Companies such as Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio are the leaders in internet radio today. These companies have made listening to music more convenient. They also give advertisers a useful new tool to directly target specific audiences in their ad campaigns. While traditional radio is still an effective advertising outlet, its range is more limited in terms of honing in on a specific demographic.
Internet radio give advertisers the ability to target specific demographics by various age, location, and even listening habits. This ensures that an advertisement will reach only the intended audience, allowing advertisers to tailor very targeted ad campaigns.
Here is some background on the three major internet radio services and how they differ:
- Pandora. This was the first internet radio service to rise to popularity. It allows you to create a station by choosing a song or artist, and then plays music that sounds similar to that. Pandora is a terrific way to discover new music.
- Spotify. Similar to Pandora, Spotify lets you search for the music you want to hear. The difference is that Spotify lets you listen to the exact song you want to hear. While Pandora gives you stations of similar sounding music, Spotify allows you to make playlists of certain songs.
- iHeartRadio. This service is slightly different than the others. Although it serves as a way to create custom stations and playlists, iHeartRadio also lets you listen to live radio stations streaming from anywhere in the country.
Have you advertised on any of these platforms? If so, which ones?
