The Trade Desk heads into Q4 facing simultaneous pressure from Amazon’s fast-expanding DSP and agency frustration over its forced migration from Solimar to Kokai. Amazon’s 0–1% fees, new offsite inventory, and closer ties to Omnicom have sparked reports of meaningful budget shifts away from TTD—an inflection point that challenges its premium pricing. At the same time, agencies describe Kokai as unstable and harder to use, with bugs affecting campaign launches during the most execution-heavy quarter of the year. The convergence raises a key question for marketers: Is TTD’s longstanding grip on open-web programmatic still durable, or beginning to loosen?

Podcast engagement and streaming variety are fueling rapid digital audio growth in Canada as listeners spend far more time with these digital platforms than with traditional radio.

Spotify’s Q3 2025 results show a company redefining success around efficiency and engagement rather than scale. Revenue rose to $4.62 billion, with 713 million monthly active users and 281 million premium subscribers, up 12% YoY. Gross margin reached 31.6% as AI integration, subscription pricing, and product diversification drove profitability. The company’s upcoming leadership transition—Daniel Ek to executive chairman, Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström to co-CEOs—signals continuity through maturity. While ad sales grew just 7%, Spotify’s dominance in user time and audio engagement positions it as the anchor of digital audio. The next chapter: sustainable margins, smarter growth, and steady leadership.

US media habits show a split between heavy streaming and enduring live TV. Gaming, immersive tech, and short video add complexity, making the market both advanced and fragmented.

Spotify is launching a free ad-supported TV (FAST) channel in partnership with Samsung TV Plus, per a Thursday announcement. Marketers now have the opportunity to combine the effectiveness and precision of CTV advertising with the authenticity of podcast advertising to convert passive listeners into active customers.

Spotify signed a slate of deals with Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Merlin to develop “responsible AI” tools that ensure fair compensation, respect for copyright, and let artists decide whether they want to allow AI use. The music streamer didn’t clarify what kinds of tools it’s developing. Creative platforms are under pressure to show they can harness AI responsibly without eroding creator economics. Brands should vet creative partners and platform placements for reach, transparency, brand safety, and ethical AI practices.

Netflix is making its first big move into the podcast business in a deal with Spotify that will see the popular streaming platform showcase a selection of Spotify video podcasts in 2026. For creators, the partnership will unlock a distribution channel that grants access to a vast and engaged audience—capitalizing on Netflix’s massive user base and the consistent rise in podcast listeners.

OpenAI introduced a wide swath of app integrations for ChatGPT, pushing the generative AI (genAI) chatbot toward super app status. Spotify, Booking.com, Zillow, Canva, Figma, and Expedia are now all part of the ChatGPT experience. Brands should start treating ChatGPT like a search engine, app store, and marketplace all in one. Marketers should create and tag their content so it can surface naturally in ChatGPT responses. Generative engine optimization (GEO) strategies include structuring content and product copy with mini headlines and using concrete language over abstract phrasing to boost appearances in output.

Fandom is driving brand growth, according to an Advertising Week New York 2025 panel presented by Spotify emphasizing the audio platform’s role in reaching engaged fans dedicated to their favorite artists. Brands must tap into fandoms that align naturally with brand offerings, key audiences, and ad strategies.

Spotify announced updates to its advertising offerings on Wednesday, expanding access to its inventory and enhancing its addressability capabilities for programmatic buyers through several new partnerships via Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX). Spotify’s new features are showing the company’s dedication to improvement, warranting experimentation for brands who are hesitant to leverage evolving resources.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek will step down in January 2026 to become executive chairman. In his place, chief product and technology officer Gustav Söderström and chief business officer Alex Norström will serve as co-CEOs. The leadership change could help unlock new monetization paths—such as deeper AI-driven ad targeting, expanded creator tools, or new subscription ad models—to hone Spotify’s ad ambitions, provided the transition doesn’t create friction. Brands should watch for investor days, ad tech announcements, or new targeting plans post-transition to see how Spotify’s business, pricing, and measurement options change.

65% of US adults say they pay for at least one mobile app subscription, increasing to 77% for 18-to-29-year-olds, per a July YouGov survey.

How can audio ad buyers calibrate their ad spending and budget allocations against the market, and how can media companies and solution providers assess whether their ad revenues are in line with industry trends?

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss why Spotify is still considered the king of audio streaming, why advertising is not working out quite as they’d hoped (yet), and how they might become a social platform. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, and Senior Editor, Daniel Konstantinovic. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

The news: Spotify will bring high-fidelity, “lossless” audio to premium subscribers over the next two months across 50 markets, putting an end to years of speculation that it might gate the feature behind a more expensive subscription tier. Our take: Lossless audio certainly won’t be a detractor for Spotify and could help make it an even stickier service with low churn—something the company already excels at. While it is unlikely to drive subscriptions and doesn’t address the company’s advertising pains, it doesn’t hurt to add features that will keep users from cancelling or drifting to competitors.

As the number of podcast listeners grow, giving them options for both listening to or watching the latest episodes has become key to maintaining audiences. More than half of US podcast consumers (53%) prefer watching podcasts over just listening on YouTube, per the Podcast Landscape 2025 report from Sounds Profitable and Signal Hill. YouTube’s connected TV (CTV) and podcast dominance presents a unique opportunity for brands to advertise in a variety of formats, whether that’s sponsored episodes, partnerships, digital video ads, or pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll audio spots.

Apple is partnering with digital platform TuneIn to strengthen its radio reach and better compete with Spotify, per the Wall Street Journal. The move will see Apple distribute its radio stations across connected cars and home speakers globally and marks the first time Apple’s current radio stations will be accessible outside of the Apple Music app. Apple’s radio push could breathe life into its struggling streaming units, attracting listeners who haven’t considered Apple Music and potentially drawing in advertisers who are looking for access to Apple’s library.

The news: Spotify added direct messaging to its free and premium tiers, marking a major step toward the streaming platform becoming a more social destination. Messaging is available one-on-one on mobile devices, and users can only start conversations with people they’ve already shared content with—like a collaborative playlist or participating in a Blend or Jam. Our take: For marketers, this opens up greater potential for content virality, social-driven campaigns, and integrations with creators and communities. Brands should explore building shareable, collaborative music experiences, like sponsored playlists or interactive audio experiences built for DM sharing.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our ‘very specific, but highly unlikely’ predictions for the future of digital in 2026 and beyond. Why browsers will become the new AI battleground, what does it mean if agentic AI doesn’t take over shopping, and can GenAI actually lead to more of the jobs it can easily destroy? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host, Marcus Johnson, Senior Director of Briefings, Jeremy Goldman, Principal Analyst, Sara Marzano, and Vice President of Content, Paul Verna. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.