Spot The Difference: Total Audience vs Addressable Audience

The audio advertising landscape is complex, and selecting the right partner is a decision advertisers shouldn't take lightly. Whether you’re comparing total audience and addressable audience or ad-supported and subscription base—knowing the difference is crucial for your campaigns. 

As you explore audio as an avenue to increase your brand's visibility and engagement, here are some facts and figures to keep in mind.

Know the Size of a Network’s Addressable Audience

The total size of a media partner’s audience is its total audience, but that’s not always the number of people a brand can reach. What advertisers need to know is the size of the addressable audience, which is the number of people who consume ad-supported content with that platform or network.

Platforms like Spotify boast a global monthly active user number that may seem attractive to advertisers at first glance. But remember, if you’re advertising in the US, you need to know their US user number. Next, you need to know what percentage of those users listen with ads. Only 42% of Spotify’s North American audience is addressable. Comparatively, the audience on the SiriusXM Streaming Network is 87% addressable.

So, what does this mean for advertisers? No need to grab a calculator. Here’s the answer: Your brand messages can reach more listeners in the US through the SiriusXM Streaming Network than through Spotify.

Double (and Maybe Triple) Check the Numbers

When it comes to numbers, sources matter. And when you check those sources, make sure the methodology is legit. For a long time, streaming platforms like Spotify have been benefiting from inflated, multi-platform numbers from Comscore, which include duplication from their desktop app. So, when a user powers their computer, the app loads automatically, even if it's not in use.

A truer indicator of scale is mobile unique visitors on Comscore—and that’s how we calculate our users. With the SiriusXM Streaming Network, you can reach 87% of our 62M mobile listeners across Pandora, SoundCloud, and SiriusXM digital, not including our partnerships with Audiomack, idobi, Spanish Broadcast System (SBS), and Sonos. You can find our property on Comscore as "Pandora SiriusXM Media."

Find out Where Podcast Reach Is Concentrated

Podcasts have taken the audio advertising world by storm. But the vast, open ecosystem can make it difficult to identify which networks deliver the best audiences for your brand. When looking for the network with the biggest reach, pay attention to where the reach is concentrated. 

SiriusXM Media delivers scalable audiences via the SiriusXM Podcast Network. Our reach is spread across networks like audiochuck, Team Coco, Unwell, SmartLess Media, NBCUniversal, OWN, and dozens of additional safe and suitable spaces for your brand. Meanwhile, networks like Spotify Podcasts reach most of their audience shows like The Joe Rogan Experience. So, while Spotify reaches 29.6% of people ages 13 and up, without Joe Rogan, that reach drops to 6.2%.

Fact: We Have the Biggest Addressable Audio Audience in the US

To put it simply: If you want your brand messages to reach US consumers while they’re listening to streaming audio, the SiriusXM Streaming Network is your best bet. From New York, to Los Angeles, and over 200 markets in between, we offer greater addressable market reach.

Better Reach than Broadcast Radio

We aren’t just ruling the digital audio space when it comes to audience reach—we’re beating AM/FM, too. We are #1 in 202 US markets, larger than all broadcast radio formats, with listeners ages 18 and up.  

The Largest Digital Audio Advertising Ecosystem in North America

As you can tell by now, the right partner makes all the difference in your campaigns and strategy. We offer a one-stop-shop for advertisers looking to efficiently and effectively reach audiences at scale. We reach 160M listeners across SiriusXM, the SiriusXM Streaming Network, and the SiriusXM Podcast Network. From live content, to streaming music, to podcasts, your brand messages can reach audiences anywhere and everywhere at scale.

Ready for audio advertising to take your brand to new heights? Let’s talk.

Learn More About our Addressable Audience