Time passes in funny ways when you’re on your phone.
Five minutes of swiping on TikTok or tapping through Instagram Stories can slip into 10 minutes, or 20, or one sunken hour. Alex Norstrom, co-president and chief business officer of Spotify, believes some apps will soon “self-swipe,” requiring even less of your effort or awareness.
His company is moving in a different direction: Using Spotify, he said, “takes commitment.”
On Wednesday, Spotify laid out its plans to boost its advertising business with several new initiatives to make ad-buying easier, including an A.I. tool for brands in the United States and Canada to generate their scripts and voice-overs.
But it also made a broader pitch to potential advertisers: Many Spotify users aren’t passively scrolling.
They’re learning the somewhat fussy technical process of joining a “jam” (listening to music simultaneously with friends), Mr. Norstrom said; or getting to know the host of a podcast who already has 2,000 episodes; or pressing play on a 48-hour audiobook. And a more engaged audience is more likely to engage with ads.
“It’s more nutritious,” Mr. Norstrom said in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, “rather than these high-caloric, quick things.”
On Wednesday, Lee Brown, global head of advertising, further promoted Spotify to advertisers as an alternative to “rotting and doom scrolling.”
“People just feel good when they’re on Spotify,” Mr. Brown said in his remarks. “How many apps can say that?”
Spotify’s emphasis on engaged users came during its first “advance” event — a presentation held for advertisers before the upfronts and NewFronts season, where traditional and online media companies compete for brands’ attention. While most of Spotify’s revenue is generated through subscriptions, its advertising business has been growing more incrementally.
The goal of media companies during this season is to set themselves apart. Digital media has always been a chaotic landscape, but mounting recession concerns beget even more uncertainty; while TikTok awaits its fate and X becomes a political megaphone, the unexpected rise of video podcasting has propelled YouTube to new heights.
Spotify enters this season on a stronger footing: 2024 was the first full year of profitability for the company, with a net income of about $1.2 billion and a high of 675 million monthly active users, including 263 million paid subscribers.
The core focus of the company, founded in 2006 in Stockholm, remains music: You can listen for free with ads, or pay a monthly fee to listen without ads. But Spotify’s expansion into podcasts a decade ago brought new highs and lows, particularly as the advertising market around podcasting wavered.
Two years ago, the company — long focused on developing new products — turned to improve its bottom line. In 2023, that resulted in three rounds of high-profile layoffs, affecting a reported 2,300 employees, along with a re-evaluation of office space.
Although Spotify has tried to push into video, its advertisers are still attracted to audio as a “soundtrack,” said Paulie Dery, chief marketing officer at AG1, or Athletic Greens. A ubiquitous supplement advertiser on podcasts, AG1 sells “morning health” products, and wants to capture people during their morning routines, while exercising or commuting.
As for notching another year of profitability, there have been reports of Spotify’s developing a new subscription tier for music superfans, with better audio quality and access to concert tickets. (Mr. Norstrom said he saw “great potential” in new tiers, but declined to confirm any rollout details.)
The company is also focused on improving its recommendation algorithm across content types, Mr. Norstrom said — for example, giving users more personalized suggestions for audiobooks based on their favorite music and podcasts.
The goal is more varied consumption, which inevitably means users who sink more hours into Spotify. But when it’s nutritional, “you tend to come out of it feeling better,” Mr. Norstrom said.
Jessica Testa covers nontraditional and emerging media for The Times. More about Jessica Testa
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