Skip, view or listen; Spotify’s free tier just got a little more personalised with new advertising feature

In a global-first initiative, Spotify today announced that free tier users are now able to choose whether they listen, view or skip audio and video ads.

The interactive video and audio ad experience dubbed Active Media is not only the first of its kind in Australia, but world-wide.

"Users will receive unlimited skips and be able to skip any ad at any point. If a user skips, they won't be bombarded with additional ads; the frequency is not significantly affected," explained a Spotify spokesperson to TMN. "This behaviour will allow Spotify to learn from each interaction and deliver a more personalised ad experience."

With video offerings fast become the new way forward for streaming services, Spotify’s ability to host audio and video displays at scale provide advertisers with a new way to serve themselves to ad-supported audiences.

As with personalised listener profiles, the new function will allow Spotify to learn from each interaction, tracking which ads you chose to view, listen to or skip.

Advertisers will only pay for completed listens and views.

“Active Media is a win-win for listeners and advertisers; listeners benefit from an improved experience, allowing them to choose which ads they want to engage with, and in turn, we can offer advertisers better cut through and ROI,” said Andrea Ingham, head of sales at Spotify AUNZ.

Spotify claims that the personalisation of ads will soon be on-par with the personalisation capabilities of their most popular playlists such as Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Your Time Capsule.

Customisation is increasingly prioritised by advertisers, with screenless listening continuing to grow globally.

According to Spotify, multi-device listeners are spending two and a half hours every day streaming on Spotify, with 50 million users listening in the car, and an increase of over 40% streams every day on smart speakers over the last six months.

The introduction of Active Media comes just two months after Spotify’s launch of its new free user experience.