Do you want to get more Spotify streams on your music?

There are dozens of DSPs, yet Spotify reigns supreme. While DSPs such as Apple Music and SoundCloud are used by many, Spotify is the most popular place to stream music. While we recommend to also invest time into growing your Bandcamp, this article will share tips to get your music in front of prospective Spotify fans.

Spotify streams are important, however, the method an artist receives them matters. If you were giving a speech, do you want a room full of people you paid to attend, or do you want a room full of people who are interested in hearing from you? There’s the difference. You want to gain fans. If you’re buying streams, there is no true growth or progress. Instead, you want to receive new streams from unique listeners by promoting your music, effectively marketing your brand, and leveraging social media.

We will share the best tips and tools on how to promote your music, create new listeners and fans, and get more Spotify streams on your tracks. We know these things are easier said than done, however, these are tips and tools we use to build our audience, help our artists get more listeners, and convert those listeners to fans.

Distribution

To get music on Spotify or other streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Instagram Stories, etc., you need a music distributor. If you’re unfamiliar with how to select a music distributor, read our How to Pick a Music Distributor article. Once you’re able to distribute to Spotify, create a Spotify for Artists account.

To claim your Spotify for Artists profile, go to https://artists.spotify.com. After you have access, customize your profile and add photos, a biography, etc. These are ways for potential new fans to learn more about your artist project from the Spotify app.

Spotify Playlisting

Spotify Editorials

It’s important to submit your music with as much lead time as possible through your Spotify for Artists account. In your pitch to editorials, relay the story behind the release and what makes it different. Try to say more with as few words as possible. Let them know why they should care about the music and what value you’re able to bring. Also, don’t try to get around the system by reaching out to employees via social media, artists do this all the time and are heavily discouraged.

If you land on a Spotify editorial, don’t stop marketing your songs and continue to promote your music! Playlists are not everything, and playlists are not make or break. Landing on big editorial playlists doesn’t guarantee you get thousands of more fans or a more engaged audience. Once your song is taken off, plays decrease. Don’t let that get you down though.

In case your song does land on an editorial, be prepared with an updated Spotify artist profile with all information ready. If a fan wants to find out more about you, like your Facebook page, or follow you on Instagram, make it easy! There’s nothing I hate more than finding a dope song but can’t learn about the artist because there’s no information in their artist profile. Load your profile up with social links, photos, and your biography.

How to get more streams

Playlist Push / SubmitHub

Independent playlists are playlists that are not official Spotify editorials. Playlist Push and SubmitHub are platforms that help artists or labels connect with tastemakers and independent playlist curators. SubmitHub has a bit of a wider range as artists can submit their music to record labels, independent Spotify playlists, Twitch streamers, YouTube promotion channels, Instagram influencers, etc., while Playlist Push is more for independent Spotify playlists and YouTube influencers. It’s important to note that good results are not a guarantee. Never bank on these platforms alone for your promotion strategy.

SubmitHub allows you to hand-select the tastemakers you would like to submit to. We recommend you create an artist profile there with all of your information, too. You can easily spend a good amount of money through the platform or only a couple of dollars. However, Playlist Push can be a bit costly; it’s normal to invest a couple of hundred dollars.

Become Your Own Curator

Curating your own playlists may be beneficial to increase plays on your own songs. However, growing it is easier said than done, and it will take a while before it can convert to more plays on your music. Before you create dozens of playlists to promote your music, do your research on the best way to grow one. Having multiple playlists you’re trying to manage and grow may become stressful, and it’s better to make one your top priority. Our friend SchniTunes wrote an article on how to grow your Spotify playlist and gain followers. He curates a killer playlist called Adderall, give it a follow!

Many curators are involved in the music business or work within the music industry. Maybe as an artist, artist manager, or label. Connecting with these people on Facebook and offering to help support each other may be more efficient than pinning down curators that charge.

In short, your songs won’t accumulate hundreds of streams on Spotify because you make a playlist. However, if you take the time to market your playlists on Spotify and grow your audience, it could have a positive ROI.

Reddit Promotion, Dos and Don’ts

Reddit is a great way to share your music. However, be careful how you do it. Here are some basic tips to follow to get the best reach from Reddit promotion. Some of our favorite subs are r/listentothis, r/EDM, r/Music, and r/AlienBass.

Outside of music releases, Reddit is also a great way to share your playlists on Spotify!

Do These Things

Follow the rules of the subreddit and format your titles appropriately if applicable. Many subreddits require music links to be [Artist] – [Song Title] [Year] [Genre], while others are more free rein. Engage and interact in the subreddit, with other users, etc. Asking a friend to post for you may be easier than you doing it yourself. Also, switch up the streaming platforms you use for different subs.

Don’t Do These Things

It’s really important to not come across as spammy or you only use Reddit for self-promotion. Don’t just post the same link in 30 different subreddits at once. Reddit keeps tabs of how much of the same link is shared throughout the website so readers can see if you’re just trying to promote your music.

how to promote music on reddit

Common Q&As

Can you buy Spotify streams?

Yes. However, we don’t recommend this. Spotify streams are a vanity metric, meaning it’s an easily manipulated number that doesn’t determine success. In theory, buying streams for your songs can have the exact opposite effect you’d like.

