The music streaming industry continues to grow at a rapid pace. With over 75 million paying subscribers, Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming platforms. Spotify is an excellent place to grow your fan base, discover new and relevant artists, and promote your music. Streaming is also one of the most effective ways to introduce your music to the world. However, as an ‘unsigned’ artist, you may have some trouble finding ways to generate Spotify streams.
This guide outlines five tips for expanding your fan base and getting more Spotify streams as an unsigned artist.
- GET YOUR MUSIC ON SPOTIFY
The first step to success is to submit your music to Spotify. However, Spotify doesn’t offer a way to upload music for free like SoundCloud, YouTube, and Bandcamp.
The best way to get your music on Spotify is through a record label or a distribution service such as DistroKid, TuneCore, or CDBaby. These services handle the distribution and licensing of your music. They also pay you royalties when fans stream your music on Spotify. Moreover, many digital distributors offer a range of artist tools, services, and resources. They provide everything needed to prepare, sell, and market your music. However, each service is unique, so do some research before choosing one.
- GET VERIFIED ON SPOTIFY AS AN ARTIST
Once your music is available on Spotify, it’s essential to create a verified artist profile. Verified artists have access to tools for managing their profile and playlists, viewing a range of stats, and more. Becoming a verified artist can also help you boost your credibility and chances of getting noticed by Spotify playlist curators.
To get verified, you’ll need to access Spotify for Artists. Spotify for Artists is open to all artists and their management. The benefits of Spotify verification:
- A blue checkmark on your profile
- Access to analytics and fan insights
- Ability to create and submit artist playlists
- Access to customize your profile with images and a bio
- Ability to send your releases to Spotify’s Editorial team
- Access to promotion tools and more
- CREATE AND UPDATE YOUR PLAYLISTS
Playlists and charts are the biggest drivers of streams on Spotify. Also, playlists are one of the fastest ways to get your music heard by millions of potential fans. However, getting your music featured on Spotify’s popular playlists is difficult. The top playlists are either controlled by Spotify’s Editorial team or major labels.
The simplest way to generate more streams and gain followers is to start building your own playlists. Create playlists that feature other artists’ music as well as your own. Supporting other artists and regularly sharing your playlists will increase the chances of having the favor returned.
Moreover, adding tracks to your playlists on a regular basis is essential. It’s important because your followers get notified each time you update your playlist. This approach also drives listeners to your profile, which helps increase followers and streams.
Also, curating and promoting playlists keeps you engaged with your listeners. Staying proactive is also vital because Spotify algorithms monitor your activity. Active users with high performing streams are more likely to get their music placed on prominent playlists. Furthermore, the more streams and followers you have, the higher you’ll appear in searches.
HOW TO GET YOUR MUSIC ON SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS?
Below are a few ways to get your music featured on Spotify playlists:
- Create a Spotify for Artists account
- Submit unreleased music to the Spotify Editorial team for playlist consideration
- Submit music to independent curators such as Soundplate, Indiemono, and Spingrey
- Email or message playlist curators and ask them to add your music
- Get your music signed by a label with high performing playlists
- Create themed playlists featuring music from other artists and regularly update your playlists
- Support and share other artists’ playlists. Also, follow artists you like to help your fans discover the music you’re into
- Share your playlists on social media, blogs, and music related websites to expand your exposure
- Promote your music on Spotify. Encourage your fans to follow you and to listen to your music on the platform
- Release quality music that stands up to well-performing tracks
- Stay active, be proactive, grow your followers, and increase your streams
- TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Actively engage with fans across all your social media profiles. Post your Spotify links, promote your music and gigs, share stories, and give updates. Utilize Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud, and any other platform you use to connect with your fanbase. Moreover, use social media and email to encourage your fans to follow you on Spotify and share your playlists. There are also several Facebook and Reddit groups where people share music and offer feedback to other artists.
Furthermore, managing several social media profiles can seem like a daunting task. However, there are various online tools you can use to schedule and manage content with minimal effort.
- SPOTIFY PROMOTION TOOLS
Spotify offers various tools and resources to promote your music. Below are a few ways to grow your followers and increase Spotify streams:
SIGN UP FOR SPOTIFY AD STUDIO
Spotify Ad Studio is a new advertising platform that makes it easy for users to create and manage Spotify audio ad campaigns. You can create audio ads of 30 seconds or less. Spotify users hear them during ad breaks between songs on both desktop and mobile platforms. Each ad also contains a clickable image linked to a URL of your choice.
MAKE A SPOTIFY CODE
A Spotify Code is a QR-like “scannable” tag used to share or discover content on Spotify. You can create Spotify Codes for artist profiles, brand profiles, playlists, albums, and songs. Moreover, you can share a Spotify Code almost anywhere. Deploy them on social media, websites, and anywhere else you can embed a Spotify URI code. Fans can scan the codes using the built-in scanner on the Spotify app.
EMBED A SPOTIFY FOLLOW BUTTON ON YOUR WEBSITE
Fans who click your Spotify follow button become followers of your music and Spotify artist profile. Also, Spotify will notify them when you release new music or play gigs near them. It’s an easy way to get more exposure and more streams. Visit the Spotify Developer website for help.
EMBED A SPOTIFY PLAYER ON YOUR WEBSITE
Embedding Spotify players allow fans to find and listen to your music. It works with any website that supports HTML editing. Copy and paste a short piece of code. Visit the Spotify Developer website for help.
SHARE YOUR SPOTIFY LINK ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
You can share Spotify links of a single song, album, or playlist. Posting a link on your Facebook page will create a 30-second preview. Whereas sharing a song link on Twitter will create a playable Audio Card for your fans.
FINAL ADVICE
Streaming is advancing the music game, and Spotify is at the forefront of streaming services. The Spotify platform is one of the best ways to share your music with the world and grow your fanbase. However, success will be challenging. It’s important to stay proactive, release great music, and engage with your audience.
It’s also vital to growing your brand organically. You’ll find more success and a feeling of achievement when fans have a genuine interest and appreciation of your music. Avoid buying plays or followers if you want to reach real success.
