Want to get your music on active & relevant playlists that actually get results?
Get your music heard now đ
Let me start by saying...
The music business is long, and hard my friend - but you already knew that.
No boring explanation is needed, after reading this you'll become a Spotify promotion champion!
Bonus: Check out Boost Collective's free Spotify promotion here - our free-to-use platform is a must-join for all independent artists!
Streams won't put food on the table... but the fans that it brings will.
â MYTH: Streams are just overrated and vanity metrics
â
TRUTH: Streams are real people engaging with your music.
Even with 500 streams, it's enough people for you to fill an entire concert!
Ain't that part of the overall goal?
Think of streaming NUMBERS as an advertising metric.
The more streams then the higher your potential fanbase. Quick maths!
I LOL every time somebody says that Spotify promotion doesn't matter...
The record label's entire model is based on streams.
There is evidently value in streams. As well as fans.
These are the same fans who will:
Before we talk about the how-to stuff (which there is a LOT of)
Let's explore a new perspective on the value of streaming music:
You, Michel Jackson, and The Beatles have something in common - you create investment assets through your music.
This is where things get interesting!
Surprisingly, Michael Jackson actually BOUGHT the rights to The Beatles music years ago.
Imagine if you were a part-owner of The Beatles đ€Ż your banks would be booming!
Although the King of Pop doesnât own the actual recording masters, he has the publishing rights therefore he can collect the associated royalties.
Spotify makes this possible for you too!
Your music catalog is an ever-expanding investment fund. As long as itâs on Spotify, your potential to profit goes up.
The industry has changed, but the core fundamental hasn't - good music is timeless.
Hot Tip: đ„ Focus on fanbase + catalog exposure the most
Want to gain fans on autopilot the same way Drake does?
In this case, you'll need a good back catalog that is embedded in Spotify/social media that brings fans to you.
Having GOOD music isn't an option, it's a must.
So long as you optimize for the future and you make the right investment moves, your streams and catalog will skyrocket in value!
This can happen to anybody, but not everybody.
It's not enough to chase streams, the idea is to set an upward growth momentum in your career.
Streams are just a cool way to keep score!
In this blog, you will find the best ways to increase up to 10k Spotify streams and turn your catalog into an investment that lasts a lifetime.
When you finish reading this, you're going to be a Release Radar Chad.
Daniel Ek is going to give you a solid gold trophy for the most-ever time on Release Radar! đ
Discover today: crushing it on Release Radar.
Youâre competing against other artists to get on the best Spotify playlists...
Except for Release Radar.
Thatâs something you can totally control!
To be on the Release Radar, your song needs to be submitted to the big boys at Spotify at least one week before the release date.
Distrokid had your back here, or whichever other distributor you use.
Hot Tip: đ„ Time Your Releases On Certain Days
The best part about Release Radar is that it is updated every week.
Another thing that makes Friday freakin awesome! đ
Do your best to release your music on a Wednesday or Thursday. Those are days when people are (generally) not out doing stuff.
You want to avoid releasing when somebody else releases their music because the audience's attention will be shared.
And who would most people listen to, you or Drake?
Weâre all competing for attention, give yourself that extra edge by choosing a mellow day. Low-hanging fruit principle.
Humans are dirtbags.
Weâre judgmental.
First impressions matter.
The first week is so important because thatâs when youâll have the most money, time, and energy invested toward a release.
If you can cement this song into the hearts (and phones) of your fans, youâre going to make it easier to promote music the next time around!
Now you have a baseline for gathering song data.
You can guess that your songs' upsurge in streams correlates to Release Radar, if streams begin to pick up on Friday.
The more followers you have, the more Release Radar playlists youâre going to end up in.
Followers = gold.
Thereâs a compound effect, if you can build your capacity amount of followers quickly then youâll see the algorithm promote your stuff earlier on in your career.
This momentum will push you into discovery weekly as well!
A sick way to do this is by hosting a giveaway!
If your fanbase is international, then I find a gift card giveaway works well.
Hot Tip: đ„ Gift card giveaways still need to be FUN to work!
