• by Colin Kirkland , May 2, 2024

From a studio space in Chelsea, Spotify hosted its first-ever NewFronts event on Wednesday.

Discussing a steep rise in consumers' video consumption, Spotify's Head of Sales Ann Piper and Global Creative Director Kay Hsu highlighted new advertising opportunities in digital video on the platform.

Spotify is focused on becoming a more “immersive” platform. It has already tackled “utility” and “curation” in previous years, according to the presentation with slides by Hsu.

In 2023, Spotify introduced three new video features, including video podcasts, music videos, and Canvas -- the looping video artwork for songs on mobile.

“We are at this inflection point,” said Piper, “where users are viewing more and more content visually as well as video.”

According to Piper, the company is committed to introducing more video content to its massive song and audiobook library, while also expanding from mobile-first consumption to desktop and connected TV.

“We’re ready to play in the digital advertising pool and compete for more than audio budgets,” Piper told the crowd of advertisers. “Now that there is more video being created on the platform, we want to connect brands with users when they are looking at their screen.”

To make use of evolving consumer behavior, Spotify is in the process of transforming its podcast offerings with video, which typically includes footage of the hosts interviewing their guests in a studio or at a live event.

According to Piper, Spotify now has over 2.5 million video podcast episodes on its platform. More than 500,000 video podcast episodes have been uploaded since the start of the year.

In addition, in the second quarter, the time users spent with Spotify's video content increased 48% year-over-year.

Which could increase the opportunity for brands to reach consumers on the platform -- especially the 388 million free users who receive video ads when using the app on mobile.

These include video takeover ads, which are delivered while users are browsing for songs and podcasts on the app; sponsored sessions, which show users a video ad for 30 minutes of ad-free listening; and opt-in video ads that play only when the app is in focus.

With over 100 million songs, Spotify is still primarily a hub for audio streaming. According to the company, ad campaigns that utilize both audio and video are more successful, producing a 7% increase in brand awareness, a 7% increase in message association, and a 27% increase in purchase intent.