(Hypebot) While physical music sales continue to trundle downwards streaming can, for many artists, seem like the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to revenue – particularly if you can land your music on a playlist. Here we examine some of the best ways to do just that.
Guest post by Emily O’Connell from BandBasher
Let’s face it – in today’s music economy, making any amount of money can seem like a huge deal and that can have a big effect on artists. The decline of physical music sales has fallen in the past five years and will only continue to fall as the years continue. But don’t fret, today we’ll talk about how to get digital sales via your new best friend — Spotify playlists.
Streaming has become absolutely vital to artists trying to make it big in the 21st century. Which means you need to understand how to get your songs onto a Spotify playlist, either created by a user or by the Spotify playlist creation team.
Now there is really no clear way to go about getting your music on a playlist but with these tips, you’re going to be able to increase your chances.
1. Network with playlist curators
In order to get your music on playlists, the creators of those playlists need to know that your music exists. It is important to remember that you need to present yourself as a person instead of just an artist. When you send these playlist creators your music you need to understand that you want something from this person so in return you need to be patient and remember that the curator is a person to and might have a whole number of people messaging them with their songs. When they do eventually get back to you then you should be appreciative of the fact that they took time out of their day to respond to you – no matter the outcome. If you continue this practice enough times, you’ll be on a playlist in no time.
2. Social media is your best friend
Promote, promote, promote. This is the first thing you should be thinking about when you wake up in the morning and the last thing before you go to bed. No one is going to even listen to your music – let alone put it on a Spotify playlist – if you don’t have some sort of presence on social media.
Engage with your fans that are following you and tell them you have music on Spotify and that you’re trying to get your music on a playlist. The higher amount of followers you have on Spotify will increase your chances of actually getting on a playlist because the more followers you have means the more people enjoy your music.
3. Join the Spotify Community Playlist Exchange
Did you know Spotify has an online community solely for sharing playlists back and forth? Using it feels a little foreign — like a flashback to the days of MySpace — but being active in the community can give you an advantage over other artists, as most people conversing in these forums are playlist curators. As always, look to build a friendly relationship before shoving a song down their throat. Staying active in the playlist exchange e will give you a name for yourself within the community and keep you relevant when creators are planning new playlists that you are interested in joining.
4. Get verified
In the social media world, that blue checkmark means everything. Once you can get yourself verified on Spotify, more people will pay attention to your music. In order to actually get verified, you need access to Spotify for Artists. You type in your name and Spotify verifies that you’re actually who you say you are and then gives you that beautiful blue checkmark.
5. The amazing world of analytics
The last thing you can do is track what songs people are and are not listening to. Sites like Spot On Track and Chart Metric will pull in massive amounts of your data to show what’s getting hits in streaming right now. This will help you understand what exactly your next move should be and what you need to do in order to keep yourself and your fans happy.
Spotify streaming is still relatively new and it can seem overwhelming at times but if you truly want to make it in the industry, take the time to understand this platform. There are thousands — if not millions — of artists with good music, and the ones would stand out are those who were willing to do the work.
