Spotify Community Forum
the advertiser.

11. Adding value (engaging)
Add to the listener’s
user experience by
“I wouldn’t hate Spotify ads so much if they
integrating marketing weren’t so offbeat...literally. They’re so irrelevant
messages into their to me and my music preferences”
Spotify ecosystem.
“If the ad actually matched the music I was
+
listening to, then I would be interested in
Identify, adapt, sampling that product and even consider
connect, co-create making a PURCHASE”
and share musical
“I don’t mind Spotify ads when they’re not
interests. invading my musical space with random
nonsense... Show me a brand with similar
musical interests, and I’ll happily walk into their
Leverage users’ musical
shop to purchase their products”
passion points and
positive affiliation with Spotify Community Forum
music to accentuate
your brand’s message.

12. Spotify Ads on the engagement scale
1. AUDIO ADS 3. DISPLAY ADS 5. HOMEPAGE TAKEOVERS 7. ADVERTISER PAGE
High impact, unavoidable Places leaderboard and High impact, unavoidable format; An ad-served microsite, seamlessly integrated
format comprised of audio ad, skyscraper ads in the Spotify allows for effective redesign and into the Spotify player. The advertiser page can
campaign cover art, and player, served when the user is brand-ownership of Spotify. contain practically any content you'd display
clickable scrolling text. actively interacting with Spotify. It's the first thing a user sees on a webpage, including videos, clickable
when they open Spotify. images, blogs, news, links, comments and more.
INTERRUPTING
ENGAGING
2. BILLBOARD ADS 4. MPU ADS 6. LIGHTBOX 8. BRANDED PLAYLISTS
A format with huge standout; Standard online format for the An overlay window launched by Custom user-generated
acts like a screensaver after a Spotify player homepage: the any Spotify ad format, hosting playlists with brand logo,
few minutes of player inactivity. default start-up page for all content such as Flash video, custom text and optional
users when they log in to Spotify. data capture, competitions, live link to your campaign.
streaming or game demos.

13. Engaging - 4 key rules
1. IDENTIFY 3. CONNECT
Identify your target market’s musical Build strong relationships with users
interests and listening habits. by leveraging musical passion points.
2. ADAPT + 4. CO-CREATE
Adapt the tone of your ad to the Foster branded communities by
musical context of the listener’s mood. encouraging and rewarding user
participation.

14. Engaging
To build a solid
communication foundation
on Spotify, you must first
+
identify your audience’s
listening behaviours.
Get in tune with your
target audience. Levi’s partnered with Spotify, The Clash and a series of
emerging UK bands, to help promote an array of gigs at
its flagship store. Band fans were encouraged to visit the
IDENTIFY Levi’s microsite to determine the set-list, cover tracks
Tailor your Spotify and support acts for the gig.
Identify your target communications according The unique musical partnerships and creative execution
across Spotify successfully embraced Levi’s rugged, yet
market’s musical interests to your target audience’s timeless brand appeal, making their brand more relatable
music preferences. to a new generation of Spotify users.
and listening habits.

15. Engaging
Interrupting consumers
while they’re listening to
their favourite music will
+
result in negative brand
association.
Stop interrupting
and start engaging.
Clipper Tea created an interactive ad to
ADAPT induce trial. The ad targeted listeners
whose musical interests lied with
serene/classical music.
Adapt the tone of your
Clipper Tea consciously acknowledged
ad to the musical Optimise genre targeting the musical context and made the
to adapt the tone of your interruption as non-invasive as possible.
context of the
ad to a user’s mood.
listener’s mood.

16. The emotional content of
Engaging music is highly subjective.
A user’s playlist is often a
personal reflection and
expression of their identity.
Let the user’s positive
+
affiliation with music
accentuate your
brand image.
Spotify Apps enable
marketers to create unique Through the FitList App, Reebok created a
cross-platform connections controlled encounter that integrated the
CONNECT with the user. consumer’s workout, favorite artists and the
Reebok brand into a single integrated brand
(Music + Lifestyle + Social)
experience. The consumer’s positive
Build strong associations with the artist, workout
and overall experience added value
relationships with users to the consumer's experience.
Create a consumer
by leveraging musical self-provisioning app to
passion points. enhance personal
affiliation with the brand.

17. Engaging
Chances are people in a
brand’s target market have
+
similar tastes in music.
Encourage listeners
to build playlists
In order to connect with a young target market, Skoda
around your brand. developed The Family Composer. The campaign acted as a
CO-CREATE musical dating service, matching Spotify users with
similar music tastes. User generated playlists encouraged
young Spotifiers to share their favourite tracks with one
Foster brand Build a playlist to facilitate a another, and with Skoda. The fun and uniqueness of the
experience sparked an online Skoda community, making
communities by mood in-line with your brand. the brand identifiable with young demographic.
This will engage users with a
encouraging and
similar taste in music to band
rewarding user together over your brand.
participation.

18. Summary
It’s time to stop interrupting and start engaging.
— Estimated 10,000 new subscribers a month.
— Over different 8 advertising options + App opportunities.
— Guaranteed eyes and ears, but theres a brand risk if you get it wrong.
— Our advice....follow the 4 key engagement rules.

19. Next Steps
Identify: Identify your target market’s musical interests and listening habits.
Adapt: Adapt the tone of your ad to the musical context of the listener’s mood.
Connect: Build strong relationships with users by leveraging their musical passion points.
Co-Create: Foster brand communities by encouraging and rewarding user participation.

20. THANK YOU!
For more information please email
tim.evans@dtdigital.com.au or david.pountney@dtdigital.com.au
dtdigital.com.au
facebook.com/dtdigital
twitter.com/dtdigital