If you’re an independent artist trying to grow your fanbase, you’re going to want to get your music in front of as many people as possible and there are several options when it comes to music streaming.
There’s Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and more, but far and away the most popular streaming service is Spotify, which continues to dominate market share and boasts more than 300 million active users.
But how do you make sure your music is getting noticed on Spotify? There are several things you can do to promote yourself.
Spotify for Artists
Joining Spotify for Artists is a big first step. This gives you the chance to promote your music while tracking audience stats and allows you to manage your profile as an artist. You can access Spotify for Artists on the web at artists.spotify.com or via the “Spotify for Artists” iOS and Android app. After you claim your profile, Spotify will manually review the request and verify via your social channels. This process can take a few days to complete.
Artists can also pitch their unreleased music to Spotify playlist editors, which can get your song added to your followers’ Release Radar playlist. You’ll need Spotify for Artists access first; after logging in, select “Pitch from next release” at the top of “Home” or if you’re on the web click on the “Music” tab under “Upcoming.” Next, choose a song and provide some information about it – the more the better. Providing more information is one way to increase your odds of getting selected by the editors, and you’ll also want to submit your music as early as you can to give editors time to check it out before you release it.
Spotify will email you if its editors pick your song. It’s worth noting that you can’t pitch a song if you’re a featured artist on it, and editors could potentially pick a different song from your project to put on their playlist. And, pitching a song doesn’t guarantee it’s going to wind up on a playlist. If your song wasn’t picked, try building your fanbase and increasing engagement with your audience to stay on everybody’s radar. You can always try again.
Spotify Marketing Tools
Spotify also offers some marketing tools, like Ad Studio and Marquee. Ad Studio lets you create both audio and video ads for listeners on free accounts, and there are options for different budgets. Marquee is a “full-screen sponsored recommendation for new releases,” according to Spotify, and its campaigns target both premium and free listeners.
Let Starlight PR Promote You on Spotify
A better marketing option is Starlight PR’s 3 Weeks Social X Campaign which focuses on growing your audience on both Spotify and TikTok. Designed for up-and-coming artists, the Social X campaign drives organic growth using calculated influencer partnerships and search engine optimization and can get your music into the eyes and ears of millions.
Our Social X team uses those influencer partnerships to get you on playlists and boost engagement and growth, and their focus on search engine optimization emphasizes basic elements of keywords and phrases to get you at the top of Google search rankings.
The 3 Weeks Social X Campaign is a great option for newcomers, too, because you don’t need a lot of experience or a big fanbase to get started.