Independent artists need to explore all possible avenues with music promotion; that includes taking advantage of the benefits of the necessary evil that is Spotify.
Many artists have been left aghast by the growing media frenzy around Rogan vs Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and felt inclined to pull their music off the platform too. But scepticism needs to be practised when there’s so much polarised rage in the ether. If it was a matter of artists not wanting to share a platform with a villainous man, they would have called for Ian Watkin’s band, Lostprophets, and R Kelly to be removed too. The REAL issue is the issue the mainstream media has with the power of independent and unregulated influence; that is exactly what Spotify can offer artists – if you use it correctly.
The Best Ways to Promote Your Music on Spotify
- Plan Ahead with Your Campaign.
Just because services, such as CD Baby, can have a single on Spotify in a few days, that doesn’t mean you should rush your release and self-promo plan; a successful campaign takes effort and planning. As a good rule of thumb, register for distribution services a month ahead of the release, and make yourself fully aware of all the perks and pitfalls of every distro service.
- Get Verified on Spotify
Unlike Twitter and Facebook, everyone can get verified on Spotify. Artists can either claim their artist profiles or get their accounts automatically verified by using a third-party distribution site such as Ditto.
- Personalise Your Spotify Profile
To get the most out of Spotify for your music promotion, use every feature it has to offer. Use your press shots to update the profile picture, use a header image, let people know who you are in the bio, add your upcoming gigs, pin your artist’s pick and create playlists.
- Start a Pre-Save and Spotify Campaign
Ever wondered just HOW it helps artists out when you pre-save a single? The short answer is that Spotify runs on algorithms and data. The algorithms look at how much engagement a release is getting, including pre-saves and likes. Appeasing Spotify’s algorithms is the only way to get your music on those revered official playlists.
- Contact the Spotify Editorial Team
Once you have done your best to get as many pre-saves in the bag as possible, get in touch with Spotify’s editorial team at least a week before the official release date to request a place on your followers’ release radars. Before using the playlist submission tool, collate the information on your pre-save ad campaign, let them know about your marketing budget, and give details of other campaigns that you’re embarking on.
- Create Ads
Rather than leaving yourself at the mercy of Spotify algorithms, you can always bring organic traffic to your Spotify account. Think beyond writing statuses on Facebook and Twitter; create audio and banner ads that can become a part of pre-save campaigns and your continual campaign following your release.
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If you need a little help boosting the signal on your new release, use our Spotify music submission form to have your music lauded by our writing team and exposed to our high readership.