I find that with gift cards, you should make it both something in demand as well as something zany/interesting.
Something like Amazon gift cards, sporting event tickets, and restaurant vouchers!
This is effective because the Amazon gift card is something anyone would want.
Then, the Taco Bell gift card throws them off enough to arouse them to take action!
Hot Tip đ„ Use Memes To Promote Your Spotify Pre-Save!
The memes will get high engagement, and lead some people to check out your music!
For this, you should use Instagram carousels.
Make the first slide the meme the second slide the song snippet or lyric video and the last slide having text.
The meme should be related to the song's topic.
The more relatable the meme, the better! This will target the true demographic even more easily.
The music video should be 10-15 seconds of the song, preferably the hook/chorus. Tap here to claim your music video!
Reel them in.
The Spotify algorithm ranks your profile, as well as your songs.
Constant releases let you keep your king status on the platform!
If you take a 3 month break from releasing guess whatâs going to happen?
Your results will stalemate, and recede.
Spotify isnât going to wait for you to take a break, all the other artists in your space are going to grow instead and cement themselves deeper into the algorithm.
Not to mention, fans will move on to other artists.
Other artists are running organic Spotify promotion campaigns to claim their ears & hearts!
Fans have the attention span of a goldfish, youâll be ancient history by the time you return!
Sad to say it but youâre going to need to release frequently to maintain results.
Hot Tip: đ„ Collaborate To Increase Release Frequency
You can STEAL your collaborator's fans!
Itâs ethical thievery though (if you can even call it that.)
When you collaborate with another artist, all of their Release Radar fans get to hear you and check you out.
If you do a collaboration track for every 2-3 of your own track, the effects are increased tenfold.
This can be tricky, try to keep the collabs within your genre that way the new listeners can feed your profile with good algorithmic data.
If you try your hand at country music when you make EDM, itâs not very helpful... or sounding good đ
In collaboration releases, the track is still considered yours as a feature.
All of the stream's listener data goes jumbled up with you!
Not to mention, if the artist youâre collaborating with is serious, they are willing to put in their time and energy toward printing the single too.
Don't miss out: here are the 15 BEST Spotify promotion methods!
Think of it like having an extra business partner that takes half the risk, but you win-win the rewards!
You have 52 chances to appear on the Release Radar by doing solo tracks. With collaborations, you increase that!
Obviously, you wonât release every week⊠but if youâre vocal work, exclusive production, or features then it still counts!
You gotta submit to the best Spotify playlists to get your song heard, this is a given.
Firstly, don't expect to get on playlists like Digster or Filtr.
Although itâs not made by Spotify, your chances of getting on these are extremely low!
These are owned by top record labels (Sony, Warner, Universal)
Of course, record labels canât allow themselves to not have leverage!
Itâs only natural that Spotify music promotion is used by huge labels as well!
It's because it's that effective.
Small web playlists are killer too! This is because theyâre more targeted in your niche. A good strategy is to go general + specific.
A âTop Hitsâ playlist will do you in big numbers! However these listeners are notorious for not staying, they're slightly out of their niche.
Smaller legit Spotify promotion campaigns have higher retention rates! But then again, there are fewer actual people.
A safe strategy is to go both for quality & quantity - attacking large and small all the like.
Example:
If you make synth-wave music, you will want to target LARGE EDM playlists, as well as small synth-wave-specific playlists.
Music listeners are either hardcore purists who care only for their genre, or like anything.
By attacking both, you're feeding the Spotify algorithm with targeted data for both segments (not to mention, the streams themselves count!)
Hot Tip: đ„ Active playlists = More streams
Why?
This is because:
Go on chartmetric.com, a site that has playlist data for you to access. At this point you're a music industry nerd, looking up data and stuff haha.
As you can evidently see, the playlist above (GYM & WORKOUT) has consistent daily changes.
This is evidence that the playlist isn't dead or dying.
On Chartmetric, you can see the playlist data for yourself.
No bots.
The bottled playlists look shady as hell when you account for the growth.
