In January, our EMARKETER Daily newsletter team made some advertising and marketing predictions for 2024 on everything from AI to attention metrics.

Spotify has nearly twice as many US listeners as the next most popular digital audio platform, Amazon Music, at 103.6 million compared to 53.1 million, per our September 2024 forecast.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss what happened to Spotify’s subscriber growth after it raised prices, how it plans to take on YouTube, and what has led to the audio giant inching closer to profitability. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson and Analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

High audio listenership and time spent this year means limited growth. Subscription revenues will be healthy, as most listeners pay to limit ads. And Spotify will lead in nearly every metric, though several platforms are doing well.

If it feels like podcasts have more ads, that’s because they do, according to data from our exclusive KPI partnerships. Podcast ad spend is increasing, and with it podcast ad load is on the rise. This year, US podcast ad spend will reach $2.28 billion, per our forecast. That’s a growth of 15.9% over 2023.

Amazon’s AI ad tool adds audio to its repertoire: Amazon merchants can plug their product pages into the tool to create 30 second audio spots.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Spotify reached sustained profitability, what a “deluxe” tier might look like, and where the audio streaming giant goes from here. Tune in to the discussion with host Marcus Johnson and analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

As retail media moves both off-site and in-store, audio is becoming a bigger part of the ad mix. Here are two ways brands can incorporate audio into their retail media activations.

US digital audio ad spend will reach $7.12 billion this year, according to our March 2024 forecast.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how retail media is meeting the demand for full funnel campaigns, what folks are building to help with measurement, and how in-store audio can upgrade the experience. "In Other News," we talk about whether there is enough money to go around in retail media and why performance marketers are shifting their priorities to brand building. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Sarah Marzano and Ryan Mayward, SVP of retail sales at Walmart Connect.

In January, we made a slew of marketing and advertising predictions, from streaming to ad measurement. We already know the elephant in the room—we didn’t even mention generative AI. But the predictions we did make were a mixed bag in terms of accuracy. Here’s a look at how we did.

Next year, US podcast ad spend will pass the $2 billion mark, according to our forecast. We project double-digit growth through the end of our forecast period in 2027. New data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) finds that podcast ads are trending toward brand awareness, with increasing emphasis on video formats.

The US audience for voice assistants is nearing a milestone: 150 million users. Read on for figures from our latest forecast, including how many people are using smart speakers and how they use them.

US Gen Z adults’ top two daily media activities are streaming video (46%) and streaming music (43%), per a May 2023 Morning Consult survey.

Though marketing budgets are under scrutiny in this tight economy, it might make sense to consider integrating audio advertising into your marketing mix. That’s because listener growth is picking up for podcasts and audio formats overall. Audio ad formats also have unique features to help marketers.

In-store retail media doesn’t have to be limited to the physical. In-store audio ads increase awareness among consumers without disrupting their shopping experience.

In the two years since our inaugural “Power of Amazon” report, Amazon has remained a retail and tech powerhouse—but it hasn’t been immune to economic uncertainty, shifting consumer behaviors, or increased competition. We examine how Amazon’s 19 business divisions have changed and how these new developments might affect your industry.

US adults spend nearly 3 hours a day watching linear TV and nearly two hours watching connected TV, according to our forecast. Viewers are moving to CTV, and so are advertisers. Learn how to cash in on this seismic shift during our free webinar on July 12. Sign up here.

Retail media’s rise in popularity is being boosted by increasing ecommerce sales, a wide variety of ad formats, and established retailer-brand relationships. But an increasingly crowded space may have advertisers feeling overwhelmed, which could put a bit of strain on retail media’s growth.