If you are weighing up whether to advertise on Spotify, this guide is for you. Spotify reaches more than 675 million people every month, and these days you can reach them with a lot more than a 30 second audio spot. Audio is still the heart of it, but Spotify now also runs video, podcast, swipeable carousel and in-feed display ads, so you can show up in the moments when people are genuinely paying attention.
It works a little like radio advertising, just far more tailored. You pick the audience, the format and the budget, and you only pay for the impressions you buy. Spotify advertising is not open in every country, so check with us first on where you want to advertise and what you are trying to achieve. The UAE also has one of the highest rates of smartphone use in the world, which is exactly where most Spotify listening happens.
What are Spotify Ads?
Spotify Ads are paid placements that reach listeners inside the Spotify app, both on the free, ad-supported tier and across podcasts. You can be heard between songs, seen on the player and on the Browse page, or featured inside the podcasts your audience already trusts. Every format can be targeted by age, gender, location, interests, the genres and playlists people listen to, and the kind of device they are on.
The reason brands keep moving budget here is attention. People choose what they listen to, so they are leaning in, not scrolling past. That makes Spotify a strong fit for brand awareness, product launches, app installs, and driving traffic to a page or offer.
How you buy Spotify ads now
The big change in recent years is access. Spotify Ads Manager is self-serve, so you no longer need a giant budget or a direct sales rep to get started. You set your audience, pick a format, choose a budget and go live, and small test campaigns can start from a modest spend. For audio, Spotify can even help you produce the spot with licensed music and a voiceover, so a business with no studio can still run a professional ad. We set up, target and manage the campaign for you, then report on what is working so the budget shifts to the formats and audiences that perform.
The Spotify ad formats you can run
This is where Spotify has changed the most. A few years ago it was mostly audio. Today you have five formats to work with, and the best campaigns usually combine two or three of them so you reach the same person in different moments.
| Format | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Audio ad | A 15 to 30 second audio spot between songs with a clickable image | Reach and brand awareness |
| Video ad | A short video during ad breaks when the app is in view | Product demos and brand stories |
| Podcast ad | An audio spot inside relevant podcasts | Trust and niche targeting |
| Carousel ad | Two to six swipeable image cards in the Now Playing view | Product ranges and storytelling |
| Display ad | A single image on the Spotify Player or Browse page | Low-cost reach and clicks |
1. Audio ads
The classic format. A 15 to 30 second audio spot plays between songs, with a clickable companion image on screen. The listener can tap through to your website or offer. This is the workhorse for awareness and reach, and you do not need a studio to make one. Give us a script and we can handle licensed background tracks, voice actors and the mix for you, or you can supply your own recording.
2. Video ads
Video ads play during ad breaks when the app is in view, which means you get sight and sound together. They are ideal for product demos, short brand stories and anything that benefits from showing rather than telling.
3. Podcast ads
Podcast listening in the region keeps growing, and ads placed inside a show borrow the trust the host has built with their audience. You can run host-read style spots or produced audio inside relevant podcasts, which is a natural fit if you want to reach a specific, engaged niche.
4. Carousel ads (new)
Carousel ads are one of the newest formats, and they give you real room to tell a story. Instead of a single image, you get a swipeable set of two to six square cards in the Now Playing view, each with its own tagline, its own click-through link, and an optional price or discount overlay. Fans can explore your brand without their music being interrupted.
That flexibility opens up a few clear plays:
- Product showcase: feature several products or variants, each card linking to its own page.
- Campaign storytelling: build a narrative across the cards in one swipeable experience.
- Seasonal and promotional moments: group your offers into one set, timed to Ramadan, Eid, National Day or the Dubai Shopping Festival.
- Tease and reveal: build anticipation card by card, then let the payoff land on the last one.
A few specifics worth knowing: carousel is currently in open beta, runs through Spotify Ads Manager on an auction, serves on music content across desktop and mobile, and uses two to six square (1:1) images at a minimum of 600 by 600 pixels. Reporting is available at the carousel level (impressions, clicks, CTR, CPM and spend), with per-card reporting still to come.
