Spotify Ads Integration

Connect your Spotify Ads account to ILLIXIS for audio ad retargeting, Custom Audience creation, and campaign targeting across Spotify's streaming platform. ILLIXIS authenticates via OAuth 2.0 through accounts.spotify.com, manages 1-hour access tokens with automatic refresh, and communicates with the Spotify Ads API v3 at https://api-partner.spotify.com/ads/v3/. Audience data is uploaded through Google Cloud Storage signed URLs using SHA-256 hashed identifiers.

Location: Advertising > Integrations > Spotify Ads

What It Does

The Spotify Ads integration connects ILLIXIS to Spotify's advertising platform, enabling you to push retargeting audiences into Spotify as Custom Audiences and target them with audio and display ads. Spotify is the only major ad platform that offers music taste targeting -- you can reach listeners by artist preference, genre, playlist behavior, and real-time listening context. No other ad network provides this.

The integration handles four responsibilities:

1. OAuth authentication with Spotify's authorization server, including automatic token refresh every hour
2. Business and Ad Account discovery, letting you select which Spotify Ads account to connect
3. Custom Audience creation and data upload, using GCS signed URLs for privacy-compliant CRM matching
4. Audience lifecycle management, including status tracking, updates, and deletion

Spotify Ads reaches 600+ million monthly active users across music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Audio ads play between songs and podcast segments in a zero-competition environment -- unlike visual ads that share screen space with other content, your audio ad has the listener's undivided attention during playback.

Prerequisites

| Requirement | Description |
|-------------|-------------|
| Spotify Ads Account | Register at ads.spotify.com |
| Business + Ad Account | At least one Business entity with an active Ad Account in Spotify Ads Manager |
| ILLIXIS Audience | At least one retargeting audience created in Advertising |
| GA4 Connection | Required for building the source audiences that get synced |

Spotify Ads is available in 60+ markets. Verify your target geography is supported before connecting.

Account Hierarchy

Spotify Ads organizes accounts in a two-level hierarchy that ILLIXIS mirrors during connection:

```
Business (parent entity)
|-- Ad Account 1
|-- Ad Account 2
|-- Ad Account N
```

• Business ID: The parent entity. A user can belong to multiple businesses. ILLIXIS fetches all businesses the authenticated user has access to via GET /businesses.
• Ad Account ID: The account where campaigns run and audiences live. Each business can have multiple ad accounts. ILLIXIS fetches ad accounts per business via GET /businesses/{business_id}/ad_accounts.

During OAuth, ILLIXIS stores both the business_id and ad_account_id on the connection record. All subsequent API calls (audience creation, uploads, campaign targeting) operate at the ad account level.

Connecting Your Account

Step 1: Start the OAuth Flow

1. Go to Settings > Integrations
2. Scroll to the Advertising Platforms section
3. Find Spotify Ads and click Connect
4. You are redirected to Spotify's authorization page at accounts.spotify.com

Step 2: Authorize ILLIXIS

1. Sign in with your Spotify account credentials (the account that has access to Spotify Ads Manager)
2. Review the permissions ILLIXIS is requesting
3. Click Agree to grant access

Spotify issues an authorization code, which ILLIXIS exchanges for an access token and refresh token via POST https://accounts.spotify.com/api/token using a Basic auth header (Base64-encoded client_id:client_secret).

Step 3: Select Your Ad Account

After authorization, ILLIXIS fetches your businesses and their ad accounts:

• Single ad account: Selected automatically. You are redirected back to the Integrations page with a success message.
• Multiple ad accounts: You see a selection page listing every ad account grouped by business. Select the one you want to connect and click Confirm.

Step 4: Verify the Connection

1. Return to Settings > Integrations
2. The Spotify Ads card should show Connected with a green badge
3. Your ad account name and business name appear below the status

Disconnecting

1. Go to Settings > Integrations
2. Find Spotify Ads and click Disconnect
3. Confirm the disconnection

Disconnecting clears stored tokens and marks the connection as inactive. Existing Custom Audiences in Spotify Ads Manager remain but stop receiving updates from ILLIXIS.

Token Management

Spotify uses OAuth 2.0 with short-lived access tokens. This is the same authentication system as the standard Spotify API, but the application must be approved for Ads API access.

| Token Type | Lifetime | Notes |
|------------|----------|-------|
| Access Token | 1 hour | Used for all API calls via Authorization: Bearer header |
| Refresh Token | Long-lived | Used to obtain new access tokens without re-authorization |

Auto-Refresh Behavior

ILLIXIS checks token validity before every API call using a 5-minute buffer window. If the token expires within 5 minutes or has already expired:

| Scenario | What Happens |
|----------|--------------|
| Token valid (> 5 min remaining) | Request proceeds normally |
| Token expiring or expired | ILLIXIS sends the refresh token to accounts.spotify.com/api/token, receives a new access token, updates the stored credentials, and retries the original request |
| Refresh token revoked | Connection marked as unauthorized; you need to reconnect via OAuth |

Spotify may or may not issue a new refresh token during a refresh request. If a new refresh token is returned, ILLIXIS stores it. If not, the existing refresh token continues to work.

When Reconnection Is Required

The refresh token can be invalidated by:

• Changing your Spotify password
• Revoking the app in your Spotify account settings
• Spotify security events (account compromise detection)

If auto-refresh fails, the connection status changes to unauthorized, and you need to repeat the OAuth flow from Step 1.

Syncing Audiences

How Audience Sync Works

ILLIXIS syncs audiences to Spotify as Custom Audiences using CRM-based matching. The process:

1. ILLIXIS creates a Custom Audience in your Spotify Ad Account via POST /ad_accounts/{id}/audiences
2. Requests a signed Google Cloud Storage upload URL via GET /ad_accounts/{id}/audiences/{audience_id}/upload_url
3. Extracts email addresses and phone numbers from your audience data
4. Hashes each identifier with SHA-256 (emails are lowercased and trimmed first; phone numbers are stripped to digits only)
5. Formats records as newline-delimited JSON and uploads to the GCS signed URL via PUT
6. Spotify matches hashed identifiers against its user base

GCS Signed URL Upload

Unlike most ad platforms that accept data directly via their API, Spotify routes audience uploads through Google Cloud Storage. The signed URL is time-limited and specific to one audience. Each upload is a PUT request with Content-Type: application/json containing newline-delimited JSON records:

```
{"email_sha256": "a1b2c3..."}
{"email_sha256": "d4e5f6..."}
{"phone_sha256": "g7h8i9..."}
```

This approach allows larger uploads without API timeout constraints.

Syncing a Single Audience

1. Go to Advertising > Audiences
2. Open any audience detail page
3. Find the Spotify Ads sync indicator in the platform badges
4. Click Sync to Spotify
5. Wait for the sync to complete (typically 10-30 seconds)

Sync Status Indicators

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| Not Synced | Audience has not been pushed to Spotify |
| Syncing | Upload in progress |
| Synced | Custom Audience created and populated in Spotify |
| Error | Sync failed -- check error message and retry |

What Gets Created in Spotify

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Audience Name | "ILLIXIS - [Your Audience Name]" |
| Type | CUSTOM |
| Data Format | SHA-256 hashed emails and phone numbers |
| Description | "Retargeting audience from ILLIXIS: [Name]" |

Re-Syncing an Existing Audience

If a Spotify audience ID is already stored on the audience record, ILLIXIS first verifies the audience still exists in Spotify. If it does, the status is confirmed. If the audience was deleted in Spotify Ads Manager, ILLIXIS clears the stored ID and recreates the audience from scratch.

Match Rates

Match rates for Spotify Custom Audiences typically range from 20-50%, depending on:

• Your audience composition (consumer vs. B2B emails)
• Geographic overlap with Spotify's user base
• Whether you include both email and phone data (including both improves match rates)

Spotify requires 24-48 hours after upload to complete user matching.

Campaign Types

Once your audience is synced, you can run several campaign types in Spotify Ads Manager. The campaign objective determines what Spotify optimizes for.

| Campaign Type | Objective | Best For |
|---------------|-----------|----------|
| Audio | Reach listeners with audio ads between songs | Brand awareness, product launches, offers |
| Conversion | Drive website actions (purchases, sign-ups) | E-commerce, lead generation |
| Awareness | Maximize unique reach across Spotify | Top-of-funnel brand building |
| Reach | Deliver ads to the broadest possible audience | Market launches, seasonal campaigns |
| Retargeting | Re-engage users from your CRM/Custom Audiences | Cart abandonment, re-engagement |

Ad Formats

Spotify supports two primary ad format categories:

Audio Ads

Audio ads play between songs during music and podcast playback on Spotify Free. They are the platform's signature format.

| Spec | Requirement |
|------|-------------|
| Duration | 30 seconds (standard) or 60 seconds (extended) |
| File Format | MP3 or WAV |
| Companion Display | Optional clickable banner shown during audio playback |
| Click-Through | URL link activated by tapping the companion display |

Audio ads are non-skippable. The listener hears the entire ad. This is a significant advantage over video platforms where users can skip after 5 seconds.

For creating audio ad content directly in ILLIXIS, use the Audio Ad Production feature. The Audio Ad Production pipeline generates AI-written scripts, professional voiceover, original royalty-free music, and broadcast-standard mixing -- all from a single form. Output files are ready to upload to Spotify Ads Manager.

Display Ads

| Format | Description | Placement |
|--------|-------------|-----------|
| Overlay | Full-screen clickable image shown when the app is in view | Between songs on desktop/mobile |
| Homepage Takeover | Premium placement on Spotify's browse page | Desktop only |
| Leaderboard | Banner ad at the bottom of the Spotify desktop app | Desktop only |

Display ads on Spotify are visual-only and do not include audio. They complement audio campaigns for full-funnel coverage.

Audience Targeting

Spotify's targeting capabilities go beyond standard demographics. Music taste targeting is unique to Spotify and unavailable on any other ad platform.

Music Taste Targeting

| Targeting Type | Description | Example |
|----------------|-------------|---------|
| Artist | Target fans of specific artists based on streaming history | Reach people who listen to Taylor Swift |
| Genre | Target by music genre preferences | Reach hip-hop or classical listeners |
| Playlist | Target users of specific Spotify playlists | Reach "Workout" or "Chill Vibes" listeners |
| Music Taste Segment | Spotify's pre-built audience segments based on listening patterns | "Indie Lovers", "Pop Culture Enthusiasts" |

Standard Targeting

| Targeting Type | Description |
|----------------|-------------|
| Custom Audiences | Your ILLIXIS audiences synced as CRM-based Custom Audiences |
| Lookalike Audiences | Built in Spotify Ads Manager from your Custom Audiences |
| Demographics | Age, gender, language |
| Location | Country, region, city, DMA |
| Platform | iOS, Android, desktop, smart speakers, connected devices |
| Real-Time Context | Target based on what users are doing right now (working out, commuting, cooking) |
| Interest | Behavioral interest categories derived from listening and app usage |

Why Music Taste Targeting Matters

Music preference is one of the strongest psychographic signals available. Research shows music taste correlates with personality traits, lifestyle choices, and purchase behavior. A user who listens to indie folk has different purchasing patterns than a user who listens to electronic dance music. No other ad platform can segment on this dimension.

Automation Schedule

| Process | Schedule | Description |
|---------|----------|-------------|
| Token Refresh | Automatic (before each API call) | Access tokens refresh transparently when expiring within 5-minute buffer |
| Audience Sync | On-demand | Click "Sync to Spotify" from audience detail page |
| Status Check | On page load | Verifies audience still exists in Spotify |
| Connection Test | On-demand | Test API connectivity from Integrations page |

Troubleshooting

"Spotify Ads not connected"

Cause: No active, authorized Spotify Ads connection for your workspace.

Fix:

1. Go to Settings > Integrations
2. Find Spotify Ads and click Connect
3. Complete the OAuth flow
4. Verify the card shows "Connected"

"No ad accounts found"

Cause: Your Spotify account does not have access to any Spotify Ads businesses or ad accounts.

Fix:

1. Log in to ads.spotify.com
2. Ensure you have an active ad account
3. Request access from your organization's Spotify Ads admin if needed

"Token expired and refresh failed"

Cause: The refresh token was revoked (password change, app deauthorization, or Spotify security event).

Fix:

1. Go to Settings > Integrations
2. Disconnect Spotify Ads
3. Click Connect to re-authorize with fresh credentials

"Audience sync failed"

Cause: API error during audience creation or GCS upload.

Fix:

1. Check the error message in the Spotify Ads card on the audience detail page
2. Verify your ad account has permission to create audiences
3. Click Retry Sync after addressing the issue
4. If the error persists, disconnect and reconnect Spotify Ads

"Audience shows 0 size"

Cause: Audience is too new or no matches found yet.

Fix:

• Wait 24-48 hours for Spotify to process the match
• Ensure source data includes email addresses (higher match rate than phone numbers alone)
• Include both email and phone data to maximize match rate
• Check that your audience has at least 1,000 source records

"Spotify Ads Account not configured"

Cause: The connection exists but is missing the ad account ID.

Fix:

1. Disconnect Spotify Ads in Settings > Integrations
2. Reconnect and select your ad account during the OAuth flow

"No data to upload"

Cause: The audience has no email or phone data available for hashing and upload.

Fix:

• Ensure your audience has associated email records in its analysis data or linked subscriber list
• Audiences created from URL-only data (without contact information) cannot sync to Spotify

FAQ

Q: How does Spotify OAuth differ from other ad platforms?
Spotify uses the same OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow as the standard Spotify API (through accounts.spotify.com), but the application must be approved for Ads API access. Access tokens last 1 hour -- shorter than most ad platforms. ILLIXIS handles refresh automatically, so you do not need to re-authorize unless the refresh token is revoked.

Q: What is the Business ID vs. Ad Account ID?
A Business is the parent entity (your company). An Ad Account is where campaigns and audiences live. One business can have multiple ad accounts. ILLIXIS stores both and uses the ad account ID for all audience and campaign operations.

Q: What is the GCS signed URL upload?
Instead of accepting CRM data directly, Spotify provides a time-limited Google Cloud Storage URL for each audience. ILLIXIS requests this URL, then uploads hashed records to it. This approach handles large uploads more reliably than direct API data transfer.

Q: What is the minimum audience size?
There is no strict minimum for creating Custom Audiences, but Spotify typically requires 1,000+ matched users for effective ad delivery.

Q: How long until a synced audience is targetable?
The audience is created immediately, but user matching takes 24-48 hours to complete. Small audiences may process faster.

Q: Can I target podcast listeners specifically?
Yes. In Spotify Ads Manager, you can combine your Custom Audience with placement targeting to focus on podcast inventory, music inventory, or both.

Q: Can I create campaigns from ILLIXIS?
ILLIXIS handles audience sync and management. Campaign creation, ad set configuration, creative uploads, and budget management are done in Spotify Ads Manager. To create audio ad content for Spotify campaigns, use the Audio Ad Production feature to generate ready-to-upload audio files.

Q: Does syncing audiences cost anything?
No. Creating and syncing audiences is free. You only pay when running ad campaigns in Spotify Ads Manager.

Q: Why choose Spotify over other audio platforms?
Spotify provides music taste targeting (artist, genre, playlist), which no other ad platform offers. Audio ads are non-skippable, play in a zero-competition environment, and reach users during high-attention moments. The platform also reaches smart speakers and connected devices beyond mobile and desktop.

Q: What happens to audiences if I disconnect?
Existing Custom Audiences remain in your Spotify Ad Account. They stop receiving updates from ILLIXIS but can still be used in campaigns.

Related Features

• Advertising: Central hub for managing audiences across all ad platforms
• Audio Ad Production: Create AI-generated audio ads with voiceover and music for Spotify campaigns
• Prospecting Campaigns: Create campaigns targeting new audiences
• Lookalike Audiences: Build similar audiences from your best segments
• TikTok Ads Sync: Sync audiences for short-form video campaigns
• Meta Ads Sync: Sync audiences to Facebook and Instagram
• Snapchat Ads Integration: Sync audiences for Snapchat's vertical video and AR formats