Spotify is a great way to make your music known and get it heard by potential new fans. Spotify For Artists provides you with some great tools that will help you look professional, attract new listeners, and connect with casual listeners.
What can you do with so many other artists vying for the attention of listeners? How can you influence the algorithm to make your music more visible?
You can now access your Spotify for Artists tools.
You may have already used some of these tools to optimize your profile if you had previously created your Spotify for Artists Account. You may not have explored all of them. They are constantly adding new ones.
You can create your account at Artists.Spotify.com if you haven’t already done so. Claim your account through the platform or your distributor. In my case, it was easy to do on Spotify for Artists.
It may take three days for Spotify for Artists to activate your distributor, but mine was available immediately. You can update the sections below once you have access to the platform. This will help you get the most from the tools Spotify provides artists and influence the algorithm to your advantage.
Your Profile
Take a look at the tools if you haven’t used Spotify for Artists in a while. They are constantly adding new ones. Your bio and profile photo are the first things to check. Spotify might have selected your photo if you haven’t added one. They may not have done the best job.
Because many of my favorite songs are from my Christmas album (I have a song that has been on several playlists), my album cover appeared as my profile photo. Obviously, I wouldn’t say I liked that. So, I updated the picture to a more current one. I found that I could add more photos in the bio section as well as the top cover of the desktop application.
Update your musician’s bio. Include the latest information on your career, including awards and newest releases. Spotify’s bio is where people look first to find out more about a new artist.
Your Links
Add your social media links and your website URL. You can use this opportunity to nurture your relationship with Spotify users. Make sure that the links are active and lead to your latest pages.
Link to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (if you use them), but Instagram is the most important. Instagram is the most popular social media platform for Spotify users. Listeners will often follow an artist on Instagram first if they enjoy their music. It takes just a few seconds to click the follow button. It allows your listeners to stay up to date with the latest news from you, the artist. You can also nurture the relationship with them and help them take the next step in the journey of listener to fan.
Spotify also gives you the option to add your Wikipedia page. You can create your own Wikipedia page if you don’t have one. Wikipedia is the go-to resource for music fans to learn more about their favorite artists. Having one makes you appear more professional.
Your Top 5 Songs
When someone visits your artist profile, they will see your five most popular songs. You can expand this section on Spotify to see your top 10 songs. You can’t change the order of these songs, but knowing what is at 6-10 on Spotify can help you plan how to get them to your top 5.
Why is it important to know the top five songs?
Your “popular songs” will be the first thing people see when they visit your profile. You want to make sure that your songs are the best possible ones so people will listen.
These spots are populated primarily based on the number of streams. Older songs often have higher streams due to their time on the platform or because they were added to popular playlists. Songs from 15 years ago can still be included. Most artists have improved and evolved since their older tracks. How can you move your newer songs up to your top 5 list?
Note the songs at positions 6-10. Decide which songs would better represent you as an artist and choose one or two to focus on. Then, look for third-party playlists that would fit the songs well and contact the curators. You can increase the number of streams by getting your songs on popular Spotify playlists.
Use a service such as SubmitHub, which offers submissions at low cost to hundreds of Spotify playlists. You should only submit to playlists where your music would fit. SubmitHub has helped members of my Rock Your Next Release program get great placements for as little as $0.50 or $2. These placements have allowed them to boost their Spotify stream count as well as their song ranking.
Create Your Playlist
Every artist should create their own “best-of” playlist. It’s a good way to showcase the songs you want people to hear on your profile. This is especially true if you have a lot to choose from or aren’t satisfied with your top five. If I scroll down to your singles or EP section and I see rows and rows, I get overwhelmed and have no idea what to listen to first. This problem can be solved by creating a “best of” list.
Make your playlist public and prominently display it on your profile. You can create a “playlist pick” when editing your Spotify for Artists account. Uploading an image creates a large box that appears on the right side of your Spotify Profile. This draws attention to this playlist. The playlist will also be listed under “artist playlists.”
These “artist-curated playlists” are great for me as a listener because they include the songs that the artist wants to be heard. This will give your new listeners an excellent sampling of all the music you have created throughout your career.
Fans also like
The “Fans also like” tab is visible to all Spotify users. We cannot select which artists appear there, as the algorithm makes that decision for us. However, we can try to understand why certain artists are chosen and influence this.
This algorithm uses the concept of “shared fans” to determine what other artists or people who listen to or follow your music also listen to. Of course, you can’t change people’s behaviors. You can try to appear on playlists of artists you’d like to be associated with.
Listeners will consume the music of both artists and may even follow you both if they are on the same playlist. I do this as a consumer. If I see a song in a playlist that follows a song I already like, I pay more attention to it and might even follow the artist. This is why putting yourself on playlists with artists that you’d like to be associated with will help you influence the algorithm “fans also enjoy.”
You can also influence “fans who like this” by pursuing press every time you release a new song. The algorithm searches for information both on Spotify and off-platform. The Spotify algorithm will pay attention if you appear on blogs or podcasts highlighting artists who are similar to yourself and with whom you would like to be associated.
It’s also possible to influence the way it is perceived by describing your music. Let’s look at something specific. Say you label your music Americana/Hip Hop. The algorithm will look for artists who also mention the genre and then associate you with those artists. You can use words that are used to describe a certain artist. You don’t need to use big-name press. You can use a music site, podcast, or news website.
Recap
We can influence the Spotify algorithm even though we cannot control it. You’ll be able to reach more listeners if you use the five strategies listed above.
Once you are discovered, Spotify has a number of ways to keep your listeners interested. Release Radar is a tool that introduces your new tracks, and Discover Weekly exposes your older tracks. The algorithm will give you more opportunities to connect with new listeners and convert them into lifelong supporters.
