5 tips to get more Spotify streams (legally!)
Image credit: Minh Pham
Getting your music on Spotify is the easy part with RouteNote, here’s how to start bumping those streams up now your songs are out there.
As an artist, releasing your music on Spotify is as simple as signing up for a free RouteNote account. Wherever you are in the world, you can upload your music to a global audience across the world’s top streaming services. But what’s next?
Now that your music is available, you need people to start listening to it. Whether you’re just starting out and looking to find your first fans or you’re an established artists hoping to build your audience even mor, we have some essential tips and tools that you can use to enhance your presence on Spotify and start racking up the streams.
Make the most of Spotify for Artists
Spotify’s fantastic artist platform is packed with tools and advice that is going to push your music career to another level. We could go on at length about what’s available in Spotify for Artists (and have in our full article here) but here we’ll list just a couple of features that you need to use to bump up your presence on Spotify.
First up, get verified. Once you claim your Spotify for Artists profile you automatically receive a verified tick. This gives you an air of authority, a look of the legit, that subtly reinforces to new listeners that you are the real deal.
Now you’re on Spotify for Artists, beautify your profile. From your hub you can edit your artist images, add a unique bio, amongst other customisation options. This allows you to stamp your personality onto your page, making you more interesting to listeners and building your artist image and brand.
There’s loads more to explore on Spotify for Artists and most of it is going to expand your audience. Discover more in our comprehensive article for artists below.
Push your music to new ears on playlists
In the streaming age, getting a playlist placement is possibly the best thing that can happen for your music. It’s the new radio, a place where music is presented to sometimes millions of ears at once. These new listeners may become lifelong fans.
Pitch your music to playlists to be considered by Spotify’s curators. You can pitch directly to Spotify’s playlist tastemakers from your Spotify for Artists account. Pitch at least a week before the release of your song to ensure they will consider you.
There are also numerous playlists curated by independent brands and personalities. We even have our very own playlists at RouteNote which you can pitch your tracks to for inclusion here.
Become a modern marketing mogul: Post on social media
Who has the money to spend on a big billboard by the freeway advertising their new release? Thankfully, these days you don’t need to spend a cent to reach millions more people than you ever would with a billboard.
Social media is a revolution for advertising. Platforms offer an audience of billions with no cost to share your content. Social media platforms are the perfect place to start shouting about your music. Learn how to use each platform to your advantage to enhance your reach.
When your music is released, you can share it with the world easily using Smart Links. These free-to-use pages from PUSH.fm allow you to collect all of your streaming links across any streaming services it is available on one page. This is magic for social media sharing, ensuring that no matter where people listen they get to hear your new releases from one simple, shareable link.
Strategise your approach to social media and you can build a huge audience, allowing you to direct existing fans and new listeners alike to your Spotify to listen to your music.
Hype your next drop pre-release with pre-saves
People are impatient and forgetful in the digital age. Once you’ve got eyes on your upcoming release you don’t want to let them forget about your release date. Ensure that listeners are there for the drop date with pre-saves.
Upload your release in advance and set the release date that you want it to go live on. Once your music has been sent to Spotify you can set up a presave:
- Log into your RouteNote account
- Go to the Artist Services tab
- Select Marketing
- Click on URL Requests
- Fill out the form
- Once we have received your request we’ll send you an email with your links.
Paid options for added visibility
Spotify have some paid promotional opportunities that allow you to push your music a little further with amazing chances at reaching new listeners.
Spotify Marquee is a tool that allows you to promote your new release in a card to listeners on the app. Spotify will select the users that it thinks are most likely to engage with your music for the highest chance at creating a new fan. Spotify have revealed that Marquee has helped to drive 2x more streams on Spotify releases.
Beware when paying for music growth and ensure that you only use trusted sources, like Spotify themselves. There are bad actors claiming to offer streams in exchange for money. In many cases this is artificial or fraud streaming and can have severe consequences for your music.