WTF!? going up 3000 followers in one day, then losing it in less than 2 weeks?
No matter how good the curator is with Spotify promotion and advertising, that doesnât seem like realistic growth.
â ïž Stay away! â ïž
Oftentimes, smart artists skip this stage altogether and use platforms to get them organic Spotify promotion.
It's better to use trusted Spotify music promotion services such as Boost Collective for your Spotify promotion needs!
First, we must "discover" how it works.
Yes, that pun was intended bahaha.
Here is the Spotify algorithm for dummies:
You need RELEVANT listener data.
This is how Spotify will create the Discover Weekly playlists for the music consumer.
Spotify bunches listeners into three groups:
Average
Engaged
Haters
Average listeners are the ones that hear seconds of the song đ§ this passes the 30-second threshold to be considered a stream.
Engaged listeners listen AND interact with your music. They either listen to your other top songs or add the song to their playlist.
Hater listeners are well... you guessed it, not fans of your stuff! They skip your track.
Discover Weekly takes the type of listeners of your music and batches the data to create a sound portfolio.
Discover Weekly is the most legit Spotify promotion strategy there is.
This happens in milliseconds.
Remember when you were releasing your music, you had to offer metadata?
Imagine that, but data regarding your music:
If you have many listeners who happen to engage with your work, as well as other similar artists you can be batched in and have a greater chance of getting on discovery weekly.
Your song is also analyzed with other songs in the playlists itâs in.
This is why Spotify playlist promotion is key!
This is why you must go for small targeted playlists as well, considering large playlists will not give Spotify the killer-leave data it needs!
You may not like what I will say next but...
If your music is đ© you wonât be on Discover Weekly because all the haters will skip your music.
I mean⊠would YOU sit through music that sounds like poo-poo?
It's deeper than just subjective taste, I'm talking technical production quality. I ran a test by putting 2 songs into the EXACT same playlist for the same amount of time.
In fact, I put the worse song higher up on the playlist,, and guess what the results were?
The "better" song received 10x much more streams than other other. Good music always wins.
Unless we can keep the fan, we're kind of screwed!
Thereâs a life cycle of a Spotify fan:
The first 2 stages are hard to track, especially since Spotify doesnât show who streams your stuff, only the number of streamers.
Stage 3 is where everything changes for your Spotify promotion though.
You canât FORCE someone to put your song in their playlists - this means they did it of their own free will.
Now things shall get interesting
Hot Tip: đ„ Track those that playlist your music
You should track the curator/fan, and reach out to them on Instagram or Twitter (any Open-messaging platform really.)
Oftentimes, they have the same username both on Spotify and Instagram!
Create a conversation and build rapport!
They evidently like your music and may end up at one of your future live shows if you keep warming the connection.
Hot Tip: đ„ Edit your photos better
All these filters/presets have been TESTED by thousands and are proven to be the most likable ones.
Wicked!
Sometimes, the filters have a better way of getting your brand across than you would think!
Look at these before and after photos:
I used the free app Picsart to use it (not affiliated, theyâre just sick!)
Add these photos to your Spotify for artists' profiles.
If you look at top artists, they are very intentional in getting across a specific feeling through their photography.
Most artists treat their bio as a chance to flex their accomplishmentsâŠ. bro this isnât a job resume.
As for your bio, make it a story.
Humans are designed to like stories, itâs how we pass info from our ancestor's generations.
Hot tip đ„ put as many niche-specific inside jokes as possible in your bio.
Here is an example:
Pretend that I am an indie punk music artist (sadly, I am not cool enough.)
The things that my ideal fans like are:
Here is an example of aesthetic photos for my Spotify artist profile:
It's about sharing the TRUTH in your message. That's what they resonate with.
I think the answer is quite clear!
Your profile visitors will remember the jokes and relate with you! Itâs going to feel like talking up an old buddy.
This is non-negotiable. You must make yourself likable to gain fans.
The trick is to keep it professional as well, in case media publications or labels want to learn more about you.
A 50/50 split between an entertaining & informative bio is the best strategy.
