5/13/2025
With 423 million ad-supported monthly active users globally and 115 million in North America, streaming powerhouse Spotify has become a must-have advertising platform, especially for live music promoters. While the 12% subscriber increase reported in their quarterly earnings for Q1 2025 is impressive, the most impressive stat is how much time users are spending every day on the platform. With 2 hours of daily engagement, Spotify outpaces platforms like TikTok (55 minutes) and YouTube (47 minutes). 92% of Spotify users say they use it as part of their daily routine.
Spotify continues to evolve as a platform for users to grow not just as a platform to listen to, but also to watch, scroll, and engage. In 2023, Spotify introduced vertical video in the Now Playing View, a major shift designed to compete with platforms like TikTok. Instead of just showing a static album cover, artists and brands can now display dynamic video content behind songs—creating a more immersive and scroll-stopping experience. This evolution not only increases engagement during music listening but also opens up new opportunities for advertisers to connect visually with audiences, even in a platform traditionally dominated by audio. According to their Q1 2025 earnings, engagement with video on Spotify is up 44% year-over-year—and a massive 81% for Gen Z. One other important thing to keep in mind: while Spotify Premium removes ads from music streaming, it does not eliminate ads from podcasts!
Jump to Ad Formats: Audio Ads, Canvas Companion Ads, Video Takeover Ads, Opt-In Video Ads, In-Feed Display Ads
Why Ad Format Selection Matters on Spotify
At FanIQ, we see Spotify as uniquely positioned in the advertising landscape. It’s one of the few platforms that offers audio, video, and display ad formats within a single ecosystem—each suited to different user behaviors and moments. This range of formats means advertisers must be intentional with their media mix. When building an ad set in Spotify, you're required to choose either audio or video as the core format, which makes selecting the right creative and placement strategy even more critical from the start.
Use audio ads to reach users during screenless moments—like commuting, cooking, or working out—when they're immersed in listening. Spotify’s algorithm can detect whether a user is actively looking at the app or listening with the screen off, which means audio ads are only served to listeners in passive, screenless contexts. On the flip side, video ads are only shown when the app is in view, ensuring that visual creative is delivered to users who are actively engaging with their screen. Meanwhile, display ads provide high-visibility touchpoints within the app interface, driving interaction and brand recall when users are navigating or discovering new content.
Choosing the right combination of these formats isn’t just tactical—it’s strategic. It’s how you ensure your message reaches the right person, in the right moment, in the right way.
Audience Targeting & Segmentation on Spotify
Like other major platforms—such as TikTok, Meta, and Snapchat—Spotify allows advertisers to build audiences based on core demographics like location, age, and gender, and also supports custom audience uploads for retargeting or CRM-based outreach. Advertisers can tap into a wide range of interests, spanning categories like Fitness, Gaming, and Family—similar to social platforms, but uniquely informed by Spotify’s audio consumption data.
What truly sets Spotify apart is its ability to target fans of specific artists, including many high-profile names not available on other platforms, as well as its placement-based targeting, which lets advertisers reach listeners based on what they’re actively consuming—whether it’s a specific music genre, a themed playlist like cooking or chill, or even a podcast—ensuring contextual relevance and deeper engagement.
Understanding Spotify Ad Campaign Objectives
When launching a campaign on Spotify Ads Manager, selecting the right objective is crucial to align with your marketing goals. Spotify offers a range of objectives tailored to different stages of the customer journey:
Reach: Maximize unique listeners for broad awareness.
Impressions: Drive frequency and stay top-of-mind.
Video Views: Boost engagement with visual content.
Clicks & Website Traffic: Drive users to your site or landing page.
App Installs: Acquire new users via download-focused campaigns.
Streams: Increase podcast or music/video plays.
Each objective leverages Spotify's first-party data and machine learning to deliver your ads to the most relevant audience, ensuring efficient use of your advertising budget.
Ad Formats
Audio Ads
Description: A short, immersive audio ad that plays between songs during a listening session. Delivered in screenless moments, these ads reach listeners when they’re most attentive—whether commuting, working out, or relaxing.
What Works: Concise, engaging storytelling with a strong voiceover, brand sound, and a clear call-to-action (CTA). Use sound design to build atmosphere and drive memorability.
