Try These 7 Proven Tips that get music fans and curators to pay attention
Spotify can be a tricky mistress.
Getting started in music marketing is also very confusing to new artists because often your short-term expectations are not realistic. This makes most artists give up after one release pushing them back into the studio to hide.
It’s time you learned the real facts about how to navigate music promotions correctly using the tools available to you.
Here’s a solid plan you can follow:
(1) Write long albums with short songs.
Rappers like Drake have turned this technique into an art, with albums loaded with lots of shorter tracks. And he isn’t alone. The strategy generates far more plays with more fun track listens thereby helping to push the tracks on the album while multiplying per-stream revenue.
(2) Start with Impact in under :30
Fact: Spotify doesn’t pay for any song that gets skipped before the 30-second mark. Plus even more importantly, FACT: Curators and streamers want to be captivated by a new song in those first few minutes or they won’t stick around. The most common reasons indie music gets turned down is due to the music being boring, uninspired and predictable.
(3) Repackage to win.
Goodrich told Digital Music editors that clever artists are now re-releasing older tracks, with the same ISRC code and previous playcounts. The repackaging pushes the ‘brand-new’ tracks with lots of plays into ‘new’ algorithm playlists like Discover Weekly, New Music Friday, and your followers’ Release Radar. The refresh can result in a surge of new interest for an older cut.
(4) Use Spotify for Artists and pre-release correctly.
Are you using Spotify for Artists correctly? If you don’t learn how to use it, that dramatically reduces your chances of curated playlist inclusion.
Artists should be uploading tracks into Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before it hits the platform. <click here> Otherwise, the track isn’t guaranteed to hit your followers’ Release Radar playlists, which means that all of that free promotion is lost. Plus use this time to submit to Spotify curated playlists right in your spotify for artists page to improve your chances. Then work with a playlist promotional team to build momentum on your music promotions moving the needle.
(5) Own your micro-niche
Hip hop is huge, but other genres are also generating lots of attention on Spotify. This past year, bedroom producers are minting cash on platforms like Lo-Fi Beats, and they don’t even have to tour.
There are tons of music blogs and playlists catering to a growing class of people in micro-niches. These are hard core fans who gather and share music more actively. The smaller the niche, the more powerful the click.
Goodrich said playlists like Lo-Fi Beats and Yoga & Meditation are spawning an entirely new generation of artists who are making a living off of Spotify. “There are hundreds of artists out there making thousands of dollars on these micro-niche genres across the platform,” Goodrich said. “Most of them with little-to-no fanbase outside of the platform, which they are completely fine with!” https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/11/spotify-streaming-artists-living/
(6) Be consistent and don’t stop
Momentum and consistancy is key to everything in music. Too many artists push one single and stop. They don’t continue pushing the music. Lower your short-term expectations and realign your plan to push music monthly or even weekly depending on your goals. One release never makes your career. Even though it may seem like it’s happening, bands take years to develop a following of hard-core fans. You need tons of music in your inventory, and it must be released consistently. Don’t drop everything at once then go hide out in the studio until next year. You’ll never move the needle. You need lots of momentum, shares and engagement to get the attention of the Spotify algorithm. (Get a plan by speaking with a music promotional team that takes the guess work out of it and have tons of contacts in the biz.)
(7) Looks count
You may not think that presentation is important but it’s a game changer. Album art is so important in building a visual for fans and curators to see a fuller picture of who you are and what you’re all about. Fill in your complete Spotify profile with a big, updated bio including your news and some solid details about your latest release. This helps curators who find you be able to grab content to post about you at will. Make it easy and include great pictures, links to social media and some history. You can also add a personal message to music listeners in the bio.