5. In-feed display ads (new)
Display ads are a low-cost way to add a visual touchpoint to your Spotify presence. The image is the ad, with no audio or video playing alongside it, so production is simple: upload one image, your logo, a short tagline and a call to action. They serve in two highly engaged spots in the app without interrupting the listening experience.
The first placement is the Spotify Player. When someone lands on the player, the display ad renders in the existing container, the music keeps playing, and a tap opens your landing page in the in-app browser.
The second is the Browse page. Here the full creative shows first, then collapses after about two seconds into a smaller image with your tagline and CTA beside it. Listeners can expand it again or tap straight through. On Browse, a person sees at most one display ad every five minutes, so it stays light.
Display is a good choice if you are already running audio or video and want extra reach and a path to clicks, if you are upper-funnel and want a premium, non-intrusive placement, or if you simply do not have the resources to produce video and want something fast to launch.
Targeting your audience on Spotify
A big audience only matters if you can narrow it to the right people. On Spotify you can target by demographics (age, gender, location), by interests and behaviours, by the genres, playlists and moods people listen to, and by device and platform. You can also retarget and build reach across formats so the same listener hears your audio, then later sees your carousel or display ad. For UAE campaigns, layering location with the right language and interest signals is usually what separates a campaign that spends from one that performs.
Creative tips that actually work
The platform gives you the reach. Your creative decides whether it lands. Spotify’s own research into video ad performance (Mercury Analytics, 2024) points to six habits worth copying:
- Let the music play. Video ads with background music drive stronger awareness and brand familiarity.
- Text up. Ads with text on more than half the frames see lifts in search and consideration, useful for the many moments the screen is glanceable but the sound is low.
- Orient to the format. Match your video orientation to where it runs. For mobile, shoot vertical.
- Mind your point of view. Third-person narration tends to lift recall and awareness.
- Say it, then say it again. Up to four brand mentions drive search and consideration intent, so name your brand early and more than once.
- Do not skip the CTA. Ads with a clear call to action lift awareness, search and consideration together.
For audio specifically, keep it to 30 seconds or less, lead with one idea, and give people a single, simple action to take. For carousel and display, put your main message and brand in the centre of the image and keep the corners clear of text.
What do Spotify Ads cost?
There is no fixed price list. Spotify runs on an auction, so you set a budget and bid, and you mostly pay per thousand impressions (CPM). That is genuinely useful for UAE businesses of every size, because you can start with a small, tightly targeted test, see which audience and creative perform, then put more budget behind the winners. A local test can begin in the low hundreds of dirhams a month, while an always-on brand campaign sits higher. The honest answer is that it depends on your audience size, your format mix and how competitive your targeting is, which is exactly what we scope before you spend.
When Spotify advertising is a smart move
Spotify earns its place in a media plan when you want to:
- Build brand awareness with an audience that is actually listening, not skimming a feed.
- Launch a product and pair an audio story with a visual carousel or display ad.
- Promote an offer tied to a UAE moment like Ramadan, Eid, National Day or DSF.
- Fill an event or experience, from a concert or exhibition to a store opening.
- Extend reach alongside your other channels so the same person meets your brand in more than one place.
If your audience over-indexes on a particular city, language or interest, the targeting can get sharp enough to make even a modest budget work hard. It also sits well next to mobile advertising and social media advertising in a wider digital plan.
How to get started
Getting a Spotify campaign live is mostly about three decisions: who you want to reach, which formats fit the message, and what a sensible test budget looks like. From there it is creative, setup, launch and optimisation. If you would rather not learn the platform from scratch, that is what we are here for.
We plan and run Spotify advertising in Dubai end to end: audience research, scripting and creative, campaign build, and ongoing optimisation with clear reporting. Tell us where you want to advertise and what a win looks like, and we will tell you honestly whether Spotify is the right call.
Want to try Spotify Ads with the right message and the right audience? Talk to Leads Dubai on +971 50 304 7470 for a free consultation and current options for advertising on Spotify in the UAE.
