Here Leticia Trandafir walks us through why artists should get verified on streaming services, how they can get verified, the opportunities it provides, and the proper way to manage and artist profile on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
__________________________
Guest post by Leticia Trandafir of Landr
So after years of making tracks in the studio and sharing drafts here and there, I finally decided to do my own music distribution.
I mastered my track, entered my info and uploaded my album art. I hit send, got approved, and there it was! My track was all of sudden on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer and other platforms.
Party!!!
Great. So now what? How do I edit my artist profile? I want to change my photo, edit my bio, and get control over how I’m represented on these platforms. It’s not like SoundCloud where you just log in, click edit and done.
Keeping control of your info online is important because it shows you’re active and makes your profile stand out. It’s also a way to give more to your fans.
How to do it? Get verified!
If you just released your music, you’re probably wondering how it’s done. Here’s how I got verified on Spotify and Apple Music in one week and took control of my artist profiles.
Why Get Verified?
So what’s all the fuss about those little blue checkmarks?
The ‘verified’ checkmark says something: I’m legit, I’ve got the stamp of approval, I’m verified by the big folks and THIS IS MY MUSIC!
To be real, verification used to be unfair to emerging artists. You needed a lot of plays or followers to prove that you’re ‘worthy’ of the holy check mark. And we all know how hard it is to get those first 250 fans…
Fortunately, this changed recently. Spotify realized that it needed to start being more transparent, and give all artists the same tools to take control of their projects.
Here are the advantages to getting verified:
- Edit your artist profiles by changing your profile photo and other details
- Connect with your fans by posting playlists, tour dates or updates
- Get your stats and look at who is streaming your music and where
- Have a better shot at getting on a curated playlist by looking legit
So here’s what to do after you’ve released your music (doing this before releasing won’t work!) to get your blue checkmark:
Take Control Of Your Spotify Artist Profile
Simply go to Spotify for Artists and click ‘Get Access.’ Enter your information and submit.
It might take longer than your excited-self would like (a few days or a week). Once they verify who you are, you get an email to confirm access to your artist profile.
Here’s what getting verified on Spotify allows you to do:
- Update your artist photo
- Add an Artist’s Pick (your latest release for instance)
- Add a featured playlist to your artist profile
- See stats: plays, countries and cities where your music is played, etc.
Get Access To Your Apple Music Artist Profile
Although the process is a little confusing, I’ve managed to find out information by reaching out to Apple’s support team.
Go to Apple Music Connect (not to be confused with either Connect or iTunes Connect!) to claim your Apple Music artist profile. Then:
- Click on Sign up now
- Click on Request Access
- Sign-in with your Apple ID
- Click on the + on the top left corner
- Fill in your information and submit.
It takes up to about a week to get verified.
Here’s what getting verified on Apple Music allows you to do:
- Share audio, videos, photos, and ideas with your fans
- Share your favorite playlists, albums, music videos, or songs from Apple Music to your fans
On Apple Music, a fan is anyone who bought your music, or added it to their library.
Anyone can view and play the content you upload to Connect—even on Apple Music for Android.
As an artist, you don’t need a subscription to Apple Music to post to your page. But you can only post from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (through the Apple Music app) or Mac (through iTunes).
Here’s Apple’s guide on how to share content with your Apple Music fans.
To update the artist bio on your Apple Music profile, contact AMG at this address: content.music@rovicorp.com (a but clunky, but that’s what they told me!).
Checkmark? Check!
Luckily, the verification process is now available to all of us.
It means that when you release your music, you get access to your artist profile on Spotify and Apple Music.
This lets you edit your photo, post your favourite playlists, and get in touch with your fanbase.
The blue checkmark is the seal of approval that makes you look legit—even though wealready knew you are. So get verified today, and make the most out of your music distribution!