This week, Spotify announced that it has partnered with Amazon Ads to add its audio and video inventory to Amazon DSP, the company’s demand-side platform.
It brings together Amazon’s trillions of shopping, streaming, and browsing signals and Spotify’s global audience of 696m monthly users, while also offering advertisers access to full-funnel measurement and attribution.
The move comes after Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, announced he is stepping down as CEO and will transition to an executive chairman role at the company from 1 January 2026. Spotify co-presidents Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström are set to step in as co-CEOs.
Notably, as previously reported by The Media Leader, this move follows a series of similar partnerships between entertainment platforms, such as Netflix, Disney and Roku, which have made their inventory available on Amazon DSP.
SiriusXM also revealed last month that its portfolio of streaming music channels will now be available on Amazon’s DSP, with plans to extend this to SiriusXM’s podcasts.
Meanwhile, Spotify also announced this week that advertisers using YahooDSP can now access the Spotify Ad Exchange, or Sax, which was launched in April.
Advertisers will have access to Sax via a new direct integration, which will enable audience addressability and more precise measurement across Spotify supply through Yahoo ConnectID.
Additionally, the audio streamer announced that, starting in mid-2026, Megaphone-hosted publishers will also have access to Sax, allowing them to book private marketplace deals (PMPs) through the ad exchange.
This signals Spotify’s desire to be part of a wider ad ecosystem and drive more revenue into its advertising business, following a 1% decline in Q2 to €453m.
Analysis: A good deal
There are clear benefits for both Spotify and Amazon in this partnership. Amazon can supercharge its audio inventory offering, making its DSP more appealing to advertisers.
Meanwhile, for Spotify, it presents an opportunity to drive revenue for its underperforming ads business, which has continually struggled to hit its 20% ad revenue target.
Howard Bareham, co-founder of Trisonic, commented: “One thing is clear: Spotify had decided it’s better to be inside the Amazon tent than outside.”
A one-stop shop
Amazon’s addition of Spotify and SiriusXM, in the context of its recent CTV additions, signals the online giant’s move to position itself as an omnichannel offering for advertisers, with audio playing a notable role in achieving this.
The ability to combine Spotify inventory with Amazon’s CTV offering in a single DSP could significantly shake up media planning and encourage advertisers to focus spend within Amazon’s ecosystem.
Programmatic audio is not a novelty, with many agencies already integrating it; however, as Nicola Martin-Smith, head of publishing and audio at Zenith Media, points out, “Amazon’s scale makes this move significant.”
The vital question will be whether it can deliver smart cross-channel frequency management and attribution.
“If it does, that could reduce ad duplication and bring new investment into audio,” Martin Smith added.
This would be very appealing to advertisers with overlapping audiences across platforms, who want to target unique listeners across Amazon channels and drive improved return on investment (ROI).
Is a united front needed?
The question arises as to whether other digital players and traditional radio need to come together to ensure their respective offerings remain competitive to media planners.
Martin-Smith further highlights the potential consequences. She said: “There’s a real risk that spend concentrates within Amazon’s ecosystem as it expands its omnichannel offer.”
However, David Lucy, managing director of December19 counters that adding more inventory to a DSP helps availability, and this leads to less fracturing. “That lifts everyone,” he argued.
Still, Lucy warns that the opacity of Amazon’s measurement could pose an opportunity for smaller audio companies to seize, if they can articulate their distinct strengths and accessibility.
Spotify’s ad-supported revenue declines despite growth in advertisers
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