Users – whether premium or free – will see a ‘Recently played’ destination on their home screens, enabling them to see up to three months’ worth of listening history and rediscover the content they had recently listened to.

For premium users, new and relevant podcast episodes will be featured upon opening the Spotify app. New episodes will be marked with a blue dot, and episodes that the user has already started will features a progress bar showing how far they are into the episode.

Finally, also for premium users, there will be a section of the home screen offering personalised music recommendations, based on what the user has been listening to, helping music lovers to discover new songs from their favourite artists or uncover a new favourite.

Spotify will roll out these updates to both Android and iOS users around the world over the remainder of this month.

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Though still in the ‘early stages’ of its development, Spotify says that the marketplace will enable advertisers to reach audiences in screenless moments at scale on and off Spotify, leverage targeting tools, and explore insights powered by Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI).

The media available via the Audience Network will be addressable based on demographics and audience segment, with contextual targeting eventually being added.

Meanwhile, Spotify will launch SAI in additional markets later this year. It will also unlock more product features, including audience-based buying, native ad placements, and reporting on creative performance, while making the technology available to Megaphone podcast publishers and leading Anchor creators.

SAI was launched at the beginning of 2020 to deliver Spotify’s full suite of planning, reporting, and measurement capabilities for podcasts.

The audio streaming platform has also begun beta testing podcast ad buying on Spotify Ad Studio in the US, as it seeks to make it simpler for advertisers to connect with audiences at scale.

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Spotify Podcast Ads give advertisers the ability to purchase pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll ad placements within episodes of podcast shows on a title-by-title basis. The offering is powered by Spotify’s proprietary Steaming Ad Insertion technology, which delivers and reports on confirmed ad impressions as opposed to downloads, as well as reach and frequency.

Advertisers are also able to partner with select podcast hosts, and other professional voice talent, on campaigns.

“The popularity of podcasts is rising exponentially in the UK and as a relatively untapped medium for advertisers they offer so much potential for brands to reach diverse audiences in new and engaging ways,” said Rak Patel, Regional Head of Sales UK and Pan-EMEA at Spotify. “Unlike some digital media channels, podcasts are intimate, they are trusted, they reach people in a very direct and personal way. With Spotify Podcast Ads we aim to take podcast advertising to the next level, offering brands unique insights into their audiences and creative solutions that can truly capture consumer attention. We’re really excited about what’s to come.”

The first UK advertiser to utilise Podcast Ads was BT Sport, which launched ads across the Joe Rogan Experience earlier this week.

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Spotify is featuring three 60-second podcast mini-stories across a range of podcasts, including Science Vs and Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, as well as targeted spots while users listen to music. The stories – which were created in partnership with Spotify’s Studios and Creative Solutions teams and media agency UM – are narrated by Jonathan Goldstein, host of the Gimlet podcast Heavyweight, and highlight the human connections made by USPS workers.

Listeners are invited to visit a co-branded USPS and Gimlet landing page, which serves as a hub for all the USPS branded audio content within Spotify.

“This year has been an extraordinary year, but as always, postal employees continue to serve their communities every step of the way,” said Chris Karpenko, Executive Director of Brand Marketing at USPS. “We’re excited to share these stories through some unique efforts with Spotify and their roster of original podcasts to tell these stories in a fresh way that we believe will resonate with listeners. This is the type of innovative, audience-first program that brings to life the strategy we’ve developed with our agency partner UM.”

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Spotify will use the acquisition to enable advertisers to activate across its podcasts while scaling reach through the Megaphone targeted marketplace. And, according to the platform, publishers will have more tools available to help them earn more from their podcasts.

Upon closure of the deal, Spotify’s Streaming Ad Insertion, the podcast ad technology it launched at the beginning of the year, will be available to all podcast publishers on Megaphone.

“We are still in the early chapters of the streaming audio industry story, but it is absolutely clear that the potential is significant,” said Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content & Advertising Business Officer at Spotify. “We look forward to Megaphone joining Spotify on our mission to accelerate smarter podcast monetisation for advertisers and podcast publishers powered by a scaled audience and state-of-the-art technology.”

Brendan Monaghan, Megaphone CEO, added, “We are incredibly excited to join Spotify to help advance the podcast medium for publishers and advertisers alike. We believe that Megaphone and Spotify’s shared value in innovation will drive the podcast ecosystem forward around the world.”

Last year, Spotify acquired three podcast platforms for a total of around $400m. The first two acquisitions came almost simultaneously in the form of Gimlet Media and Anchor. These were followed up with the purchase of small podcasting studio Parcast.

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Spotify Pumped creates free personalised high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout experiences for both Spotify and non-Spotify users. Fitness lovers are able to create their own workout by answering questions about where they will be working out, the intensity level they’re looking for, and the kind of music they would like to motivate them. They can also choose from podcasters including Tolly T, Tazer Black, Dani Dyer, and Niall Breslin to ‘coach’ and provide encouragement during the workout session via voice over recordings.