Spotify Canvas changes your song - it makes it much more memorable.
You should have a canvas for EVERY release. Listeners are more enticed to see who you are.
Youâre shining out like a golden egg. đ„
Here are examples of Canvas that Match the song vibes.
Canvas tips:
Those are the main tips! To get custom-made Spotify Canvases, tap in at Boost Collective!
Editorial playlist are like the lottery, less than 0.01% of songs get on them.
Itâs saved primarily for viral songs, or what the Spotify curators are feeling at the moment
That being said, you can still submit for free to the team HERE
Don't make it a part of the strategy.
You need to post about your new release on social media, of course.
Your social media post caption must be pure banter about your song release.
None of this sappy âIâve been writing so hard on this yadda yadda yaddaâ
The fans donât honestly care, they just want to be entertained.
And that đ€ you đ€ shall đ€ do!
Instead, tell a funny or relatable story - that will get people to read!
Example:
The best tactic to get preserves is to make an authentic, but ENTERTAINING.
Itâs great additional exposure to highly-targeted fans đŻ.
Also, share the pre-save link on your Snapchat story, itâs designed to be swiped up.
Just get your friend to record yourself doing something random (like juggling) and when the view is hooked, play the song and tell them to pre-save it!
Some interesting things that get peopleâs attention:
Every few days, try featuring some of these aspects to throw them off and entice them to act! Itâs all an advantage.
Make sure you use a good link site for your links!
Solo.to is good and free, however, other alternatives allow you more benefits:
Itâs good to surf the web for the best one, I recommend solo.to (we use it ourselves!)
You can post an instagram reel of you enjoying yourself listening to your music!
Example:
Try to create the type of emotion you want your fans to feel, and sell them on that!
The music is the product behind the emotion - but the emotion is the selling point.
97% of artists hate Spotify for not paying artistsâŠ.
But itâs not that huge of a deal - this is why:
In the past, a fan was forced to buy your music in CD or cassette form (or Vinyl, if we look back far enough.)
This proposed an issue.
What if a song in an album is a hit but the rest of the songs were utter garbage?
You were forced to buy the ENTIRE album just for one hit single.
That explains why Vanilla Ice (and other old-time artists) are rich and famous from seemingly only one hit song.
Spotify's subscription changed the game.
Instead of paying an entire album amount for one song, youâre paying $10.00 for the ENTIRE music industry at your disposal!
A decent lunch can cost $15.00 which is the cost of a decent lunch.
Thatâs how the average CD was priced.
In order to equal that same amount of money, you would need around 40000 streams!
Holy smokes, the game has changed quite a lotâŠ
You may be thinking that the solution seems simple though, no?
Since Spotifyâs main revenue is through subscriptions they can simply charge more, right?
Well⊠not necessarily. If they did, then the consumer will move to Apple Music or other streaming platforms.
Hot Tip: đ„ Your fans rarely have your compensation in mind
Wouldnât Tidal, the highest compensating platform be the most famous streaming platform if so? Evidently not.
But then again, ALL of the streaming platforms can increase subscription costs!
This helps artists who release on ALL platforms, right?
Bonus: Check out Boost Collective's free Spotify promotion here - our free-to-use platform is a must-join for all independent artists!
Well⊠a great majority of listeners will simply resort to pirating music or just listening for free on YouTube. Itâs happened in the past before.
The solutions arenât clear, Spotify is in quite a pickle.
Because of this, we need to look at Spotify differently than other artists.
Spotify is not a bank, it is an advertising platform.
By adopting this perspective, you will see MUCH more success in your campaigns!
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!
The music game is long and hard!
Take a long-term approach, and use streams as a benchmark for fanbase growth!
Don't be discouraged! I hope you enjoyed this Spotify promotion guide.
Itâs time you get your exposure and listeners up - playlisting by Boost Collective has been trusted by 50,000+ artists worldwide.
Itâs easy: Search your song, get on playlists, and track your campaign.
Whatâre you waiting for? Tap in - and get added to playlists in 24 hours.
Join Boost Collective for free here!