Spotify Promotion

Hello! I’m happy to hear that you’re interested in hiring me to assist in promoting your single to Spotify playlists. Here’s some info to get you started and establish some expectations:

One way a promoter may do their job, is to reach out as themselves, acting as a promoter, and a link between playlists and artists. This way means that the promoter remains in charge of all communication and follow-up, leaving you dependent on them for information and resources in the future.

Another way a promoter may to their job, is to do it on your behalf, acting as YOU. This way gives the promoter temporary access to your personal profiles, but leaves the personal connections and follow-up in the hands of the artist for future use.

The second way is the way I prefer to do things - it requires a little more effort up front from the artist in establishing all the online profiles and accounts, and trust in handing over the reins to the promoter, but in the end leaves you with a history of contact and communication with playlisters and other individuals in the industry, which you can use to follow up in the future.

One thing I would like you to know up front, is that hiring a promoter isn’t a guarantee of an artist’s success. Not every pitch will result in the track being to a playlist. But by strategically targeting specific playlists and promoting a track in a personal yet polished way, one can begin to get the track heard by a wider audience and lay a good foundation to build upon for future releases.

WHAT YOU’RE GETTING FROM ME

I am also an independent artist who has undertaken several Spotify playlist campaigns to promote my own music. I’ve got a tried-and-true strategy of researching music and playlists, compiling data, and executing the outreach in an organized and timely manner.

To date (May 11, 2021), my 6 singles have been added to over 780 playlists on Spotify, reaching over 33,300 new listeners. I personally reached out to hundreds of playlist curators for each single, establishing personal relationships that have continued to grow and contribute to my overall success releasing music.

In the weeks leading up to release day, I will be using several methods and resources to research and compile a custom-curated list of targets to promote to. The actual promotion itself happens mostly on release day, with the exception of Spotify Editorial playlists (which I will do in advance). On release day, I will be reaching out via the artist’s social media profiles and email, to pitch the track to each playlist curator personally. I will also be pitching via online submission portals on release day.

In order to do my job effectively, there is some information I’ll need from you, as well as some actions to be done:

THE TECHNICAL STUFF (8 weeks from release date)

These are non-negotiable steps that must happen for me to do the campaign.

  1. Upload your mastered track, set the release date, and submit it to your digital distributor.

    Now you have that done and have peace of mind while you go forward with the next steps!

  2. Send the finished track to me for listening ahead of time, either through WeTransfer or uploaded to a private Soundcloud link.
    
This gives me time to get to know the song and the artist, so I can target playlists most effectively. At this point, it’s also helpful for me to have their “artist blurb” with their short bio, artist statement, and influences.


  3. Contact your distributor to request 1) the Spotify Track URI and 2) the Spotify Artist profile URI.

    You’ll need to include the UPC codes assigned to your track when you uploaded it for distribution in your request message.


  4. Send the above Spotify Track and Artist URI information to me.

    I need this on hand so I can include it in my pitches.


  5. Go to Spotify for Artists to claim your Spotify for Artists account, and add me as a team member.

    This allows me to pitch to Spotify Editorial playlists.


  6. Sign up for Playlist Radar and give me access.
 You’ll need to sign up for a minimum of 2 months ($39 USD x 2), but after that, you can cancel your membership.
    This is one of my main tools for researching playlists and compiling data for pitches. Confirmed clients who have paid a deposit will receive a 50% off code for their Playlist Radar membership!

  7. Send me your artist bio, and a draft of a short blurb we can use as your pitch.
    A pitch includes a brief greeting, a quick description of your song, and a call to action regarding listening and adding the song to their playlist. We can work together to craft a professional, short, and enticing pitch.

*** The more time we each have to gather all of this info and access these resources, the better the chances of running a successful campaign. ***

THE ADDITIONAL STUFF (4 weeks from release date)

These are steps for the artist to manage that are technically optional, but can really make a huge impact on the success of our campaign! I strongly recommend including as many of these steps as you are able. Alternatively, I am able to assist with most of these steps as add-ons to my services.

  1. Get set up for a Spotify Pre-Save: sign up for a free account with smartURL and use their Pre-Save tool to submit the information required to set up the Pre-Save page.

    Pre-save campaigns let people set reminders to listen to the song as soon as it’s released - release day stats are important! Pre-Save campaigns also allow you to collect the email addresses of people who Pre-Save, which you can add to your mailing list for future use, but ONLY if you link to your privacy policy when you sign up with smartURL.


  2. Establish an online presence; at minimum, a Facebook artist page and Instagram artist page which have links to each other and have consistent photos, graphics, and a brief artist bio.

    When pitching from an artist’s profiles, it’s important to have a polished, professional image to help generate interest from playlisters.

  3. Additional accounts to strengthen online presence could include Twitter and SoundCloud (you don’t even need to be active on them, just create the profiles and point them to the accounts you use more often). A website or landing page can act as a host for your privacy policy and be the “glue” that connects all your social media profiles together.

    You want people to be able to find your music from a variety of angles - the more instances of your name and music online, that all connect to each other, the stronger your presence in Google search results.


  4. Begin promoting the Spotify Pre-Save on all your social media accounts. 

    Use graphics, photos, videos, Stories, etc. to vary the methods for promoting the upcoming release.


  5. Consider signing up with SubmitHub and purchasing some credits.
    To learn more about SubmitHub, see below.

  6. Another option for selling your music online is Bandcamp.
    This is an easy option to sell digital copies of your music or physical merch.

RIGHT BEFORE (1 week from release date)

  1. Provide login information to me for artist Instagram, Facebook, and email.

    This is so my pitches come directly from the artist and establish a personal connection with playlist curators that can be nurtured by the artist in the future. I will get my pitch blurbs approved by you in advance.


  2. Re-iterate the upcoming release date to your followers and provide the Spotify Pre-Save link again.

  3. Upload your single to Bandcamp and SoundCloud if you wish, but don’t publish it yet.


  4. Ensure I have all the info and logins I need to do my job on release day!

RELEASE DAY

  1. Promote the new single on all social media platforms!


  2. Make your Bandcamp and SoundCloud uploads public.


*** This is the day when I will do the bulk of my promotion outreach, using all the resources and data that I have compiled in the weeks leading up to the release. ***


AFTER RELEASE

Monitor your playlist adds using Spotify for Artists, and follow up any adds and promotion (both on and off Spotify) with generous replies, thank yous, and public shout-outs.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS

In all, the info and online access I will need include:

  • Finished track with artist bio & pitch


  • Spotify Track and Artist URI information


  • Add me as a team member to your Spotify for Artists account


  • Playlist Radar login


  • Artist’s Instagram, personal Facebook, and email logins


  • Optional SubmitHub login

*** I recommend setting up a new email address to use solely for all your new online artist accounts, and for pitching. ***

ABOUT SUBMITHUB

Another option to promote your music to some harder-to-reach outlets is to sign up for SubmitHub, an online portal for submitting tracks to playlists, music blogs, online influencers, etc.

An account with SubmitHub is free, and some outlets accept free submissions. However, the response and approval rate is lower with free submissions. Premium submissions cost “credits” (either 1, 2, or 3 credits) which guarantee a response (not necessarily an add) within 48 hours. 

The credits can be purchased in bulk at a discount and never expire, so you can use what you learned from your responses to the first release to fine-tune the submission strategy for future releases.

The SubmitHub process can be a bit labour-intensive, and results can vary. When you do get a great add, though, the payoff can be sweet! Due to the extra cost to you (purchasing credits) and the additional work and hours for me, I suggest considering SubmitHub as an add-on to my services.