DIY Music Promotion: Strategies for Independent Artists on Spotify

Any current musician must be able to advertise their songs on Spotify successfully. After all, nearly a third of the market for music streaming is controlled by Spotify.

It might seem like it's impossible to distinguish yourself from all the other musicians posting music daily on Spotify.   However, promoting yourself as an independent artist doesn’t need to be complicated when you use the tools Spotify has created for you!

Types of Promotion Available on Spotify

Spotify is undoubtedly the greatest streaming service for giving its artists promotion resources. The two types of promotion available on Spotify are paid and organic:

1. Organic: Organic marketing is free, but it depends on you using Spotify's capabilities to grow your following through playlisting, followers and likes.
2. Paid: A little different from organic marketing, paid promotion involves paying Spotify to promote your music to its listeners.

While you can use paid promotion at any level of your career, starting out can mean that your budget is tight.   Spotify’s free tools are perfect for independent artists with tight budgets looking to break out from the crowd.

Setup Your Spotify Profile

The first step in marketing your music on Spotify is to create a visually appealing profile. Your Spotify for Artists profile is all you need! You can obtain comprehensive information about your streams, audience, planned releases, and more within your profile.

To make sure your Spotify profile is current, use the following checklist:

1. Publish a bio. Give a brief introduction to yourself and the type and atmosphere of the work you generate.
2. Add some images. Avoid going overboard; 3 or 4 is sufficient.
3. Include a cover image. Make sure it is eye-catching and enticing.
4. Make sure to update your social media profiles.

Create Visually Appealing Artwork

Many producers frequently overlook art when creating their products. But consider that for a moment. What do users notice right away when they navigate through Spotify? Yes, your cover art.

It's important to give your artwork ample thought. Nowadays, creating your own artwork is quite simple, thanks to free apps like Canva and Gimp.

Make sure you provide your own ideas if you're publishing with a label. Tell them the concept you have in mind, as well as the colors and emotions you want to communicate.

Take inspiration from the experts if you're unsure about the type of artwork you desire. Look through Spotify and see what stands out to you. What interests you? What are you opposed to?

Check Out Canvas on Spotify

According to Spotify, songs with a canvas encourage users to share them 145% more. It can be a music video outtake, a humorous photoshoot, or a short video clip, but either way, a Canvas is something you should be adding to each of your songs. Placing a Spotify canvas offers fans who find your music, whether through a playlist or a referral from a friend, a suggestion as to what else you are up to visually.

Submit Upcoming Song Releases to Spotify Playlists

Only one streaming service, Spotify, allows contributions for its numerous playlists. Therefore, log in to your Spotify for Artists profile and submit your music for playlist creation if you have a new release planned. This tried-and-true Spotify promotion strategy is undoubtedly the most effective technique to reach new audiences and win over new followers.

Run a Pre-Save Campaign

Running a pre-save campaign is another fantastic option to consider if you have an imminent release. When you run a pre-save campaign, you nudge your fans to save your song in advance so they'll be alerted when it drops and have it added to their collection.

It's crucial to generate a ton of buzz on the day of your release in order to inform Spotify's algorithm that your music is being listened to and is valuable for playlist cues. You only need a promo link that points to the pre-save campaign landing page from your social media account to launch a pre-save campaign.

Make Sure People Follow Your Spotify Profile

Why should you care about profile follows on Spotify? We have only two words for you: Release Radar.

Release Radar is a Spotify playlist that is created automatically and is tailored to each listener. You receive the most current releases from all the artists you follow, updated every Friday. Release Radar has risen to the top three tailored playlists for listeners globally. So, the greatest method to get people to hear your new music is to make sure they follow you!

Add Lyrics To Your Songs

Don't forget that supplying lyrics is another easy yet powerful technique to promote Spotify music for free. It can annoy fans when they can't make out a song's lyrics or frequently mishear them. The lyric text that goes with each song makes it possible for listeners to sing along while utilizing the right lyrics and engage with your music more deeply, which improves their entire listening experience.

You can easily communicate the meaning of your music with the help of the lyric display, adding to its interactivity. This can improve user interaction and shareability, which can help the music go viral. Having lyrics is one of the criteria that Spotify takes into account when recommending your songs to listeners who are interested in your genre.

Curate Your Own Playlist to Promote Your Music on Spotify

This one is unquestionably a long-term approach.  The goal of this promotion method is to create a playlist that is successful enough to promote your own songs.

Make a playlist in the genre you are producing in first and make it “Public.” Then, add your most recent release to the playlist. You want a playlist of similar music so that it doesn’t seem like you are only concerned with self-promotion.

The most important part is to keep it updated! The bare minimum is weekly updates. Tag the appropriate artists as well; they'll frequently re-post it on their own social media. More people will eventually begin to follow your playlist, meaning more people will find your music inside!

Independent Artists Have a Variety of Free Tools For Music Promotion on Spotify

Promoting your music on Spotify doesn't need to be expensive or complex as an independent artist.  There are tools in place to help you get in front of the people who care most about your music and those who are most likely to fall in love with it once they hear it.  Music promotion on Spotify takes a little time and consistent effort, but the rewards will far outweigh the effort in the long run!

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