Costs & Rates for Digital Audio Ads
How Online Audio Campaigns are priced
Unlike traditional radio advertising, where you pay per spot, with digital audio advertising, when you place a spot on streaming services or internet radio, you pay based on the number of people your ad is delivered to. The rates are therefore based on a cost-per-mille (CPM), which describes what you pay when your ad is delivered to 1000 people. CPM is used because the cost of a single impression is minimal, so the industry standard is to calculate the total cost per thousand impacts.
How Much Do Online Audio Ads Cost in 2025?
The cost of online audio advertising depends on platform, and targeting options. Below is an estimated cost breakdown:
- CPM Online Audio General: Start from $8.
- CPMs for Ads in Podcasts will normally start at $20.
- CPM Streaming Services: If you want to run on well-known streaming services like YouTube Music content or Spotify, better aim for $15 - $20.
- Targeting: Normally, targeting adds between $2 - $5 on the CPM level.
These baseline options are broadly available and easy to implement.
What is the perfect budget for an Online Audio campaign in 2025?
The perfect budget for an online audio campaign varies widely based on several factors. A national campaign will naturally require a higher investment than a regional or local campaign. As describe above CPMs will also depend on whether you advertise on premium music services, podcasts, or digital radio stations.
Normally a good budget is somewhere between $1,000 and $50,000 per week.
The best approach is to use our planning tool, which provides budget recommendations based on your campaign’s parameters.
Minimum Spend
Some publishers like Spotify require a minimum spend when going through their sales team, which is usually in the tens of thousands of dollars.
If you use self-service tools like AllMediaDesk, you can skip the minimum budget and base the campaign size on your budget.