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New music-centric ad platform launches in beta
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 15 June 2022
A new music-centric digital advertising tool has announced a beta test pilot involving The Independent news site and various music companies.
Called Into-It, the new service will encourage consumers to identify the genres and artists they like via a Chrome browser extension. Participating media will then target music ads based on that information, allowing music companies to buy ads with said media in a way that targets the right kinds of fans.
Meanwhile, music fans will be able to more directly curate what ads they see when browsing participating sites, rather than any ad targeting being driven by usage data gathered by the big tech platforms.
The pilot will involve beta-testers from the US and UK music, advertising and tech sectors, with major and indie labels, recently re-opened London venue Koko and merch company Terrible among those posting ads. Those ads will then appear on The Independent’s website, as well as some other sites involved in the pilot scheme.
The company behind the new service has been founded by Lee Henshaw, who previously launched digital PR agency Way To Blue and programmatic advertising agency Silence Media.
He says: “At Into-it, we’re on a mission to give American and British music fans the opportunity to curate their online advertising experience by simply letting us know the genres and the artists they’re into. This beta test allows us to showcase our technology to the industry before our commercial launch in the autumn”.
Meanwhile, Oli Wheatley, Trading Director at The Independent, adds: “We are looking forward to being part of Into-It’s beta test. At The Independent, we are absolutely committed to offering value and effectiveness through innovation to our customers and improving user experience wherever possible – so we’re excited to see what this partnership brings”.
Among the labels taking part are Full Time Hobby, whose founder Nigel Adams says: “Into-it is a game-changer for the music industry because it gives us access to a data set powered by user intention, helping us build direct relationships with fans”.
