Good news for artists, who may be savvy on a social media platform like Facebook or Instagram, those skills can be transferred to Spotify, a streaming service which requires a good deal more social interaction than one might guess.
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Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
Many musicians are adept in at least one of the major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), but aren’t aware that those skills are transferrable to a platform that requires a lot more social interaction that you might think – Spotify. The service has done a good job not only as a music distributor, but installing some usable social features around it as well. This is one of the things that sets it apart from other streaming services. Granted, others have tried (hello Apple Music), but haven’t been able to pull off the social aspect with as much impact on the both the user and the artist.
That said, I came across an excellent article on CD Baby’s DIY Musician blog that outlines 10 steps that you can take to amplify the social aspects of Spotify. Here they are, with my comments afterwards:
1. Update your playlists with new songs. Like with other social media, new content keeps you audience engaged. Same thing here. Updated playlists with other artists songs keeps the interest level in your songs high as well.
2. Do social shout-outs to any artist you add to your playlist. This is just good business, especially if its an indie artist. They’re more likely to return the favor, which is a good way to get exposure to a new audience.
3. Promote your playlists via newsletter and social. This is a great suggestion, and one that artists hardly ever consider. When you can’t think of anything else to write or post about, this is always a good topic.
4. Re-assess the effectiveness of your playlist titles, descriptions, and artwork — and make any necessary changes. Just like anything else you do online, these crucial details make a huge difference in engagement.
5. Encourage fans to follow you on Spotify. It seems simple, but its another detail frequently overlooked by artists.
6. Pin a new song or playlist to the top of your artist discography page. Pinning is a great strategy on any platform. Don’t forget to use it.
7. Embed Spotify players on your website for all your albums. Links are not enough. Embed the player to be sure that you get that impulse play.
8. Check out your daily Spotify trending reports to better understand your audience and engagement on the platform, and to see what playlists include your music. You can’t supply your audience with what it wants unless you know exactly what that is, and the trending reports can give you that information.
9. Give a social shout-out to any playlister who has added one of your songs. Just like on Facebook or Twitter, this can be very effective in maintaining the engagement of your fans.
10. Actually listen to your Discover Weekly playlist. This could be an easy way to find new tracks to add to your playlists. It’s not always easy to find tracks that you like on your own, but the Discover Weekly playlist is there for reason. Use it.
These are a few small things that you can do to use the social aspects of Spotify to your benefit. They don’t take much time, and can help increase both your audience and your streams.