Spotify to Target Ads Based on Playlists

No one likes to be judged for their taste in music. But Spotify is giving advertisers the option to serve up ads based on listening habits.

Spotify's Private Marketplaces lets advertisers buy 15- or 30-second audio spots in real time across its audio content, which will "target audiences by age, gender, genres, and playlists – all in real time," Spotify says.

While audio ads are nothing new in the music-streaming world, they're often purchased ahead of time and played on services like Spotify and Pandora based on timing and other factors. Spotify claims to be the first to actually offer real-time insight into what its users are doing so marketers can run relevant ads at a given time.

Perhaps more importantly, the feature also means that advertisers will be able to buy ads across the world and not within certain markets, expanding the average ad's reach.

The move comes as Spotify's battle with Apple Music heats up: the two have clashed over Apple taking a cut of Spotify Premium revenue within iOS. For now, Spotify is tops: it has 30+ million Premium subscribers to Apple's 15 million.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.