SoundCloud has teamed up with ad tech company AppNexus to make its audio and video inventory available programmatically via the AppNexus Marketplace.

The partnership is aimed at giving advertisers the ability to reach SoundCloud’s traditionally younger millennial and Gen Z audience.

“As the first place for listeners who want to discover what’s new and next in music, SoundCloud has a community of highly engaged and influential tastemakers, and we want advertisers to be able to reach this audience through easy, full service solutions,” said Chris Blackburn, head of global sales and partnerships at SoundCloud. “We’re eager to leverage the strength of AppNexus’ global multi-format open marketplace and robust technologies to deliver a new solution to advertisers as we continue to expand our programmatic offering.”

Advertisers will be able to 15- and 30-second pre-roll and in-feed audio and video spots from SoundCloud using real-time bidding or through private deals. They will be able to target people based on age, gender, geography, genre, and device type. In addition, users can be targeted ‘at the right moment and wherever they may be’ due to over 90 per cent of SoundCloud’s audience being on mobile.

“AppNexus is thrilled to be a key partner to SoundCloud as it continues to evolve and grow its programmatic business,” said Michael Rubenstein, president at AppNexus. “Audio and video formats present a compelling opportunity for advertisers, who will now be able to reach SoundCloud’s community of young influencers and engage them with targeted advertisements through the AppNexus Marketplace.”

The link up between SoundCloud and AppNexus comes as Google makes audio ads available via DoubleClick Bid Manager, providing marketers with access to audio spots on Google Play Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, and soon Pandora.