If tackling Spotify for Artists is next on your to-do list or the whole thing sounds a little overwhelming, we’ve got you covered. Take note of these features and best practices.
You can also watch the entire event for the full presentation right here.
Spotify for Artists at a glance
If you haven’t noticed because you haven’t updated the app (maybe do that first), Spotify has just released a ton of new features that you need to get on top of if you want to make the most out of Spotify for your career. It does sort of look like TikTok now though… Take that as you will.
Once you open your Spotify for Artists dashboard, you’ll see some tips and tricks to help you build your profile such as adding merch and latest insight releases; your activity for the past seven days including listeners, streams and followers; and your top songs along with the number of streams.
You can also see a live count of how many people are listening to your music at that very moment. Fun!
On the side menu, you can click through your music to see how many streams and listeners you have on every release, song and playlist. You can toggle this to show data from the last 24 hours all the way to all-time numbers.
You’ll also see insights into your audience such as the source of streams, demographics, location and a couple of beta features like Active Audience, Audience Engagement and Release Engagement that you can play around with.
This data is essential when it comes to creating a solid marketing campaign. Instagram analytics are great and all, but the detailed insights you get from Spotify will help you pinpoint your audience and create an extremely targeted marketing campaign.
Key features of Spotify for Artists
Let’s get into the real stuff. Here are the features you need to know and become familiar with in order to make the most of Spotify for Artists:
- Playlist pitching
This is how you get your music in front of editors. Head to the pitch section on your dashboard, fill out the song details and get ready to write the pitch of a lifetime. Keep it short and sweet as you’ve only got 300 characters to tell the Spotify gods about yourself, your track and its data, and any press/media mentions.
If you’ve already got the phrase “next big thing” in your mental draft, cross it out, delete it, throw it away. Instead, try the phrase “For fans of…”. This way the gods will be prepared for your song in a nice, familiar sort of way.
- Canvas
If you’re releasing a single, you’ll need an attractive visual to go along with it. Canvas is the fun loop that plays in the background when someone is listening to your track. You don’t have to go all out but having something there will boost your listenership noticeably. This visual will appear on other platforms as well as Spotify, such as Instagram stories, so give it a little bit of thought.
Don’t forget to make sure your visual is at a 9:16 vertical aspect ratio and under seven seconds. And if you want to be really fancy, try to start and end your visual with the same frame so you get a seamless loop.
- Merch integration
You can now display merch directly on your artist page via Shopify. The latest updates allow you to arrange certain pieces of merch alongside key releases like an album t-shirt next to the album.
Being an artist is as much about being a brand as well as your musical talent. So even if you’re not quite at the merch stage yet, don’t completely write it off. You can even make some little badges and sell them for a couple of quid. Just something to keep the buzz going.
- Live events
If you want your shows to pop up on your artist profile (which you probably should) then head over to Songkick.com to set up your artist profile, add your details and connect your profile to Spotify. This way your fans will get a push notification letting them know you’re playing live and will be able to come and see you.
- Promo cards (new!)
Similar to Apple Music for Artists, promo cards are really good for driving people to your Spotify profile and drumming up support. Digital Service Providers (DSPs) love it when you share something that’s happening on their profile, so when you get added to a playlist or a friend adds you to their playlist, share your artist promo card to your Instagram or TikTok or any platform and tag Spotify.
- Clips (also new!)
This is the thing that’s made Spotify a little like TikTok but better because they’re automatically muted. A very appreciated feature. Clips are 30-second clips that allow you to talk directly to your fans. It’s still in the beta stage but if you get on top of it now, you’ll be an expert by the time everyone else gets on it. According to Spotify, this is the future of their platform. So start experimenting as soon as you can.
- Marquee
These are full-screen, promoted posts that pop up on your Spotify homepage to let users who have previously shown interest in your music know about your new releases. You can even target the listeners you want to develop into bigger fans.
The only drawback is that you need around 30,000 monthly listeners in order to use this feature, (which isn’t too difficult!) but this is only so the algorithm can read enough data to work out who to show the marquee to. Otherwise, it’s great value for money as Spotify estimates you get around ten times more listeners for every pound spent.
You top 5 tips on Spotify for Artists
- Check out and get familiar with your data so you can inform your decisions.
- Always create great visual content that you can feature as Canvas or on your Spotify portfolio.
- Pitch your music in good time! Don’t leave it until the last minute. Always pitch your music at least 10 days before the release so you don’t anger the Spotify gods.
- Use the new features to drive fans to your releases and that all-important “follow” button.
- Use the Artist Pick feature to spotlight what’s going on.
Want to know more about Spotify for Artists? Click here to watch the full event to hear JD go through it all step by step. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, join us in person for our next event! Click here to grab some free tickets.