Spotify Fan Study: What It Tells Us About Releasing New Music

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia marketing campaign has continued to show the importance of a strong pre-and post-release plan. 

Release “Days” are a thing of the past – nowadays, artists should focus on amplifying their releases and gaining as many opportunities as possible through the release. 

Spotify’s Fan Study shows how business-savvy artists can get the most out of every single release.  

1. Update your profile before your release to ride the wave

“The day of release sees a massive traffic spike to your Spotify artist profile. But more than 50% of artists don’t capitalize on this lift because they update their profiles after their release is out.”

First impressions count. A kickass Spotify artist profile encourages listeners to check out what you’re all about. Update your bio, press photos, artist playlists and event dates for maximum lift.

2. Don’t stop sharing after your release comes out

“53% of releases peak more than 7 days after release. So keep promoting after release week to make sure you’re reaching anyone who missed the initial drop.”

Marketing shouldn’t stop at the end of the release day. Keep sharing your music on social media, opt for a Marquee or audio ad campaign to reach new audiences, support your release with quality PR and collaborate with artists and content creators who can put your release in front of their audiences. 

3. New releases give your other music a bump

“Catalogue streams get a 15-20% lift on new release day. Use release week to attract the biggest possible audience to your new and old music alike.”

Build a 360-degree strategy around your upcoming releases. Whether that’s a live stream, a live show or a radio interview, new music encourages newer audiences to listen to your full catalogue. Encourage your fans to add your tunes to their playlists. This will in turn drive Spotify’s algorithm to suggest your music to similar users. 

Waterfall campaigns are also a great way of ensuring more traction. According to Spotify, “The best way to do this is:

1. Deliver release A (eg, Single 1) – release A goes live

2. Delivery release B (Single 2 + Single 1) under a new UPC – release B goes live – please ensure track metadata for “Single 1” is an exact match to previously delivered releases.

3. Tracklinking of release A – Single 1 and release B – Single 1 confirmed, Remove release A

Etc…”

4. A release is never finished

“There are always ways to reinvigorate a track. On average, adding or updating a Canvas on your track will increase shares by 10.7%.”

Breathe new life into a track by adding a Spotify Canvas, collaborating with other artists on remixes, and reinventing a song by releasing acoustic versions and radio edits. Furthermore, you can pitch the song’s instrumental version to sync agents that take care of sync placements. This will ensure that your track continues to live on beyond the release week. 

Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash