There is reportedly only a 13% overlap in audiences between the two streamers.
The new agreement will enable advertisers and brands to purchase SoundCloud’s U.S. ad inventory directly through Pandora, leveraging the company’s direct sales capabilities, targeting data and recently launched audio programmatic product.
Digital audio advertising grew 40% in 2017 to $1.6B according to IAB, and is becoming an increasingly important medium to reach consumers, thanks to the proliferation of voice-enabled apps and devices.
“Pandora and SoundCloud’s combined audience offering creates the clear market leader for brands to reach U.S. music fans,” said Kerry Trainor, Chief Executive Officer, SoundCloud. “Through this partnership, we gain access to Pandora’s world-class sales team and capabilities to connect more brands with our young, highly engaged users who know what’s next in music is first on SoundCloud.”“This partnership is a fantastic match between Pandora’s industry-leading ability to monetize digital audio and SoundCloud’s large audience and vibrant community of U.S. listeners,” said Roger Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Pandora. “Investments we’ve been making in our ad capabilities, including the recent acquisition of AdsWizz, further solidify Pandora’s commitment to help publishers monetize the rapidly growing digital audio market.”
The new agreement is in addition SoundCloud’s existing relationship with AdsWizz and is part of Pandora’s broader strategy to help other publishers monetize digital audio.