Spotify has launched Spotify Ads Manager in India, introducing its self-serve advertising platform to enable businesses to plan, create and measure campaigns independently across audio, video and display formats. The rollout marks a shift in how advertisers in the market can access Spotify’s inventory, removing reliance on managed-service models and agency intermediaries.
The launch broadens participation in Spotify’s advertising ecosystem, making it accessible to enterprises, agency-led brands, startups, D2C businesses and small and mid-sized companies. Advertisers can activate campaigns using credit cards or pre-pay options, with ad credits also available via invoicing, allowing for greater flexibility in budget allocation and media planning.
Arjun Kolady, head of sales at Spotify India, said, “Spotify sits at the intersection of two powerful forces for advertisers — an audience that is in fan mode, with high intent, high emotion, and high recall, and an evolving platform where culture is created, discovered, and amplified across audio and beyond. With Spotify Ads Manager now live in India, we are making it possible for brands of every size — whether you are a CMO at an enterprise brand, a media agency buyer, or a growing D2C business — to reach these audiences directly and drive measurable impact. And for India's musicians, labels, artist managers, and podcasters, this is equally significant — Spotify Ads Manager gives them the tools to promote their work and connect with a global audience directly from India.”
In India, Spotify has built a strong user base, with listeners actively curating playlists, discovering new artists and engaging with podcasts. The platform reports that users spend an average of two hours per day, with 90% incorporating it into their daily routines. This sustained engagement creates a differentiated environment for advertisers, where attention levels and contextual relevance are higher than typical digital channels. Spotify states that ads on its platform capture twice the attention of social media platforms, with 93% of engagement with content translating into ad engagement.
Spotify Ads Manager is designed to give advertisers direct control over campaign setup, management and optimisation. Campaigns can be launched within minutes and delivered across in-feed and in-stream placements spanning music and podcasts. The platform supports multiple formats, enabling brands to create integrated, multi-touchpoint campaigns.
A key aspect of the platform is its targeting capability. As a logged-in service, Spotify allows advertisers to move beyond demographic targeting to reach audiences based on mood, listening context and real-time intent. This enables more relevant messaging aligned with user behaviour and emotional states, strengthening the effectiveness of campaigns.
Globally, Spotify reports that combining audio, video and display formats leads to improved outcomes. Advertisers using multi-format campaigns have seen a 90% incremental sales lift and a 45% incremental return on ad spend compared to audio-only campaigns. Additionally, purchase completion conversion rates are reported to be 1.7 times higher when multiple formats are used together.
The platform also introduces tools focused on performance optimisation and measurement. Split Testing allows advertisers to evaluate different creative variations by comparing metrics such as completion rate, click-through rate, video view expand rate and cost per click. Automated Bid uses machine learning to adjust bids in real time, helping advertisers maximise budget efficiency without manual intervention.
Spotify Ads Manager integrates creative and measurement capabilities within the platform. Advertisers can upload existing assets, use audio ad creation tools or leverage Spotify’s generative AI features for script writing, voice-over creation and music mixing. Measurement solutions include first-party tools such as Spotify Brand Lift, Spotify Pixel and Conversions API, alongside integrations with third-party partners including IAS, DoubleVerify, Appsflyer, Kochava and Branch. A new app installs objective has also been introduced, expanding the platform’s performance marketing capabilities.
The introduction of Spotify Ads Manager in India reflects a broader shift towards self-serve, data-driven advertising solutions, enabling brands to access premium inventory while maintaining control over execution and measurement.