The playlist created by Spotify will match the length of the workout – which can be seven minutes, 14 minutes, or 21 minutes – and users will be guided by animated trainers showing them how to correctly do the exercises.

“We’re so excited to announce the launch of our new personalised fitness experience that brings together your favourite music with tailored workouts – something that you can’t get anywhere else,” said Olga Puzanova, UK Marketing Director at Spotify. “As we were forced to spend more time indoors this year and started getting creative with the ways we work out, we thought about fun new ideas to inspire all the fitness lovers out there to put their trainers on, have fun and get moving in the safety of their homes. And the best part is that you don’t have to be a Spotify user to enjoy this experience, everyone is welcome to the Spotify Pumped party.”

To support the launch of the microsite, Spotify has launched a marketing campaign across the UK and Ireland featuring lines such as ‘HIIT Me Baby One More Time’ and ‘Dip Low to Diplo’. These ads have been placed along popular running routes, inside gyms, within apps like MyFitnessPal, online, and across social media. The campaign will run until 12 October.

The post Spotify wants you to get fit with HIIT in its latest campaign appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

In this interview, Amber defines what omnichannel means, looking at it in terms of the way that consumers can communicate with a brand and explaining why it matters.

She discusses the issues that businesses can have when looking to achieve this omnichannel experience and how Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) solution can help to overcome these challenges.

Finally, she guides us through what we should be looking for selecting a CPaaS provider. You can catch the podcast here.

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In the interview, Uffe discusses the transition from call centers to contact centers and how the emergence of different communication channels over the years has led to this.

He explains how important it is for enterprises to prepare for the future of digital customer interactions and addresses the impact of COVID-19 on contact centres, looking at how enterprises are coping and can continue to do so.

Finally, he presents a guide to how best to go about choosing a contact centre provider – and whether enterprises should choose a cloud or an on-premises solution. You can catch the podcast here.

The post Podcast: Bringing Contact Centers into the 21st Century with CPaaS appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The music streaming platform has setup a dedicated microsite at Spotify.com/carnival, where Carnival fans will be able to find playlist takeovers from big names, explore sound systems, take a look at an exclusive gallery from Ekua King, listen to carnival-related podcast episodes, and be directed toward live events over the August Bank Holiday weekend on the 30 and 31 August.

“Notting Hill Carnival is such an important celebration of Caribbean heritage for communities in London and beyond – enriched in tradition and activism and lived through music and dance,” said Sulinna Ong, Head of Music at Spotify UK & Ireland. “While it can’t take place in its usual way, it’s key that the celebration continues – in homes, living rooms and gardens – especially given the current climate. As the UK’s biggest audio platform, it made perfect sense for Spotify to partner with Notting Hill Carnival to bring the party from the streets to online, so that people can enjoy Carnival from home this year.”

Some of the takeovers fans can expect to see are No Signal – creators of the NS10v10 format – taking over the UK’s biggest hip-hop, Afrobeat, dancehall, and R&B playlist, Who We Be; The Marleys helping fans jam along to One Love; Leigh-Anne Pinnock showcasing her Throwback Thursday playlist; Koffee exploring the best reggae sounds on the Irie playlist; and more.

“We are delighted to have Spotify as an official partner this year. As an organisation, we want to connect with and educate a wider and younger demographic to learn about the culture and history of Notting Hill Carnival,” said Matthew Phillip, Executive Director of Notting Hill Carnival. “Spotifys engagement with the artists and the playlists that they have created is the perfect platform for so many to start that journey of learning and appreciating what an incredibly important event Notting Hill Carnival is. Carnival is loved by so many young people, and that love will be even greater when they understand its legacy and cultural significance.”

The post Spotify brings Notting Hill Carnival to life, as street party goes virtual appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The ‘Only In’ six-part series focuses entirely on New York City and the culture that flows through the city that never sleeps. Each weekly episode of around 30 minutes long explores a different piece of what makes New York City special, including discussions about Grand Central Terminal and hip-hop’s birth in The Bronx.

“Our new podcast Only In allows us to showcase the best of NYC with things youve heard of and things you probably havent to show what makes the city so unique and iconic,” said Alex Shebar, Creator and Co-host of Only In.

“With people still spending quite a lot of time at home, our podcast comes at the right time – it’s a great way for our brand to connect with our audience in a new way, and to connect our audience with the buzz and excitement of this amazing city which we all can’t wait to explore again hopefully soon. During what is a difficult time for the city our podcast reminds us of all the great people and experiences in it.”

Today’s first episode focuses on the House of Yes in Bushwick, Brooklyn – the nightlife institution transformed by Co-founders Kae Burke and Anya Sapozhnikova from an illegal DIY arts space into the place to be for dance parties with aerialist performers.

Only is available to stream on Spotify and all ‘good’ streaming services, as well as being downloadable from iTunes. New episodes will be released every Monday until 21 September.

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