It's music to the ears of startups from Spotify to Pandora. Total ad expenditures in the first six months of 2011 increased 3.2% from a year ago and finished the period at $71.5 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media. Spending growth eased slightly during the second quarter and was up 2.8% compared to last year. 

Measured Ad Spending By Media

According to Jon Swallen, SVP Research at Kantar Media: “Key ad spend indicators are painting a mixed picture. On one hand, a majority of media types actually improved their performance from Q1 to Q2. On the other, spending growth for the Top 100 advertisers stalled in Q2 and the ad market became more dependent on the comparatively smaller budgets of mid-sized advertisers as the main source of growth.”

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More: Full Kantnor Report