How to Grow a Spotify Audience?
Spotify is the world’s largest online music streaming service. Being a musician is hard. You’ve got to worry about playing live shows, writing music, and recording.
If you’re struggling to grow your Spotify audience, you’re not alone. Growing an audience can be confusing and frustrating.
The good news is: that there’s a simple way to figure out what your audience wants and how to Grow a Spotify Audience?
Benchmark on Spotify first
The key is to look at what playlists in your genre are popular and why.
The same goes for other artists in your genre.
- What are they doing?
- Which social media platforms are the most active?
- How often do they release new music?
- Do their fans like it when the artist interacts with them on social media, or do they prefer it when the artist just puts out music and doesn’t interact much?
If you want to be successful as an artist, you should focus your efforts on getting onto playlists instead of just focusing on the charts.
Make a music plan
Focus on one song at a time :
To grow an audience on Spotify, you need to focus on the quality of your music. You should always be recording new songs and releasing them when they are ready.
You also want to make sure that you’re proud of the music you release. If a song doesn’t feel right, take it down and re-release it when it is better.
Remember that this isn’t just about the numbers – this is about putting out music that you are proud of!
Create your playlist :
First, you’ll want to develop a playlist concept. Deciding on a name and description, ask yourself some key questions:
- What is the purpose of this playlist and what mood do I want to create with it?
- Who is my target audience?
- What kind of vibe will I have?
Think about it in terms of an artist or album release campaign. Your playlist should be a cohesive collection that plays well from top to bottom. It should also be something unique, so don’t stick to one genre alone (unless you’re aiming for a specific niche).
Use tags to help others find your playlist
If you’ve chosen your playlist’s name, description, and cover photo carefully, then you’ve done the hard work of setting a theme for your playlist.
The next step is to make sure that other people are able to find it when they’re searching for playlists on Spotify.
To give your playlist more of a chance of being discovered by more listeners on Spotify, it’s important to tag your playlist correctly. There are two kinds of tags that you’ll need to consider:
- tags that describe the content (the songs) on your playlist
- tags that describe the audience (the listeners) who should enjoy this music.
Make sure to include those tags! This will help others find your playlist when they’re searching within the platform.
Keep your playlist updated regularly and Upload music regularly
As you’re adding new music to your playlist, keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a song’s release date for it to be relevant.
If an artist releases a new album and there are songs on it that would fit well with your original playlist concept, go ahead and add them.
Spotify users do not have constant access to uploads. By uploading your tracks on a regular schedule (ideally at least once a week), you are able to keep your followers engaged and aware of your work.
In addition to regularly scheduled uploads, it is best practice to release several singles at once rather than releasing one song every few months.
This way, you can build more momentum around each release and ensure that your followers are always interested in hearing more of what you have created.
It is important to remember here, however: quality over quantity! Do not sacrifice the quality of your recordings or production just for the sake of releasing new music.
Be sure to brainstorm unique concepts for each track that will allow them to stand out from one another as well as the work of other creators.
Finally, be sure that all your songs are properly mixed and mastered before sharing them with the world; this will help ensure that they sound their best in Spotify’s streaming environment.
Engage with other playlists and make friends
One of the most important factors in getting your playlist featured is engagement. Spotify rewards playlists with large, consistent followings that are generating a lot of streams and saves.
The more engagement you have, the more likely Spotify is to notice and promote your playlist for you.
The best way for your playlist to grow a following is to find other playlists that have similar sounds, and then engage with those curators.
By liking, commenting, and sharing others’ playlists, you’re showing that you appreciate their efforts as a fellow curator while putting your musical taste front and center. It’s a win-win.
Developing relationships with other curators is key in this process. Curators like knowing what you think of their playlist and hearing about how you discovered it.
If they like you back, they might include one of your songs in their playlist or give it a follow! More often than not, the best way to get into these good graces is by treating them the same way as you want them to treat you: by being friendly.
To keep listeners coming back and get them talking about it, try engaging with other playlists by following them, sending a message to their curator, or sharing one of their tracks on social media.
Engagement can also come from within, by inviting friends and family to follow your playlist by posting on social media or asking them to contribute directly to music meetings or meetings.
Create Collaboration with other artists and brands
Collaboration is a great way to grow your audience. By collaborating with other artists and brands, you can make better music, grow your network, get more plays, and ultimately get more streams.
Make a music video to support your Spotify releases
Making a music video to support your Spotify releases is a great way to stand out from the crowd and get in front of new audiences. Videos are also a creative way to build your brand as an artist.
When creating content for music videos, it’s important that they’re exciting, different, and make people want to share. It’s also important that the content has something to do with the song you’re releasing.
However, don’t feel like you need to create something that looks like a big-budget film for every release; let your fans know about what you’re doing! Be creative!
Identify other platforms to work on alongside Spotify
Spotify isn’t the only platform that matters, in fact, it’s just one of many.
You might have a big following on SoundCloud, or your music is getting shared through a curated playlist on YouTube.
Identify what other platforms you can grow and promote your music on alongside Spotify.
Cross-promote on other platforms
After getting hooked on your music, you probably want to make sure that the rest of the world can hear it.
You should cross-promote your playlist on social media, newsletters, and even your website if you have one.
One of the best ways to get more listeners is to tell as many people as possible that your playlist exists. A personal invitation will usually be the most effective way to get them to check out your playlist.
You can also put a link to your playlist in your email signature or website footer by adding an “embed code” for each song, so anyone who clicks through will go straight over to Spotify once they hit play.
Consistency is key
To keep your audience engaged, you have to keep them entertained. In the music industry, keeping up a steady flow of releases is key.
Of course, there’s no hard and fast rule on how often you should release new music, but the more consistent you are in releasing new content, the more consistent you’ll be in growing your audience. It’s also important to maintain consistency across all of your releases.
One of the most overlooked tasks for an artist? Building your mailing list
That’s right, you need a mailing list. Why? Because it’s how you connect with your fans, and how they get to follow and support your work in new ways.
You might be surprised, but compared to all the previous actions, that’s the easiest part.
You should consider setting up an email capture system from day one to catch your first Fan.
Why is so important, because your own your email list and every time you release a song, you don’t need a social platform to keep your fan informed. You just need to send them an email!
In short, the key to growing a Spotify audience is just about the same as it is for any other social network that depends on user-generated content.
Create great content, share it with people who would appreciate it, and don’t give up because your audience will grow over time.
Though it may not happen overnight, and you might not see immediate gains, this music app can be a tool that plays an active role in helping you build your fanbase. So just Start 🚀
