Spotify sells its platform to advertisers as ‘nutritional’

Time passes in funny ways when you’re on your phone.

- JESSICA TESTA

Five minutes of swiping on TikTok or tapping through Instagram Stories can slip into 10 minutes, or 20, or one sunken hour. Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer of Spotify, believes some apps will soon “self-swipe,” requiring even less of your effort or awareness.

His company is moving in a different direction: Using Spotify, he said, “takes commitment.”

On Wednesday, Spotify laid out its plans to boost its advertising business with several new initiatives to make advertising easier, including an artificial intelligence tool for branding the United States and Canada to generate their scripts and voice-overs.

But it also made a broader pitch to potential advertisers: Many Spotify users aren’t passively scrolling.

They’re learning the somewhat fussy technical process of joining a “jam” (listening to music simultaneously with friends), Mr. Norström said; or getting to know the host of a podcast, who already has 2,000 episodes or pressing play on a 48-hour audiobook. And a more engaged audience is more likely to engage with ads.

“It’s more nutritious,” Mr. Norström said in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, “rather than these high-calorie, quick things.”