Spotify Overhauls Ad Tech Stack to Compete Beyond Audio

Spotify is repositioning its advertising business to compete for larger shares of marketing budgets, moving beyond its traditional audio-only pitch to offer automated buying capabilities and multi-format inventory.

The streaming platform acknowledged its ad business was "moving too slowly" last year, according to CEO Daniel Ek. In response, Spotify has rebuilt its advertising technology infrastructure from the ground up, launching the Spotify Ad Exchange and introducing generative AI tools for creating voice overs and ad scripts.

Why it matters

As marketers increasingly demand automated, performance-driven media buying, audio platforms risk being treated as premium add-ons rather than essential budget line items. Spotify's infrastructure overhaul signals a strategic shift to compete with larger digital platforms for programmatic dollars while defending its core audio position against growing competition.

Automated buying takes center stage

The company's rebuilt ad tech stack prioritizes ease of access for programmatic buyers who prefer plug-and-play solutions over direct negotiations with media companies.

"We built that plumbing. We just want to make it easy for brands to be able to access our signals, our formats, and understand how Spotify is performing as an overall part of their media mix," said Brian Berner, Spotify's vice president of advertising partnerships, speaking at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The infrastructure changes reflect broader industry movement toward automation as marketers seek efficiency and scale in their media operations.

Performance measurement as differentiator

Spotify is emphasizing first-party measurement capabilities to address CMO demands for demonstrable return on ad spend. The company has focused development on its Spotify pixel to enable closed-loop conversion tracking.

"Our specialty, it's our 1P [first-party] measurement, so the Spotify pixel has been a big focus of ours because that does allow for better closed-loop understanding of conversions," Berner explained.

This measurement emphasis positions Spotify to compete for performance marketing budgets traditionally allocated to search and social platforms.

Expanding beyond audio without abandoning it

While building out video, high-impact sponsorships, and experiential formats, Spotify maintains that audio remains central to its value proposition. The company views new formats as complementary rather than competitive with its podcast and music advertising inventory.

Podcast advertising alone is projected to generate nearly $1 billion in additional annual U.S. revenue by 2029, according to eMarketer research.

"We're seeing a lot of the growth happen within all of our visual, within our high-impact sponsorships, we're seeing it happen within video, we're seeing it happen within experiences," Berner said. "But it's additive, it's not coming at the expense of audio."

The details were first reported by Digiday during coverage of the Cannes Lions festival.