As Spotify continues to grow and develop, the ways in which artists and fans can connect is also shifting. Here to help us keep up, we look at four of the best practices for strengthening your artist profile and getting up to speed.
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Guest Post by Dylan Lewis on The Orchard‘s The Daily Rind
Spotify is ever-evolving. As the service grows and users discover more and more content, the streaming giant is innovating ways in which artists can connect to fans and vice versa. As a result, Spotify has implemented a few new features for artists, managers and labels which called for an update to our Spotify Best Practices. Before diving in below, do check out our original post for the basics.
Now read on for a few new points to get you up to speed on all things Spotify.
Behold Fan Insights!
Fan Insights is a new and extremely beneficial tool for artists and managers to dig into listener activity within Spotify. After signing up, artists and management can get granular information on how listeners engage with your music. Whether it’s seeing how many times a track was added to a playlist, how many different streams you received on a particular track in a particular territory, or how many tuned in to your music every day for the last 28 days, Spotify makes sure you know what is up with your fans.
With all this info, you can plan the perfect tour. *wink nudge* Once you sign up, it should take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to gain access.
Remember: you need to be verified before you sign up for Fan Insights. Please do so here.
Keep Artist Images Updated
With the advent of Fan Insights, updating your image on Spotify has never been easier. Once you gain access, simply click the top left camera icon to change the header image to any image with the proper specs. Please note that Spotify is moving to a world where the small circular images (avatars) do not exist and headers reign.
The specs for an ideal image are: .jpeg format in landscape orientation with at least 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution.
Now for the standard verification checkpoint: a label or curator can only customize their avatar if they have a verified profile. If you are not verified, do it now. Until you are, you can request the update of your avatar or label profile by sending the following to your client manager at The Orchard:
- username and password of the profile
- email address associated with the profile
- image file as a .jpeg
Incorporate Your Merch
Following a recent partnership deal, you can now sell merchandise directly from your Spotify profile using Merchbar. Fans can click straight from Spotify through to the product page to purchase T-shirts, vinyl, CDs and more. Bonus points: Spotify takes no fees or commission. Get more deets here.
Tell ’em You’re on Tour
Tour dates are incorporated on artist pages automatically via Songkick and Ticketmaster. Make sure your dates are all being tracked and shared with your fans by going to tourbox.songkick.com to manage your Songkick artist pages. If you have an issue, please contact support@songkick.com.
Hitting all of the above before the new year will ensure you are ready to roll with the tools Spotify wants all of their artists to have access to. At the end of the day, if you know your fans, you can connect with them and they with you.