In January, we reported on Spotify’s announcement in the US of its ‘Streaming Ad Insertion’ [SAI] technology: a system to boost advertising within its original and exclusive shows by giving brands and podcast makers alike more data on listeners and ad performance. Now SAI is rolling out elsewhere in the world, starting in Germany.
The location is no accident: Germany has become an important market for Spotify podcasts. The company says that almost half of young Germans are listening to podcasts, while the number of shows available on Spotify grew from 2,000 to 22,000 between 2018 and early 2020.
“Due to the great demand, Germany is a very important market for our podcast strategy and the logical next step for the expansion of SAI after the launch in the USA in January,” said Spotify’s head of ad sales in Germany Sven Bieber.
The pitch to brands is also interesting: Spotify is saying that podcasts represent a way to reach its premium subscribers, who (obviously!) don’t hear ads around their music. “With podcasts, marketers reach all Spotify users, because more than 70% of German podcast listeners use premium,” said Bieber. One question we have: will those subscribers expect not to hear ads within podcasts too? One to watch.
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