In what is sure to be the best-worst thing to ever happen for the future of advertising (or vice-versa depending on your level of optimism)- Spotify has recently announced that “Sponsored Sessions” and “Video Takeover” advertisements will be implemented in its free music streaming service.
As reported by AdAge.com, Spotify will start testing the video ads in the fourth quarter with a limited number of brands and so far the brands onboard with the new project include big names like Universal Pictures, McDonald’s, Ford, and Coca-Cola. The Video Takeover program is expected to be open to all brands by the first quarter of 2015.
The “Sponsored Session” as dubbed by Spotify, will allow mobile users to opt-in to receive 30 minutes of uninterrupted music streaming in return for viewing one 15 to 30 second advertisement video on their device; Whereas the Video Takeover is expected to serve as a regular advertisement between songs of a streaming session for desktops.
Spotify claims that the full screen ads in the Video Takeover will only run when the app is “active” (meaning not minimized), which is peculiar considering that most desktop Spotify users tend to have Spotify tucked away during streaming.
Whether or not this will set a precedent for other streaming services or mobile entertainment apps remains to be seen, but if it works well enough you can bet that you’ll be in need of preparation for more Takeovers and Sponsored Sessions all across the mobile-verse.