Annoyed with the ads constantly interrupting your Black Heart Procession playlist? Spotify thinks they can solve your problem with a new feature, “Active Media”. Currently only being tested in Australia, the music streaming service is allowing users in their free tier unlimited ad-skips. If you’re not an Aussie, it doesn’t seem as though “Active Media” will find you any time soon, with Danielle Lee – Spotify’s global head of partner solutions – telling AdAge exclusively, that the feature will provide information to more appropriately customize ads to the user. “Our hypothesis is if we can use this to fuel our streaming intelligence, and deliver a more personalized experience and a more engaging audience to our advertisers, it will improve the outcomes that we can deliver for brands. Just as we create these personalized experiences like Discover Weekly, and the magic that brings to our consumers, we want to inject that concept into the advertising experience.”
The corporation also gave a statement to Pitchfork, saying, “Spotify has a global advertising business that enables marketers and brands to reach audiences in 65 markets around the world. We launched Active Media, skippable audio and video ads, in Australia for now and will consider expanding to additional markets in the future. We are committed to our freemium model and will continue innovating our products to ensure the best experience on both our free and premium tiers.”
So the next time you wish you could skip that bothersome Crocs commercial without a fee, just remember your ads are going to become a lot more personal in the future. Maybe too personal? We’ll find out.
Sarah Medeiros