Technical Specs:
Max Duration: 30 seconds
File Types: MP3, .OGG, or WAV
Sample Rate: 44.1kHz
Bit Rate: 192kbps
Common Campaign Objective: Awareness, Consideration, Traffic
Target Audiences: Mid to Upper Funnel – Commuters, Passive Listeners, Contextually Relevant Segments
Canvas Companion Ad
Description: A clickable display ad that appears alongside a Spotify Canvas—the looping vertical video that plays during song playback. This ad shows beneath the Canvas on the Now Playing View and drives users to a custom URL when tapped.
What Works: Bold, eye-catching visuals paired with a clear CTA. Companion Ads work best when they complement the mood, style, or message of the track’s Canvas video, creating a seamless branded experience.
Technical Specs:
Max Duration: 8 seconds
File Types: Image (JPG or PNG) or Video (MP4 or MOV)
Aspect Ratio: 9:16 Only
Resolution: 720px-1280px
Common Campaign Objective: Traffic, Conversions, Product Discovery
Target Audiences: Engaged music listeners, product-conscious fans, artist fanbases
Video Takeover Ads
Description: A full-screen video ad that appears during active sessions when users are browsing, searching, or interacting with the Spotify app. These ads include a clickable companion banner and only play when the app is in view, ensuring high user attention.
What Works: Short, visually compelling creative with dynamic motion and a strong CTA. Hook the viewer within the first few seconds and keep the message clear and brand-forward throughout.
Technical Specs:
Max Duration: 30 seconds
File Types: Video (MP4 or MOV)
Aspect Ratio: 9:16 or 16:9
Resolution: 720px-1280px
Common Campaign Objective: Awareness, Traffic, Product Launches
Target Audiences: Visually Engaged Users, Mid-to-Upper Funnel Audiences
Opt-In Video Ads
Description: Opt-In Video is a new, non-interruptive video ad format that Spotify users will encounter on the Now Playing View (NPV), when they are engaging with the app.
What Works: Value-first messaging that makes it clear users are receiving an ad-free benefit. Keep it short, attention-grabbing, and clearly branded with a strong CTA to reinforce the exchange.
Technical Specs:
Max Duration: 30 seconds
File Types: Video (MP4 or MOV)
Aspect Ratio: 1:1, 9:16 or 16:9
Resolution: 720px-1280px
Common Campaign Objective: Awareness, Traffic, Engagement
Target Audiences: Visually Engaged Users, Brand-conscious listeners.
In-Feed Display Ads (New)
Description: A high-visibility display ad that appears in Spotify’s Now Playing View and Browse section on mobile. These placements are surfaced during active, engaged moments—like when users are listening to music or discovering new content—making them ideal for driving brand awareness and traffic without disrupting the listening experience.
What Works: Bold, brand-forward creative with minimal copy and a strong call-to-action (CTA). Align visuals with genres, moods, or moments to enhance contextual relevance and drive higher engagement.
Technical Specs:
Dimensions: 640x640
File Types: Image (JPG or PNG)
Aspect Ratio: 1:1
File Size: 75MB Max
Common Campaign Objective: Awareness, Traffic, Product Discovery, Retargeting
Target Audiences: Mobile-first listeners, music browsers, brand-aware users
What is Spotify's Cost per Thousand (CPM)?
FanIQ’s clients see an average CPM of $7.92 for audio ads and $8.07 for video ads on Spotify. These rates reflect campaigns optimized for both awareness and conversion objectives, and they consistently performed below industry benchmarks. With CPMs under $8, Spotify offers a more cost-effective alternative to platforms like TikTok ($8.64) and Snapchat ($9.75)—both of which saw even higher CPMs for FanIQ clients in early 2025. For brands looking to reach a highly engaged, intent-driven audience without overspending, Spotify continues to deliver outsized value.
Summary and Additional Paid Social Resources
Understanding Spotify’s unique ad environment is essential for building high-performing campaigns in 2025. Whether your goal is brand awareness, engagement, or conversion, Spotify’s blend of audio, video, and display formats lets you connect with users throughout their daily routines. By leveraging formats like audio ads for screenless moments, video ads for active attention, and display ads for visibility within the app, brands can build immersive, full-funnel campaigns that resonate with Spotify’s deeply engaged and growing audience.
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