Contents
- Getting your music on Spotify is only half the job.
- The Importance of Spotify for Artists Right Now
- Claim and Customize Your Spotify for Artists Profile
- Put Out New Music Often
- Pitch Your Music for Playlist Placement
- Create and Share Playlists
- Drive Traffic to Spotify from Other Venues
- Play the Pre-Save Game and Create Early Buzz
- Utilize Your Spotify Stats and Learn from Them for Future Releases
- Collaborate With Other Artists
- Consider Your Spotify As Your Portfolio That Grows Over Time
Getting your music on Spotify is only half the job.
After you release and upload your tracks, the next step is to promote and let people know your music is out there—and getting them to play it. Understanding how Spotify works, whether you’re a one-person band or part of a bigger roster, can do wonders for your music career.
In this blog, we’re going to cover the best tips for using Spotify as an artist right now who is ready to grow their audience and expand their reach in the music world. Each tip is tried and true, punchy none-too-fluffy and effective for implementation starting now.
The Importance of Spotify for Artists Right Now
Spotify is more than just a music streaming platform. It’s where music is found. 600 million users go to listen to music on Spotify, which has over 100 million tracks available. It’s where music is made, uploaded, and distributed.
Why should you, as an artist, care about Spotify?
Algorithmic/Inherent Discovery: Spotify suggests music to users through things like Discover Weekly, Release Radar and Radio.
Worldwide Accessibility: Fans can find you anywhere.
You Can Get Paid: Although each payout per stream is less than a cent, cumulative streams start to add up—especially paired with merch and ticket sales and overall fan engagement.
Therefore, it’s important to know how to play with (and not against) the Spotify machine. Let’s take a look at the best tips for using Spotify as an artist and breaking through the noise.
Claim and Customize Your Spotify for Artists Profile
The very first thing you should do is claim your Spotify for Artists page. This is an invaluable tool that gives you access to crucial analytics, customization and promotion opportunities.
With Spotify for Artists You Can:
Change your cover image and bio
Link to other social media accounts
Add features and accomplishments of songs or playlists
Monitor streams in real time
Keep your profile completely in line with your true branding as an artist. With a bio, for example, that sparks interest universally and not just based on genre. With images that can be changed often and represent quality versions of yourself.
Insider Tip: Use Artist Pick to feature your single, album or playlist at the top of your profile. You can add a message too—great for talking about new drops or upcoming shows.
Put Out New Music Often
Spotify appreciates when you put out new music often. Every 4 to 8 weeks should be your target so that you continuously remain on people’s playlists and in the back of their minds.
Why This Is Great For You:
You seem like a real person who is active.
You will come up more in algorithm generated playlists like Release Radar.
People have more chances to hear your stuff.
If you can’t generate new content every month, consider releasing:
Remixes
Acoustic versions
Live performances
Collaborations
Pitch Your Music for Playlist Placement
One of the ultimate tips for Spotify as an artist is to pitch your song to Spotify for placement in an editorial playlist.
When?
Seven days before release.
How?
Log into your Spotify for Artists account.
Click on the Music tab and select Upcoming.
Choose your unreleased song.
Fill out the genre, mood, instruments, etc., form.
It’s an arduous task to gain entry into an editorial playlist, but if you do, you could see streams in the tens of thousands—if not more.
And even if pitching to an editorial playlist doesn’t get your song there, it gives Spotify a notion of what it thinks your song is about for classification. Therefore, it may more easily land on an algorithmic playlist.
Part of the Spotify experience requires engagement with playlists.
How to Create Them:
Make playlists of your own.
Feature 1–2 of your songs.
Add songs from those you know who have similar genres/vibes/audience.
Promote the playlist on social media.
Update the playlist every couple of weeks.
This shows Spotify that you’re engaged with your song and also that people like it enough to keep it in circulation—even if it’s your circulation—but it still counts. This is one of the most secret tips for Spotify as an artist.
Drive Traffic to Spotify from Other Venues
Spotify loves engagement—and even more if that engagement is outside the platform. Make sure to cross-promote your music and get listeners to stream and save songs on Spotify.
Platforms to Utilize:
Instagram (stories with Spotify links)
TikTok (short clips of songs)
YouTube Shorts
Mailing lists
Websites
Also, include smart links (Linktree, Hypeddit, etc.) that enable fans to choose their preferred platform; make sure Spotify is the default choice.
Bonus: Have fans “Save” your song—it’s one of the highest metrics that Spotify looks at to push songs into playlists.
Play the Pre-Save Game and Create Early Buzz
Pre-saves are like pre-orders for streaming. When someone pre-saves your song, it will automatically download to their library when it releases.
This tells Spotify:
That there is exciting fan activity
There is potential for Day 1 engagement, which could help a song be pushed into Release Radar
Speak to your digital distributor—many of them offer a pre-save campaign option. Set one up at least two weeks prior to release and promote it heavily.
Utilize Your Spotify Stats and Learn from Them for Future Releases
Spotify for Artists gives you access to valuable data and stats—they’re not just for presentation purposes; they can work as an intel tool moving forward.
Key Things to Monitor:
Where streams came from (algorithmic, editorial, listener playlists)
Saves versus streams
Where listeners are located
Demographics
Are you seeing a high number of streams from a certain city or specific country? Launch geo-targeted ads or take a tour there. Building based on the data is one of the savviest Spotify tips for any artist who wants to convert listeners into fans.
Collaborate With Other Artists
Collaborating with other artists isn’t just a creative decision; it’s a business decision as well. When you collaborate with someone on a song, that song shows up on your page and vice versa, so all of your fan bases have access to the new song.
Benefits of Collaborating:
Cross-promotions
New fans
Higher chances of getting on playlists
A collaboration, feature, or remix can significantly increase your Spotify reach.
Consider Your Spotify As Your Portfolio That Grows Over Time
Just like your career grows and changes, so should your Spotify. Use it like a portfolio of your work that grows over time, compiling all the new stuff and showing who you are. Have playlists of the favorites and bring new songs into play as they form.
The more you treat your Spotify like an artist and not just a passive place to listen, the more you’ll see growth over time.
These tips for Spotify for artists mean so much more than just playing the algorithm—it’s about building a career.
