Valentine’s Day Ads and Audio: The Perfect Match for Brands

Love is in the air, and audio is the perfect channel to set the mood for the season of romance and reflection. Almost 80% of Pandora listeners say music improves their mood, and two in three say they listen to specific artists and genres to match their mood. Thanks to Pandora’s Music Genome Project, we can tell a lot about the song a listener chooses to play and the moment they chose to play it in.

Music doesn’t just affect our moods, it predicts them, too—from a listener feeling the love with throwback love songs to setting the tone for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner with heartfelt hits. And don’t forget: Valentine’s Day isn’t just about couples; consumers want to celebrate the holiday with their friends or kids, too. After all, 60% of US adults believe that Valentine's Day is for both romantic and platonic relationships.

Whether listeners are celebrating Valentine’s Day or Galentines, we’ve got the targeting tools and insights advertisers need to reach them at the right time. This February, here’s how to connect with consumers when they’re feeling the love.

Listeners feel the love

Although the winter holidays are not far behind us, Valentine’s Day is another reason for shoppers to buy gifts for the special people in their lives. In fact, consumer spending reached a whopping 27.5B for Valentine’s Day in 2025. And while consumers are searching for the perfect gift, they’re plugged in to audio. Among listeners 18+ who are celebrating Valentine’s Day, 64% plan to give a gift and 54% will go out to eat. But let’s not forget all the single folks out there—whether consumers are prepping for a Galentine’s Day party or breaking a sweat in the gym, they’re doing it all with audio.

Brand messaging on Pandora can influence listeners during any activity, from the planning stage all the way to purchase, like 56% of Pandora listeners 18+ who have taken any action after hearing streaming audio ads.

During Valentine's week, listening on Pandora spikes across these stations: Vintage Valentines (+2895% station adds), Top Thumb Hundred Love Songs (+2443% station adds), and Handpicked 100: Valentine Shuffle (+2007% station adds). For a glimpse of who consumers are listening to, whether they’re exchanging cards or gifts or spending quality time together, here are the top artists on the station Vintage Valentines during the week of Valentine’s Day:

• Dean Martin

• Nat King Cole

• Frank Sinatra

• Sam Cooke

• Elvis Presley

Ads run on those stations can reach the right audiences, no matter their relationship status.

Set the vibe, get in their feels

Digital audio gives advertisers a variety of ways to tap into the holiday mood. Think video, display, and rewarded ads on Pandora’s top stations during the week of Valentine’s, like Top Thumb Hundred Love Songs. With endless creative options, your advertisements can leave memorable and lasting impressions on listeners, aligning with their emotions and moods.

Meet listeners in any mood

Speaking of moods, the way listeners' feel is constantly changing, and we’re keeping up with them during Valentine's Day and beyond—all in real time. Mood targeting lets advertisers reach listeners in specific mindsets, adding another layer of precision beyond geographic and audience targeting. These tools bring advertisers closer to users based on listening behavior, data science, and a sophisticated algorithm that matches songs with any mood a listener experiences in their day-to-day lives. Tapping in to this contextual targeting can drive even more ROI: We’ve seen a 73%+ validation rate for our mood and activity targeting and a +52% increase in ad recall for brands who align with listener moods.

So how does it work? Pandora’s music experts carefully analyze data and craft strategies that help fuel new discoveries. Our analysts evaluate different elements of songs and thousands of genres spanning over decades and match them with dominant moods. Mood targeting is a combination of science and art, connecting advertisers with the listeners who are in the exact state of mind they’re searching for. For instance, your audience might be a listener who just found the perfect gift for their partner while listening to a romantic song, or a newly single person who feels motivated to start anew on a dating app while listening to an inspirational new album.

Moods, meet your listeners

On Valentine’s Day, you can expect listeners to feel happy, loving, or celebratory. These three moods reach a total of 57M+ listeners, with women making up over half of each mood’s listeners. Zeroing in on the love mood? More than half of listeners are millennials. Homing in on the celebratory mood? Almost the entire audience (97%) is mobile listeners. With these popular feel-good moods, it comes as no surprise that 73% of listeners 18+ are interested in upbeat and positive music stations/collections.

Foster more feelings with SiriusXM Media

When you combine digital audio advertising opportunities with contextual privacy-forward solutions like mood or activity targeting, audio campaigns become a more streamlined, enjoyable experience for both you and your listeners.

The day of love may only happen once a year, but audiences are tuned in to audio and feeling the love all year round, whether they're listening to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” or Alex Warren’s “Ordinary.” No matter the vibe, the mood, or the place, we’re the perfect match for your audio campaigns.

In the mood for a chat? Let’s talk.

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