How to Connect Spotify Ads to Looker Studio

If you're running ad campaigns on Spotify, you know the platform offers its own Ad Studio to track performance. But to get a full picture of your marketing efforts, you need to see that data alongside everything else. Bringing your Spotify Ads data into a powerful tool like Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) allows you to build comprehensive dashboards that show how your audio ads perform next to your Google Ads, social media campaigns, and website traffic.

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There's just one problem: there’s no native, one-click connector to pipe your data directly from Spotify Ad Studio into a Looker Studio report. This article will show you exactly how to get around that limitation. We’ll walk through a clear, step-by-step process using Google Sheets as a bridge to get your Spotify ad data beautifully visualized in a custom Looker Studio dashboard.

Why Bother Visualizing Spotify Ads Data in Looker Studio?

Before we get into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Pulling this data out of Spotify's native dashboard and into your own is more than just an organizational exercise, it unlocks a deeper level of analysis.

• A Single Source of Truth: Most marketing campaigns don't happen in a vacuum. Your Spotify ads are likely part of a larger strategy that includes social media, search ads, and email marketing. Looker Studio allows you to consolidate all these data sources into one interactive dashboard. This helps you compare performance across channels and understand the complete customer journey.
• Deeper Performance Analysis: The Spotify Ad Studio reporting is decent for a top-level view, but Looker Studio gives you limitless flexibility. You can create custom calculated metrics (like Return on Ad Spend if you blend it with sales data), build trend lines to monitor performance over time, and compare different campaign creatives or targeting parameters side-by-side in ways Spotify’s interface doesn’t allow.
• Better Stakeholder Reporting: Sending screenshots from the Spotify Ad Studio is one way to share results, but it’s not the most professional approach. A well-designed Looker Studio dashboard tells a clear story with your data. It’s easily shareable with your team, clients, or leadership, providing them with a live link they can check anytime for the latest results.
• Full Customization: You can brand your reports, choose the exact charts and graphs that make sense for your KPIs, and build a layout that answers your most important business questions at a glance. You are in complete control, rather than being limited by a platform's pre-built reporting UI.

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The Core Challenge: Spotify's Lack of a Native Connector

The main hurdle, as mentioned, is that you can't simply open Looker Studio, click "Add Data," and select "Spotify Ads" from a list. Unlike Google products (Google Ads, GA4, YouTube) which connect seamlessly, third-party platforms like Spotify require a bit more legwork.

This leaves you with two primary paths:

1. Paid Third-Party Connectors: Several companies offer data pipeline services (like Supermetrics, Funnel.io, or Power My Analytics) that have built their own connectors for various platforms. These are excellent, powerful tools that automate the entire process for you. However, they come with a monthly subscription fee, which may not be feasible if you're on a tight budget or just experimenting with Spotify Ads.
2. The Manual (and Free) Workaround: By using a simple spreadsheet tool like Google Sheets, you can act as the human "connector" between Spotify and Looker Studio. This approach requires a few manual steps but costs nothing and gives you total control over the data that appears in your final report.

For the remainder of this guide, we will focus on the second method, as it’s accessible to everyone and is a great way to understand the fundamentals of data handling.

How to Connect Spotify Ads to Looker Studio: The Step-by-Step Guide

Our strategy is simple: export the campaign data from Spotify Ad Studio as a CSV file, import it into a Google Sheet for cleaning and formatting, and then connect that Google Sheet as a data source in Looker Studio. Let's break down each step.

Step 1: Export Your Report from Spotify Ad Studio

First, you need to get your hands on the raw performance data. Spotify makes this straightforward.

• Log into your Spotify Ad Studio account.
• Navigate to the Reporting tab at the top of the page. This is where all your campaign data lives.
• Select the campaign(s) or ad set(s) you want to include in your report. You can use the checkboxes to isolate specific data.
• Choose your desired date range from the dropdown menu in the top right. For consistent reporting, it’s best to use a set cadence, like "Last 30 Days" or "This Month."
• Configure your columns. Click the "Columns" button to make sure you're exporting the metrics you care about. We recommend starting with:
• Finally, click the Export button. This will download a CSV file of your data directly to your computer.

