It is not required to say that Spotify has become one of the most influential platforms for music artists to showcase their talents. This global music streaming platform has a huge number of active and paid listeners which makes it the perfect ground for emerging music artists to grow. However, building a career with Spotify is not that easy as the number of artists is also increasing. With a highly competitive situation where everyone is looking for more listeners and exposure, Spotify song promotion has become an integral aspect for most music artists on the platform. 

While you can Promote music on Spotify in many ways, there are only a few proven practices that can help you stay ahead in the game. But first, you need to understand why Spotify is important for your musical career. 

Even though there are many free alternatives like SoundCloud and YouTube, Spotify still remains the undisputed champion in the field of music streaming that made significant progress within a very short amount of time. With its global popularity and increasing number of users; the platform has become a hube for all kinds of music artists whether a rapper, singers, or producers; across all musical genres. By the middle of 2021, Spotify had a huge number of 529.3 million subscribers and it has crossed the limit of 1 billion already. 

Spotify is best known for shedding light on emerging artists through its variety of “discover” features. With its diversified playlists and sections for recommended artists, there is practically no other music platform to discover so much of new music. You are a rising artist as well, ‘Daily Mixes’, ‘Weekly Radar’, etc. are specially meant for you. Getting discovered is the prime need for music artists these days and Spotify offers a better opportunity for that. 

Uploading music on Spotify is not as hard as it sounds and there are multiple DSPs (digital service providers) to help you in the process. For Spotify, you essentially need to go through a music distributor who can help you with licensing your music, distributing it on multiple platforms, and handling the royalty payments for you. 

Even if you have worked under an independent label, an artist's page will be automatically created for you. All you need to do is, claim that profile with the help of Spotify for Artists. In case you’re releasing the track as independent artists; you can still upload your music with the help of a distributor. Distrokid is recommended in this case as the agency offers affordable services but with greater efficiency.

Even though it is all about numbers and algorithms; emerging artists need to get heard to pave their musical career successfully and fruitfully. Let’s start with the basics and gradually move to more advanced practices that can offer you long-lasting promotional benefits. Here are the top 13 practices that every other music artist should follow regardless of the genre and style. 

Sorry if it hurts but it is true that no promotional practice will work if the music you produce is not appealing at all. While it might a be subjective perception, the key lies in captivating the listeners with creativity. When it comes to a business aspect, they say “You can’t polish a turd.” So, there is no point in promotion if your musical arsenal still needs a lot of work. If your musical project is still not complete, there is no point in availing of fancy promotion. So, now the biggest question is,

How to understand whether your music is ready to release or not?

         • Get it first that not every song is finished making is required to be uploaded 

         • Seek honest feedback from the producers and other fellow music artists

         • You can also test your track with the help of professional tastemakers 

         • Get your tracks mastered by professional engineers as they can help you find the major issues in your mixed track 

         • With years of experience, you will become a better producer yourself who knows if the song is good to go or not

A good-looking Spotify profile is the base of promotion. Log into your Spotify for Artists profile to get more data on and detailed information regarding your audience base, streams, and other details. Here are a few aspects to check that make sure your artist profile is up-to-date,

         • Bio – Make sure to create an attractive bio that explains your music, the mood, and a little about your life and personality. In marketing terms, they call it ‘KISS’ which refers to ‘Keep It Short and Simple’. You can also mention the notable past releases and labels you have worked with. 

         • Press shots – You can also add a few pictures of your performance. Press shots work great but make sure to not put more than 3-4 shots. And do not worry if the gig is not that big; your friend’s birthday party also counts. 

         • Cover Picture – Make sure to add a cover picture that goes with your style of music and mood.

         • Social Media – Social links play a vital role in promotion Adding them to your profile can help to create a massive buzz. 

         • Artist Pick – There is a section called “Artist Pick” that helps to highlight your recent music.

Usually, artwork comes after finishing music and therefore most artists try to get it done at the time of release. While many artists still consider that visual presence cannot make a bigger change, the artwork is what helps audiences find you and remember you better. Think of the first thing that listeners going to see on your profile; and yes, it is nothing but the artwork. Single covers and album covers help to remember the music project even if some listeners forget the track name. Free tools like Canva and Gimp can help in this case, but if you are looking for something more accurate and attractive; take help from professional graphic designers. 

Think about the colors, the mood it has to convey, and the song to offer listeners a visual pleasure that perfectly matches with the vibe of the track. If you are still confused; there is plenty of artwork on music out there. Draw inspiration from other artist’s works and create a new wave. 

As you already know, the number of artists on Spotify is increasing regularly. In order to stand out among the horde, you must have an easy and catchy name that listeners can easily remember. Although there are no barriers in naming your artist profile, you have to make sure search-friendly and comes with the benefits of SEO. But before opting for the artist's name. Google it and make sure that no other music artist already has it. 

Make sure people follow you on Spotify which brings more engagement to the platform. For a very long time, people did not get the idea why you should follow an artist there as it is not a social media platform. It is not like you post pictures, and stories or share your thoughts on it. So, the followers are more likely to change into loyal fans due to your music. According to Spotify, “Release Radar has become a top-three personalized playlist for listeners worldwide” that sheds more light on the best new releases. Make people follow your profile and they will be happy to get your new work. 

Collaboration is the oldest trick in the book that is applicable to all kinds of music artists. Collaboration is the best way to double your reach and bring in new organic listeners to your profile. It is a win-win situation for two or more artists participating in the collaboration, as everyone gets to reach a new listener base. It is one of the most convenient ways to cross-pollinate respective target audiences. 

