• by Colin Kirkland , June 14, 2024

Spotify is committing more resources to the ad space, announcing its first in-house marketing agency. According to the music streaming service, “Creative Lab” is designed to drive revenue through the development of custom audio, video and AI-generated brand campaigns.

Spotify, which has about 615 million listeners across the globe and a library of over 100 million songs, has been trying to boost its ad offerings in order to attract more brands to the platform.

At its first NewFronts event last month, Spotify’s Head of Sales Ann Piper, said the company was “ready to play in the digital advertising pool and compete for more than audio budgets,” introducing plans to become more focused on in-app video experiences. 

“We want to connect brands with users when they are looking at their screen,” Piper added, citing in-app video takeover ads, sponsored sessions and opt-in video ads for the platform’s 388 million free users. 

Creative Lab is building on the company’s desire to ramp up its dedication to personalization in the ad creation process.

“Every campaign Creative Lab touches is highly customized to each specific brand and business need,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. 

Brands will be able to work with the Creative Lab team to create video and audio ads, in-app digital experiences and other interactive ad formats, such as CTA cards. Spotify will also implement an upcoming AI tool for advertisers called “Quick Audio,” which is designed to help brands create automated scripts and voiceovers. 

So far, the company has tested Creative Lab campaign creation with Aperol and Rockstar Energy Drink, which released a livestreamed concert series directly on Spotify.