Pro Tip: To make future updates easier, try to be consistent. Every time you export, use the same columns in the same order. This will prevent headaches when you refresh the data in your Google Sheet.

Step 2: Clean and Prepare the Data in Google Sheets

This is arguably the most important step. Looker Studio needs clean, well-structured data to build accurate charts. Raw CSV exports often contain extra rows or formatting that can cause issues.

1. Create a new Google Sheet. Give it a clear name, like "Spotify Ads Performance Data."
2. Import your downloaded CSV file. Go to File > Import > Upload and select the file from your computer. Choose "Replace current sheet" when prompted.
3. Data Cleaning - The Critical Part:

Your Google Sheet is now a clean data source, ready to be plugged into Looker Studio.

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Step 3: Connect Google Sheets as a Data Source in Looker Studio

Now for the fun part. Let's link your prepared spreadsheet to a new Looker Studio report.

1. Go to lookerstudio.google.com and click Create > Report to start a blank report.
2. You'll be prompted to add data to your report. In the search bar, type "Google Sheets" and select the connector.
3. Authorize the connector if you haven't already. Then, find and select the "Spotify Ads Performance Data" spreadsheet you just created. Select the specific worksheet that contains your data.
4. Make sure the following options are checked: "Use first row as headers" and "Include hidden and filtered cells." This tells Looker Studio to use your clean column titles as the field names.
5. Click the Add button in the bottom right corner, and then "Add to report."

Your data source is now connected! You’ll see a list of your available fields on the right-hand side of the report editor.

Step 4: Build Your Spotify Ads Dashboard

With your data connected, you can now build visualizations. Looker Studio will have tried to guess your field types, but it's always a good idea to double-check.

In the Data panel on the right, you can see your fields are categorized into blue (Dimensions, which are descriptive fields like 'Campaign Name') and green (Metrics, which are numbers you can count or average like 'Spend' or 'Clicks'). If Looker Studio miscategorized something - for example, it made 'Spend' a Dimension - you can click the field and manually change its type.

Now, start building your report:

• Add scorecards for KPIs: Click Add a chart > Scorecard. Drag one onto your report and select a key metric like Spend. You can create more scorecards for total Impressions and Clicks.
• Create a campaign performance table: Click Add a chart > Table. Set 'Campaign Name' as the Dimension. Then, drag Spend, Clicks, CTR, and Impressions into the Metric section. You now have a detailed performance breakdown by campaign.
• Visualize trends with a time series chart: Click Add a chart > Time series chart. Set the 'Date' field as the Dimension and Impressions or Spend as the Metric to see your performance over time.

From here, you can customize to your heart's content, adding date range filters, custom branding, and additional charts to answer exactly the questions you have about your campaign performance.

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Maintaining Your Dashboard

Since this is a manual connection, your dashboard won’t update automatically. You'll need to periodically repeat steps 1 and 2 - exporting a fresh CSV from Spotify and pasting the new data into your Google Sheet. Once the Google Sheet is updated, you just need to refresh the data source in Looker Studio (Resource > Manage added data sources > ... > Refresh) and all of your charts will update with the new numbers.

Setting a weekly or monthly cadence for this update is a good habit. While it is a manual process, it rarely takes more than five or ten minutes once you've done it once or twice.

Final Thoughts

Connecting Spotify Ads to Looker Studio requires a simple workaround using Google Sheets, but doing so unlocks a new level of reporting and analysis. By centralizing your data, you can move away from siloed platform views and build comprehensive dashboards that tell the complete story of your marketing performance.

This whole process of downloading CSVs, cleaning them in a spreadsheet, and syncing them manually is a perfect example of the reporting friction many marketing teams deal with daily. At Graphed, we built our platform specifically to eliminate this manual work. We create tools that let you connect all your data sources - from ad platforms like Spotify and Facebook to your CRM and Shopify store - in just a few clicks. Instead of wrestling with spreadsheets, you can use simple, natural language to instantly build the live, auto-updating dashboards you need to make better decisions, faster.