FYI

Spotify debuts in India and launches ad solutions

Music streaming service Spotify has officially launched in India. Making a play for advertisers in the country to support its free offering, Spotify is offering a ‘premium content environment’. All entertainment on the platform will be licensed from official partners or created by its in-house team.

It is also offering multimedia ad experiences promising audio, video and display ad formats. Smartphone brand OnePlus, Brand USA – an organisation that markets the US as a travel destination – and Anheuser-Busch InBev were among the first to come on board. Even before its official launch, the app had gained underground popularity in India – with the US edition often being accessed via a VPN.

The announcement:

Spotify, the world’s most popular music streaming service with over 207 million active users, launches today in India on mobile, tablet and desktop, offering brands a new platform to connect with consumers in an exciting, targeted and impactful way.

Available for free to all in India today, Spotify lets people discover the right music for every moment, across hundreds of devices, allowing them to soundtrack their lives. When music fans stream in these moments, they reveal who they really are, the moment they are in, and even their moods; this first-party data and insights comprises Spotify’s Streaming Intelligence. For brands and marketers, this presents an unparalleled opportunity to serve the right message, to the right person, in the right context.

Upon launch, OnePlus, Brand USA, and Anheuser-Busch InBev will have exclusive rights to launch their advertising campaigns on Spotify India. Through Spotify, these brands will be able to reach out to highly engaged, passionate and socially active users.

Advertising on Spotify Today, consumers are streaming music through various devices from the time they wake up to winding down at night and everything in between, putting music front and center of their daily lives. These new habits are creating massive shifts in the consumer journey, prompting a renewed focus on the role of audio in people’s lives.

Fully localised, the Spotify experience in India brings to brands an incredibly engaged audience. Globally, Spotify Free users spend an average of 2.5 hours each day listening to music on the platform through multiple devices.

Brands will benefit from: Premium content environment: Spotify prides itself on being a premium environment that celebrates culture and creativity by bringing artists, fans, and brands together. The content on the Spotify service is licensed from our partners or created by our in-house team.

Multimedia ad experiences: Compelling audio, video, and display ad formats available that help brands tell their story to the right audience in the right context.

Just as music is social, so is Spotify. Music fans can create and discover playlists, and share instantly with friends on Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Line, WhatsApp, text and email.

Sunita Kaur, Vice President of Advertising Sales at Spotify, APAC said, “Spotify’s connection to culture and understanding of how music is consumed allows us to build personal relationships and trust with our fans. The Indian advertising industry is thriving as brands target active internet users. We are thrilled to launch in India with three incredible, diverse brands and we are exploring more opportunities to bring other advertisers on board in this market, creating a new playground for them to reach audiences through the power of audio and our streaming intelligence.”

“We are extremely excited to be the launch partners for Spotify in India! We are core believers in the power of music and its ability to unite individuals across boundaries; with this collaboration, we further solidify our pursuit of building and shaping communities centred around this space. We are positive that this partnership will result in newer avenues of genre exploration and sharing, with consumers becoming more receptive to and appreciative of the intricate nuances of the soundscape, through the large bank of music available on the portal. Looking forward to what’s in store for both, Spotify and us”, Kartikeya Sharma, VP Marketing – South Asia, ABInBev.

Tracy Lanza, VP, Integrated Marketing, Brand USA, said, “We are thrilled that our partnership with Spotify will now extend into India, which is one of our top markets. Music is a universal language that transcends cultural boundaries and we continue to use it as an instrument to engage with international travelers. Through this launch, we look forward to bringing the unique and powerful sounds of U.S. destinations to a new music-loving audience.”

Spotify comes to India offering the best listening experience in local and international music, with the Spotify app available to download for free or with an upgrade to Spotify Premium for only INR 119 per month. The Spotify app is now available on mobile, desktop, and tablet and can be played on a wide range of speakers and home devices.

Source: Spotify press release

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