If you see the pop stars, rappers, and other music moguls of the industry; they still collaborate with other artists to create a buzz that lasts long. Besides that, collaboration also offers a great opportunity to flex your creativity by creating something unique. For example, if your work is mainly about Lo-fi indie songs and collaborate with a rapper; there is a chance of creating lo-fi hip-hop that your listeners did not expect to happen. Such activities and creative collaborations are great ways to stay on top of the trends that create a buzz in the media. In a nutshell, collaboration helps to double the efficiency of your promotional approaches. 

The music artists these days are well aware of the fact that only making music is not enough as you would need to promote them too. So, right after you have finished making a track, it is time to create some anticipation in the market for the release of the track. In order to create some momentum, here are 5 tips that you try out,

        • Teaser Audio and Video Snippets – Teasing the audience before the release of the track is a great medium for creating a hype train. Teaser audio and video snippets are more likely to be 10 to 12 seconds long yet powerful enough to offer a preview and make the listeners eager about it. 

        • Pre-save the Track – Encourage listeners to pre-save your track which sends them a notification on the release day and also directly adds the track to their respective playlists. 

        • Press-shots to Promote – A few press-shots on the social media profiles of Instagram and Facebook can help boost the algorithm for your music on the web. 

        • Send it to DJs – Creating awareness for a forthcoming release gets even easier by getting airtime in DJ mixes. 

        • Early Listening party – Just like film and book promos; you can also arrange an early listening party which is basically an Ask-Me-Anything session. This should especially take place just before the release when listeners would be happy to accept the invitation to the session. 

Getting featured on playlists is one of the best ways to promote your music on the platform. So, if you are still not aware of it; it is time you brush your knowledge for your career. There are mainly two types of Official Spotify Playlists, namely Personalized Playlists and Editorial Playlists. Thanks to the official logo of Spotify it helps to understand which are officially built by the platform only. 

        • Personalized playlists – Just like the category suggests; this playlist is particularly built and curated to help and embrace each listener’s choice of music. Daily Mixes, Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and many other types of playlists are included in this case. Such playlists are usually generated based on algorithms and Spotify’s recommendations. 

        • Editorial playlists – On the other hand, the editorial playlists are ‘hand-crafted’ by the workforce of Spotify. The most popular playlists like Happy Beats, Funk & Disco, Alternatives, etc thousands of others are part of the editorial playlists only. 

Honestly, there are no proven techniques to get featured in the editorial playlists as it is strictly curated by the workforce. However, you can always pitch to get your song featured. But, make sure to do it diligently or they will skip on you. Try to offer all the nitty-gritty details of your music and why it is perfect to feature in the playlist, in your pitching mail. Pitch only one track at a time but make sure to send the catchiest one. 

Being a part of the Listener Playlists is another great way to promote music as spotify playlist placement is one of the most effective ways that is followed by every expert. Listeners' playlists are also quite diversified in nature which is mainly formed by the listening behavior of the listeners. In this case, you can also create relations with popular playlists and their curators which helps in promotion. 

On every artist’s profile, there is a section called “Discovered On” and scrolling onto that option shows the other playlists where the artist is featured. If you find such playlists with similar music to yours, look for the ones that are not officially curated and look for their curators. Pitch them personally and if they like your track; you can get a feature as well. Try to follow these curators on social media and keep an eye on their updates. Though email is the most professional way to pitch, you can still try to communicate with them through DMs.

Create your own playlist to promote your song which is a lengthy but effective process. This strategy does not offer drastic results overnight but can offer some significant changes after an ample amount of time. The key lies in creating a playlist that gains enough attention and traction from the market to channel it through the tracks. Are you wondering how to do it? 

      • Create a playlist on the similar genre your works belong to and set it to ‘Public’

      • Add tracks to the playlists based on the genre including your own creations

      • Always keep it updated with new music or else you will be losing listeners on the platform. The listeners want to enjoy new music and you are supposed to offer that 

Even after having so many beneficial sides, there is a downside to playlist promotion and you should be aware of that. Getting into the editorial playlists is the best way to create a huge follower base. It is definitely very fruitful in case of promotions and gaining more organic streams but it is not just the stream numbers that you want, right? In most cases, listeners are more likely to just listen to your music without even knowing who you are or what other tracks have you made. 

So, does that mean you should not proceed with playlist promotion? Definitely not. It has beneficial sides that you can take complete advantage of but be mindful about the fact that just because you are featured in a big and promising playlist; does not mean your follower base increases too. 

This is the trendiest way of Spotify music promotion and even many popular and established artists follow this trick. For example, if you have an upcoming EP project that offers 4-5 tracks; you are more likely to release 2 or 3 tracks in order to create anticipation in the market just like the rest of the music artists. But instead of releasing one individual track every time, you can re-release a previous track along with a new one. In this way, you can create a chain reaction that gradually leads to the album release. 

This particular technique of re-releasing tracks is known as Cascading which worked very well for many emerging music artists. Chainsmokers was the first artist to come up with this idea and implemented that in their musical career. The goal in this case is to increase visibility for each song appearing on the EP or the album. As a result, if someone is listening to the second track; the first track will automatically start when the second one ends. 

Being a music artist and keeping an eye on all promotional aspects is not a feasible task always. You do not want your craft to be overwhelmed by the web of marketing and promotion. And so, taking professional help to proceed. With a simple search on Google, you can find a handful of promotional websites and agencies offering services for Spotify music. While these services are not too expensive, they can still cost much due to the agency's knowledge, experience, and expertise in the field. The agencies offer a guaranteed number of streams and you are free to choose any package that suits your requirements and of course, the budget. 

Spotify music promotion is very important to survive in the modern music industry. Other than the marketers; there are still many ways to gain attention and the aforementioned practices are the best example of that. Make sure to keep a budget for your promotion and embark on the journey. With the right approach and consistent hard work; becoming a successful and established artist on Spotify is just a matter of time.