Audio ad specs by platform: Spotify, YouTube, Amazon and SiriusXM
Length, file type, bitrate, loudness and companion image for audio ads on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon and SiriusXM, each from the platform's own spec page, plus what Meta and TikTok list.
Thirty seconds is the ceiling almost everywhere. Spotify, YouTube and Amazon all stop at 30 seconds for a standard audio ad, and SiriusXM's shortest general spot is 30. Past that, the platforms disagree on nearly everything: file type, how loud the file should be, and how they even describe loudness.
Every figure below comes from the platform's own spec or help page, checked on 15 October 2026. Where a platform doesn't publish a number, the table says so instead of filling the gap.
The specs side by side
| Spotify | YouTube audio ads | Amazon Ads | SiriusXM (satellite) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length | Up to 30 s | Up to 30 s | 10 to 30 s | 30 or 60 s |
| What you upload | MP3, WAV or OGG, up to 50 MB | A YouTube video | WAV, MP3 or OGG, up to 3 MB | MP3 or 16-bit WAV |
| Sample rate | 44.1 kHz | Not stated | Not stated | 44.1 kHz |
| Bitrate | 192 to 320 kbps | Not stated | At least 192 kbps | At least 320 kbps |
| Level | −16 LUFS, ±1.5 | Not stated | RMS −14 dBFS, peak −0.2 dBFS | Limiter ceiling −5 dB (−8 dB mono) |
| Image | 1:1, at least 600 × 600, JPEG or PNG, up to 200 KB | 16:9 video; a still image or simple animation recommended | 1024 × 1024 required, 300 × 250 optional, up to 750 KB | None listed |
Spotify
Spotify's audio ad specs cap music ads at 30 seconds and podcast ads (streaming ad insertion) at 30 seconds too. Long-form music ads can run to 60 seconds, but only in select markets, bought direct, and they become skippable after 30.
The file is MP3, WAV or OGG, stereo, 44.1 kHz, between 192 and 320 kbps, and mixed to −16 LUFS, plus or minus 1.5. Spotify is the only platform here that states loudness in LUFS, which is the number a mastering tool shows you.
Two images can travel with the ad. The companion display unit is square, at least 600 × 600, JPEG or PNG, and no more than 200 KB. A podcast ad's call to action card is exactly 640 × 640, JPG, also 200 KB at most. The page also asks for one destination URL per ad.
On the script, the spec page says "no more than 65 words for a 30-second ad" and 100 words for 60 seconds. Spotify's best-practices guide says 60 to 80 words for about 30 seconds. The two pages don't agree; the spec page is the stricter one. The guide's other advice is specific: name the brand in the first five seconds, ideally as the last word of the opening sentence, and close with a clear call to action.
YouTube
YouTube audio ads take a link to a YouTube video, not an audio file. They play "during long listening sessions and when YouTube is playing in the background", so the picture matters less, and Google recommends a still image or a simple animation. You set them up as a Video campaign with Audio as the subtype.
The video can run up to 30 seconds. Up to 15 seconds it serves as a non-skippable ad; from 16 to 30 seconds it is skippable. The listed aspect ratio is 16:9, and a 4:3 upload gets black bars at the sides. Google publishes no loudness figure for these ads. Its script advice: 60 to 80 words of voiceover for a 30-second ad.
Amazon Ads
Amazon's audio ad specs accept anything from 10 to 30 seconds, as WAV, MP3 or OGG, with a 3 MB ceiling. A 30-second MP3 at 320 kbps is about 1.2 MB, so the size limit only bites on uncompressed WAV.
Amazon describes level differently from Spotify. The page says, verbatim: "at least 192 kbps RMS normalized to -14 dBFS Peak normalized to -0.2 dBFS". That is an RMS level and a peak ceiling, not an LUFS target, so don't assume a file mixed for Spotify measures the same way. Check it against Amazon's numbers.
The companion image is 1024 × 1024 (required) plus an optional 300 × 250, up to 750 KB, JPEG or PNG, with a headline of 19 characters at most. Amazon's creative rules are the plainest of the four: state the brand or product clearly, don't open with "Brought to you by", end with the action you want, and keep to "one action per creative". It also bans references to clicking.
SiriusXM
SiriusXM's audio spot page accepts 30- and 60-second pre-produced spots; 15-second spots run only on its Weather channel. Files are MP3 or 16-bit WAV, at least 320 kbps and 44.1 kHz, mastered with a limiter ceiling of −5 dB (−8 dB for mono). There is no LUFS figure and no companion image on the page.
Meta and TikTok
Neither runs audio-only ads in the sense above. Meta's ads guide lists image, video, carousel and collection formats and no audio-only format; on Facebook Feed video sound is "optional, but recommended", in stereo AAC at 128 kbps or more. TikTok's in-feed ad spec lists only video file types. An audio ad reaches these feeds as a video: the voice and music over a picture, sized for the placement.
Some networks that sell audio through a sales team, iHeartMedia among them, don't publish a public spec page we could find. Ask your rep for theirs before you export.
One master that covers most of it
If you make one file and one image, these choices fit every published spec above except where noted:
- 30 seconds or less. It fits Spotify, YouTube and Amazon, and SiriusXM's 30-second slot.
- MP3, 44.1 kHz stereo, 320 kbps. It sits inside Spotify's range, meets SiriusXM's minimum and stays well under Amazon's 3 MB.
- Mixed to −16 LUFS for Spotify, then checked against Amazon's RMS and peak figures and SiriusXM's limiter ceiling if you run there.
- A square image at 1024 × 1024, exported small enough for Spotify's 200 KB, plus a 640 × 640 copy for Spotify's podcast card.
- A video version for YouTube (16:9) and for Meta and TikTok, where the ad runs as video.
Sources
- Spotify Advertising: Audio ad specs: lengths, file types and size, sample rate, bitrate, loudness, channels, companion display unit, podcast CTA card, one destination URL, words per 30 and 60 seconds (accessed 2026-10-15)
- Spotify Advertising: Best practices for digital audio ads: 60 to 80 words per 30 seconds, brand in the first five seconds, clear call to action (accessed 2026-10-15)
- Google Ads Help: About audio ads: video link as the asset, still image or simple animation, 30-second maximum, skippable and non-skippable lengths, 16:9, campaign setup, 60 to 80 words (accessed 2026-10-15)
- Amazon Ads: Audio ads specs: length, file types and size, level, companion images, headline, creative guidelines (accessed 2026-10-15)
- SiriusXM Media: Audio spots: spot lengths, media types, bitrate, sample rate, limiter ceiling (accessed 2026-10-15)
- Meta Ads Guide and Facebook Feed video specs: ad formats listed, video sound and audio compression (accessed 2026-10-15)
- TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads: video file types for in-feed ads (accessed 2026-10-15)
Specs checked against each platform's own page on 15 October 2026. These pages change without notice, so open the source before relying on a figure.
Terrads makes 15- and 30-second audio ads: an MP3 mixed to −16 LUFS, a 640 × 640 image, and 9:16 and 1:1 videos of the same spot. It doesn't make the 16:9 version YouTube audio ads ask for yet.