Music streaming platform Spotify is looking to roll out a new audio advertising marketplace for marketers to reach their target markets on the app while stepping up efforts to provide new tools and resources to help creators.
The online audio industry is now gathering pace with audio-based social networking platform Clubhouse becoming the latest player in the segment which observers say could threaten podcasts.
"Over the past two decades, streaming has fundamentally changed the audio ecosystem. It has lowered barriers of entry. More creators are creating and they are successful," Daniel Ek, founder and chief executive of Spotify Technology SA, said in a recent virtual event titled "Stream On".
The music industry posted US$20 billion in revenue in 2019, $11.4 billion of which came from streaming.
Spotify has expanded to 93 markets around the globe with 345 million listeners, including 155 million Spotify premium subscribers. It paid over $5 billion to creators last year.
Creators joining the platform surged to 8 million in 2020, up from 3 million three years ago, and the number is projected to hit 50 million by 2025, he said.
"We want to be the place where educators, entrepreneurs, storytellers and authors, well-known personalities and artists are able to reach out," Mr Ek said.
He said Spotify aims to expand its business to 85 new market worldwide with 36 new languages, which makes it possible for the firm to reach 1 billion new potential users.
At the event, Spotify introduced a new high-end subscription service -- Spotify HiFi -- that lets subscribers listen to music in upgraded sound quality. It will be provided in select global markets later this year.
The firm also introduced a new audio advertising marketplace, called Spotify Audience Network, which will enable advertisers to reach listeners across Spotify's services, including podcasts and ad-supported music.
"Spotify leverages medium-defining technology to give advertisers the ability to reach our audience of hundreds of millions of listeners at scale both on and off Spotify," he said.
The company is now in the early stage of developing this offering.
Currently, Spotify's library contains over 70 million tracks, 4.5 billion playlists, over 2 million podcasters and 57,000 artists.
The firm also unveiled new creator tools and resources that would assist artists in marketing and reaching out to their audience.
Spotify acquired some podcast firms over the past few years while working with new partners -- Anchor and Wordpress -- to help podcasters earn from ads.
Podcasting is the future of audio content and advertisers could find ways to leverage it to boost revenue, he said.
Daniel Ek, founder and chief executive of Spotify Technology SA, at the virtual event 'Stream On.'