Snapchat reverts to publishing its own content on Discover

According to Ad Age, after pulling the plug last October, Snapchat has gone back to publishing its own original content on its Discover platform, focusing mainly on music-related content. Snapchat will produce its own videos and articles for the channel, which is sponsored by Spotify, and will feature full-screen ads for Spotify between content pages. To compete in the market Snapchat has been working on new mobile ad offerings, data collection, targeting and measurement capabilities. MEC Global's Head of Social Media in North America, Noah Millan, recently announced he believes Snapchat could be a serious rival to Twitter in the mobile advertising market in 2016.      

by Erik Sass @eriksass1, December 29, 2015

After shuttering a previous attempt several months ago, Snapchat is back to publishing its own original content on its Discover platform for publishers, with a focus on music-related content -- at least for the time being, according to Ad Age, which first reported the news. It’s not clear, however, whether the new channel will be a permanent feature.

The new proprietary publishing channel features original articles and video about the current music scene and the major music events of the last year, all produced by Snapchat itself. The content includes a series of themed packages focusing on different music genres like EDM and R&B, running up to the new year.

Snapchat has enlisted Spotify as the exclusive sponsor of the new channel, which currently carries the tagline “Spotify Year in Music” and features full-screen ads for the streaming music service between content pages.

Previously Snapchat had experimented with publishing original content in a number of categories, including news, drama and comedy, in its own “Snap Channel,” but the company pulled the plug on this back in October, laying off over a dozen staffers. Snapchat gave the space freed up by the closure to millennial fashion and lifestyle publisher Refinery29.

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In addition to wooing publishers with its large millennial audience, Snapchat is also aggressively courting advertisers with new mobile ad offerings.

On that note, MEC Global’s head of social media in North America, Noah Mallin, recently told an advertising trends conference call hosted by Nomura that Snapchat could present a serious rival to Twitter in the mobile advertising space in 2016, pointing to the messaging channels’ new products in areas like native video advertising. Snapchat has also been working to improve its data collection, targeting and measurement capabilities.