Recently the iconic music industry publication Billboard ran an in-depth feature looking at AudioMob that carried the headline: 'Want Your Music in Wordscapes or Sudoku? Why Artists Are Buying Mobile Game Ads’’. 

But before we get to that, let’s take a step back.

As soon as we first forged our core idea of audio ads for games, we knew there would be tremendous potential for those in the music industry.

The fit is perfect - and even fairly obvious. Audio ads excel at delivering the audio medium. Our format lets musicians, bands and producers share a sample of their work directly with vast and highly targeted audiences. AudioMob ads also provide a unique opportunity for artists to speak directly to new and existing fans; fans that are already highly engaged by the games we serve ads within.

At the same time as we conceived the initial idea for AudioMob, we were also seeing an increasing intersection of games and music, both as mediums and industries. That trend absolutely motivated us to pursue our core idea, and has continued apace. Examples are now everywhere; There was the famed Travis Scott concert that attracted 12 million players to Fortnite simultaneously; Diplo’s appearance in FIFA 21; the Block by Blockwest Festival; Twitch’s reinvention as a platform for smaller rave outfits to continue serving their fans; and Stormzy’s role as a major character in Watchdogs: Legion.

A Collaborative Vision

All those examples chime with our vision for the potential music, games and brands can offer one another collaboratively. It’s a vision that has been brewing for some time. Back a staggering 20 years ago Grand Theft Auto III offered an early sign of the potential we believe in. Its fictional radio station MSX broadcast real music in-game from the iconic UK breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass label Moving Shadow. Even then, some of our team saw their record collections grow thanks to the influence of a video game radio station that blurred the lines between fictional interactive worlds and real music. Long before AudioMob was founded, we were the highly engaged gaming audience we serve ads to today.

More recently, Grand Theft Auto 5 has continued and evolved that approach, with music icons like Soulwax, Lee Scratch Perry and Bootsy Collins not only presenting radio stations in-game, but bringing them credibility while connecting music fans with games, and gaming audiences with music. Grand Theft Auto’s developers Rockstar Games then pushed the crossover further, introducing radio stations such as Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonded Radio’ to both GTA V and GTA Online. The station, presented in association with Apple Music, was part of an update that saw the series largest traffic surge recorded at the time. Ocean’s contribution clearly demonstrated the potential coming together of music and games, serving Ocean himself, other artists he promoted, Apple Music and the entertainment giant that is GTA. It’s the kind of collaboration that matches our vision for how music and games can work together for brands, artists and consumers.

As all those trends come together, AudioMob is seeing significant success in giving musicians a means to harness the power of games. In recent weeks a spread of very different high profile artists have used AudioMob ads to promote new releases, including The Sugarhill Gang, Tate McRae and Joel Corry, with the support of labels including Warner Music, Sony and Ministry of Sound. The results have been tremendous, with CTRs climbing well over 1,000% relative to traditional options such as banner ads. And all for tantalisingly low sub $0.10 CPMs.

Supporting Music Icons

To say it’s been rewarding is an understatement. We’re a company founded by devoted music fans, and count music producers and hoarders of records amongst our ranks. Helping acts like The Sugarhill Gang - a group that that long ago shaped our own musical tastes - to find new audiences has been remarkable. More importantly, though, it’s been incredibly satisfying to see the potential our format offers the music industry become a reality. It took some doing, but AudioMob is already elevating the reach of high-profile musicians across the world.

That achievement was really cemented by our recent coverage in the iconic, influential music publication Billboard, which took an in-depth look at AudioMob’s relevance to the music industry.

Established over 120 years ago, Billboard is perhaps most famed for its music charts such as the Billboard Hot 100. Over time the core Billboard publication has expanded from serving a purebred music industry and trade audience to serving far higher numbers of those interested in the sector. To give you an impression of its reach, the main Billboard Twitter account has 10.9 million followers.

If you want to look at the Billboard feature, which shares some of the most recent data on the impact AudioMob has had for the brands that have used it, you can find it right here. And if you aren’t a Billboard subscriber, the team there has been kind enough to offer a PDF version to visitors of the AudioMob website. Get in touch if you want access to that.

We exist to serve impactful, relevant ads, of course. That comes before securing coverage in publications we respect and admire. And yet, at the same time, our marketing and PR effort is all about expanding the reach and potential of our ad format. That’s a gain for us, but it’s also a gain for game developers and brands. That is because - as our effort showcased in Billboard proves - audio ads placed in games serve brands powerfully, capably monetise developer’s creations, and deeply engage audiences without ever asking them to stop playing. Everyone wins, and we couldn’t be happier.

And, of course, if you are a musician, agent, label, manager or anyone in the music industry that wants to hear more about audio ads, we’d love to hear from you.