Get started with Spotify for Artists
Spotify for Artists is a free platform of Spotify that allows you to claim your Spotify artist profile, become verified, and access statistics and tools to develop your musical career. It is accessible to any artist who has at least one song on Spotify.
What is in it for me?
First of all, you get access to your content on the biggest streaming platform. Artists are able to make their artist profile look better. It helps to attract fans and of course Spotify’s playlist curators.
The analytics section of Spotify for Artists helps you make marketing decisions based on the streaming activities of your fans. Get insights on what editorial playlists work best.
One of the most recent integrations is Shopify: manage your merch sales from within your Spotify for Artists account.
Ad Studio
Spotify even opened up its so-called Ad Studio to artists. In the past, advertising on Spotify was mostly reserved for large labels and distributors. Nowadays any independent artist can download the Ad Studio and start advertising themselves.
Access to Marquee
Marquee is a sponsored recommendation of your new release to Spotify users who have recently shown interest in your music. Not yet available in every country. It is very much like a regular ad, but then more sophisticated and better looking. Also, it is more expensive.
Managing an artist profile
Use the Artist Profile section to add images:
Avatar image:
The picture displayed in search results in the Spotify app.
Header image:
The image on top of your Spotify profile.
Image gallery:
Here you can select the images shown in the About section of your profile.
Bio:
Spotify gives you 1500 characters for your bio. You are allowed to use @tags for artists, albums, playlists and tracks on Spotify, or links to social media. You also get to select your artist pick.
Artist fundraising pick:
Spotify enables you to raise funds from your fans on Spotify, either for yourself or another project. Spotify does not take any cut from these funds. Links to fundraisers can be included on your artist page.
How do I claim my profile?
All artists that have at least one track on Spotify can claim their accounts easily. It is done through this link. If you distribute your music through Kwettr, that means you can definitely claim your artist profile.
After claiming your profile, you can also give team members access. For example, managers who can submit your pitches to playlists.
Using Spotify for Artists to pitch music
Well before the release date, you can use Spotify for Artists to pitch music to Spotify’s playlist curators. Some tips:
- Pitch as early as possible; the more lead time the better.
- Pitching doesn’t guarantee a feature.
- Status Available Soon: this means Spotify is still processing your new music and you can’t pitch it (yet).
- Compilations can’t be pitched for playlist consideration. Spotify simply does not support the format for features.
- Featured artists can’t pitch. You have to be a Primary artist on a song in order to pitch a track for features.
- Editing pitches: up until the release date, you can edit the pitch but there is no guarantee that Spotify will notice this.
- Spotify notifies you via email if your song has been selected for features.
By pitching your music, new tracks are likely to appear in A Spotify playlist called Discover Weekly. Spotify has algorithmic playlists that can feature your new song.
Statistics
The statistics part of a Spotify for Artists account contains valuable information. Stream-, listeners- and follower counts, source of streams, playlist placements and demographics about your listeners. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Statistics are updated on a daily basis, around 3 PM EST.
- Live Spotify stream count for the first 7 days after a release: updated every 2 seconds.
To summarize:
Spotify for Artists is a powerful tool for artists and managers, to improve their online presence on Spotify. Kwettr clients can combine pitches to Spotify for Artists with pitches to user-generated playlists. One of the benefits is that your tracks get featured in more playlists and will end up higher in Spotify’s algorithm for features.
