When it comes to music streaming services, they don’t come any bigger than Spotify. Chances are you know that it’s the most dominant platform in the space – and its key competitors come nowhere close to its numbers.
As of the end of July 2025, Spotify reported to have 696 million monthly active users; 433 million of whom use the free, ad-supported tier of the service. On the global stage, they hold a 31.7% market share, with their closest global competitor, Apple Music, holding around 12.6% of that market share.
With such a colossal footprint in the music streaming market, it’s no surprise Spotify also has some of the most robust and sophisticated ad offerings for businesses and individuals to take advantage of.
In this article, I’ll be providing a closer look at Spotify in Australia, the number of users it currently reaches, and the powerful advertising solutions that are available.
Australian Spotify User Numbers: Millions to Reach
If you want your ads reaching people on music streaming services, Spotify will undoubtedly expose your brand to the most possible users – and this rings equally true in Australia. While the streaming giant hasn’t provided exact numbers for Australian users for a few years, they last reported that more than 9 million Australians used Spotify every month!
When applying the same global paid to free-tier ratio on a national level, it’s likely that approximately 5.6 million of the 9 million Australian users use Spotify’s free ad-supported tier. Think about that in terms of reach: that’s potentially 20% of Australia’s population that Australian companies can get in front of through Spotify’s various advertising options.
Spotify Advertising in a Nutshell
When diving into Spotify advertising, you can break their offerings down into four key categories. These are:
- Audio ads
- Video ads
- Display ads
- Podcast ads
1. Audio Ads
Audio ads were understandably the first ad type to be introduced to Spotify. They usually run for 15 to 30 seconds (requiring snappy, memorable copywriting) and play between tracks in playlists and albums, at set points in podcasts, and have also started being used at different points in Spotify’s AI radio feature.
All Spotify audio ads are also accompanied by a companion image or clickable banner if the user is actively viewing the app at the same time. With Spotify’s Canvas for Advertisers, a full-screen looping visual can accompany the audio.
2. Video Ads
Spotify is much more than just a music streaming app these days – it’s also a platform where certain video creators can upload content, including podcast creators who film their episodes.
Video ads, by design, will only be triggered when the user is actively viewing the Spotify app, whether they’re watching a music video or consuming an episode of their favourite podcast. Video ad offerings include:
- Opt-in video: These ads target your relevant audience and will play when someone is actively viewing the Now Playing View (NPV). The videos replace the album art that’s usually displayed and instead plays a video while the music the user’s listening to continues playing.
- Video takeover: These are full-screen video ads that display when a user is actively using and viewing the app. They can occur during almost any moment of active browsing, whether the user’s checking out new music, reading lyrics, watching podcasts, etc. These ads also include a companion banner or CTA to drive further engagement.
- Video sponsored sessions: With this ad option, your brand gets to run an opt-in, uninterrupted full-screen video ad that users must watch the whole way through. If the user opts in and watches the entire ad, they will then be able to use Spotify for the next 30 minutes, completely ad-free. This type of ad guarantees users are paying more attention and are engaged in what you’re promoting.
3. Display Ads
Spotify’s display ads offer several options, including a couple that work exclusively on the desktop app. For the mobile and tablet apps, display ad options include the following:
- A display ad can be set to appear when a user enters the NPV (such as after selecting a song to play). The ad will appear after two seconds, replacing the space where the album art would typically reside.
- Display ads can also be placed in the Browse or Search screen of the app. They will appear in feed, allowing the user to engage if interested or easily ignore it if not.
The desktop app offers a couple more display ad options suited to the larger screen real estate. These include:
- Leaderboard ads: These appear as banner ads while browsing the desktop app, but don’t obscure any playback or navigation functions. They will last up to 30 seconds as the only viewable ad on that section of the app.
- Overlay ads: These are another ad type that’s exclusive to the desktop app, and they act much like a welcome-back splash screen. A full-screen ad is displayed when the user returns to the app after a period of inactivity, utilising essential screen real estate to stand out.
4. Podcast Ads
Podcast advertising on Spotify mostly utilises the features of standard audio ads or video ads. Most podcasts on Spotify are audio-only, so generally you’ll need to craft audio ads that run up to 30 seconds, much like those that play between songs on albums or playlists.
If you’re interested in running video ads during podcasts, these can only be done with podcasts that have a video component. Spotify in 2025 only supports video podcasts for certain creators, so you’ll want to ensure that at least one (or multiple) of these creators hold some relevance to the products or services you want to sell.
Given that podcast listeners and watchers tend to be much more actively engaged in what they’re consuming, your ads will perform best if they’re tailored to speak to that engagement. Craft ads that have a greater sense of storytelling to them; and focus on podcasts that cover topics and discussions that are better aligned to your business.
Running Ads on Spotify
Advertising on Spotify is done in one of two ways: using the self-serve Spotify Ad Studio (this is smaller budget campaigns that most companies would pursue) or by working directly with a Spotify Ad Manager (typically for larger businesses with much bigger budgets – $25,000+).
However, if you want to get the absolute most out of your advertising efforts, we’d strongly advise engaging with a professional marketing agency well-versed in the Spotify ad landscape.
Reform Digital’s PPC and social advertising specialists have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to presenting and optimising Spotify advertisements for the best return on investment. We can heighten your campaigns to drive impressions, meaningful lead generation and conversions, and have a team of ad creative professionals who will ensure your ads stand out among the static.
To learn more about how we can take your Spotify ad campaigns to the next level, get in touch today for a chat.