For example, if artists have 100,000 monthly listeners but only a couple dozen followers, it raises red flags. Also, it’s fairly easy to tell artists who buy streams for tracks. This perception may damage an artist’s reputation and their artist profile in the Spotify algorithm. If songs are gaining a lot of streams, but there is a small fan conversion rate, Spotify’s algorithm may not recommend your music to prospective fans. You’ll give your future tracks a disadvantage and a future uphill battle.

Can you pay to get music on playlists?

Yes, it’s extremely common to hire a company that specializes in pitching your music to independent Spotify playlists/playlist curators. While Spotify does not allow people to charge for playlist additions, it’s a thriving economy.

There are pros and cons to this. Having your music added to playlists is great for the algorithm. However, there are ways it can work against you. If you’re able to land on a good playlist and have a lot of people saving your song from it, it may spark the Spotify algorithm in your favor and suggest your track in algorithmic playlists to others such as Discover Weekly. However, it could have a reverse effect if your music has a high skip rate, a low save rate, etc. in these playlists.

How much are 1,000 Spotify streams worth?

Spotify counts every play after 30 seconds have passed. Spotify pays approximately $.003 per stream, although this number fluctuates. If you released independently with no other collaborators, you would earn $3-4 per 1,000 streams. Insane, we know. If you released on a label or you had a collaborator, it would be less. This is why it’s better to not invest a ton of money into playlists, since the ROI is minimal, and find other strategies.

Although Spotify pays little, it’s the top platform in the music industry and streaming world. The majority of Gravitas royalties come from Spotify so it’s important to use it.

Does Spotify pay for fake streams?

Yes, Spotify pays for every stream, even if plays are manipulated or fake. The payout rate is so low though that it likely wouldn’t amount to anything substantial. If you’re trying to make a sustainable living from music, we recommend finding other ways to get income outside of streaming.

How many streams are good on Spotify?

This is subjective. What is your goal, what is your niche? Don’t get too wrapped up over the number of streams you get though. As mentioned before, streams pay little.

Sustainability is the ultimate goal for most artists. Are your fans purchasing merch, buying tickets to shows, recommending your music to friends? Streams are a small part of the equation.

The Benefits of Spotify Followers

Rather than focus on increasing streams, the best way to grow your musical project is to focus on Spotify followers. It’s like social media. Who cares if you have 10,000 followers if your post only gets 12 likes? Who cares if your post gets 10,000 likes if 9,990 of those are automated spam accounts? One dedicated fan is more important than 200 followers who don’t care about your music.

Once someone follows an artist on Spotify, the likelihood of them unfollowing is low. If someone follows an artist on Spotify, new music will populate in the listener’s Release Radar and other algorithmic playlists. It’s important to retain fans, not only find new ones. With so much noise on social media, it’s hard to make sure your fans know everything you do. While it’s important to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., encourage your audience to follow your Spotify profile so they stay up to date on new releases. This is more valuable than one random person listening to one random song and never returning to your Spotify profile. Quality over quantity.

ToneDen Playbooks and Running Ads

You don’t just want new listeners, you want new fans. This is why it’s important to not solely bank on playlists to create an engaged audience. Out of all the marketing tools Gravitas uses, ToneDen is the best way to share music with new fans. Gravitas uses ToneDen instead of Spotify Ad Studio / Ad Studio Spotify.

Toneden is an advertising and marketing platform made specifically for artists. It streamlines the advertising process and makes things like Spotify advertising easier than ever. This is not free so consider whether ToneDen aligns with your needs. Maybe it makes more sense for you to use Spotify Ad Studio instead (not to be confused with Spotify for Artists), but we found these tools useful for our artists.

Other than advertising, Toneden provides easy to read analytics, the ability to set up smart links, social unlocks, contests, and more. Below we’ll share a quick how-to on setting up Spotify Playbook Ads to share your music and get your Spotify fans growing!

How to Create a Campaign in ToneDen

Hit ‘New Campaign’ in the top right corner on Toneden
Select ‘Create An Advertising Campaign’

music marketing

For “What Are You Advertising” select ‘music & media’

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“What kind of campaign” select “Spotify growth playbook”

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Select what account you’re advertising from

You can choose Facebook, Instagram, etc.

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Set your schedule

For Spotify Growth Playbooks, choose the option to have your campaign run continuously if you wish. But, if you don’t want it to run continuously, make sure to unselect this option.

how to market music

Select what artist you want to grow

From here, you’ll choose 3-5 similar artists that Toneden will target the fans of. Under that, Toneden will automatically generate interests on Facebook, as well. You can modify these in case any of them are too off the wall.

Then, select your Spotify markets you want to target. Toneden automatically sets it on Global, but we recommend choosing your locations and selecting places like “United States,” “Canada,” and “United Kingdom.”

how to market music

Select Your Budget

It’s important to note that the budget structure for Toneden Spotify Growth campaigns is a daily budget. Allocating anywhere between $5-$15 a day is a great budget for Spotify Growth Campaigns.

how to get more streams

Design Your Ad

Toneden automatically generates an ad creative for you, but we recommend something more dynamic and eye-catching to the viewer.

how to get more streams

Review and Launch Your Playbook

Turn on email notifications to keep an eye on your campaign and how much you’re spending.

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spotify marketing

Hit ‘Launch Playbook Campaign’

Congrats! You’re on your way to getting new fans and listeners of your music!