Spotify to Launch Ad Marketplace for Podcasts in India, Other Select Countries

Spotify, the popular music streaming company, has on Thursday said that it will launch its advertising marketplace for podcasts in five new markets, including Sweden and India. This expansion will be a part of the Spotify Audience Network, which was first launched in 2021. The Spotify Audience Network is available in nine countries such as Germany and the United States for podcast publishers and creators to monetise their content.

After investing over a billion dollars (nearly Rs. 8,320 crore) to build up its podcast business with 5 million titles and 100 million podcast listeners, Spotify is focusing on boosting advertisement revenue from the format.

"We often hear from our customers that they have been reticent to invest in podcasts because of the lack of audience targeting and challenges reaching podcast listeners at scale," Brian Berner, global head of advertising sales at Spotify, said.

"The Spotify Audience Network addresses these two challenges head on."

In the latest third quarter, the company's advertising revenue was up 16 percent from an year earlier and podcast advertising revenue grew in a double-digit range.

Last month, the platform applied new restrictions on users in India who listen to music on the streaming service's free plan. The company has started to place limits on how users on the free plan can play tracks, including the ability to choose the order in which songs are played on the streaming platform. The move is part of the Swedish company's attempt to turn its large userbase in the company that is currently on the ad-supported free tier to paying subscribers.