Spotify will launch video ads sometime this year. One idea is for brands to sponsor half and hour of ad-free listening for users, in exchange for watching a video advert, called a ‘Sponsored Session‘. The video ad products will be tested in Q4 of 2014, with a limited number of big brands.
‘Sponsored Sessions’ will work as follows: you ‘ll have to agree to watch the 15 0r 30 second video to get 30 minutes of uninterrupted music, and then you can either watch another video ad, or return to the traditional audio ad-supported streaming. This is only relevant to free account users, as it of course will not affect premium Spotify users who already pay for the service.
The other new ad format Spotify is testing is the Video Takeover. As a desktop ad, this will see video take the place of audio ads, filling the Spotify interface with a big video ad.
As well as the above, the company offers brands a ‘homepage takover’, branded playlists, and more advertising opportunities. Will listeners start to tune out if it becomes too much? Sponsored sessions sound like a more attractive option, perhaps better and less intrusive than the current audio ads.
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