Spotify has become such a major platform for audio streaming that musicians must factor it in distributing their songs. Because of this, it’s not enough to just upload songs while hoping that a ton of people will accidentally stumble upon your music. You will need an approach to get the most listens possible – here are four ways to guarantee that.
1. Establish your goals
Before anything else, you must first establish your goals for the campaign. Without it, your marketing strategy will not have any direction and the success of the campaign cannot be measured. Your goals should always dictate your action and it should be clear from the start. If not, the push will be worthless.
Since distribution will be done online, jot down three social media goals to promote your music. Use the acronym S.M.A.R.T to be guided. S stands for Specific, which means that it must be exactly written. M for Measurable, meaning that the results can be quantified. A corresponds to
Attainable or controlled optimism. R for Relevant to the business and finally, T for Time-bound which states that the goal must have a deadline.
2. Target user playlists
Spotify rewards songs that are frequently added by users to their playlists. They also favour songs that have been shared on other online platforms like Soundcloud or blogs. In contrast, you get penalized when your song is skipped.
If that’s the case, creating playlists help to bump your popularity up. Combine your song with other popular songs with the same theme or emotion and assign a catchy name for the mix. Your plays will increase as your music is being promoted alongside the biggest names in the business.
3. Give listeners a preview of your work
Don’t go for long intros and outros if you want to keep your audience engaged – you must upload tracks that play within three seconds to avoid being skipped. Uploading a shorter version of your song can entice new listeners to follow you as well.
4. Upload the song before the grand release
It takes time before Spotify finalizes the songs they want to feature. To ensure that people discover your music, upload the song five weeks before you intend to announce its launch. Leading up into the launch, you can create noise by posting teasers on blogs, getting reviews from early listeners and by spreading the word via social media.
Take note that YouTube, Soundcloud, and the likes are Spotify’s competitors. To funnel listeners onto Spotify, release 30 seconds of the song on other sites and direct them to hear the full song on Spotify. You can also drum up excitement by sharing promotional material on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks before the launch.
When it’s time to announce the song, make another wave of announcements on social media. This time, include the link to your Spotify song – this will considerably help engagement.
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