Are you an artist? You are basically looking forward to building a career in music and probably wondering what Spotify for Artists is all about. And why should I consider using the online streaming platform? Is it also free? In this article, I will be answering all questions as well as exploring its cool features.
You are probably used to the Spotify core music streaming platform. Spotify for Artists is a free Add-on feature provided to creators by Spotify. As an artist, once your first song is published, you will be able to utilize the tool to attract more users and fans. The Spotify Artist is a less popular feature.
If you are a content creator, it comes with some handy tools that are really useful for you. Making your presence known on the platform helps you improve the look of your profile and helps users prove you are not fake. You can also muster insight that will help you make wise decisions regarding marketing and more.
Spotify for Artists helps you discover new and existing fan bases. Both you and your production team can access “Spotify for Artists”. You access the Spotify artist platform as an independent artist, regardless of what genre of music you sing. It is basically open to everyone and anyone who wants to push his or her music and take his or her music career to the next level.
What’s on Spotify for Artists?
One of the things that makes a platform or a product stand out among its competitors is its exceptional features. When you visit the Spotify for Artists website, you will see a features tab at the top of its homepage. If you access the website via a computer, you will see all the features pop up when you place your mouse cursor on it. We’ll explain each feature’s purpose in no particular order:
Canvas
This is an amazing feature on Spotify for Artists that allows artists and their teams to get the most out of their music. It is an 8-second video loop that allows artists to engage their fans when listening to their songs.
You can add a Canvas to each of your tracks on Spotify, and when your fans are listening to any of your songs, your Spotify Canvas will playback, giving them a catchy visual experience. Mind you, Canvas currently works only on the Spotify app and is not compatible with the web version.
If your Canvas is of high quality or good enough, it can propel listeners to share your music, which will consequently boost your profile visits.
Clips
This is another fascinating feature on Spotify for Artists that is primarily designed to allow artists to express their artistry to their fandom in a less than 30-second video clip. As an artist, it helps you drive metrics that matter to your career, like streams, follows, and saves.
You can use this feature to hype an upcoming release, share a creative process, promote a single or album, or share what you do behind the scenes. In simple terms, it is a tool that can turn listeners into fans if it is effectively utilized.
Discovery Mode
This is more like a music marketing tool that is designed to help you find new listeners. According to Spotify, this tool garners more than 16 billion artist discoveries monthly. As an artist, you can leverage this tool, which allows Spotify to recommend your songs to other artists and labels who might be interested in listening to them.
Meanwhile, the Discovery Mode feature is yet to be available to all artists as it is still in its beta phase. If you’re eligible for it, you will see ‘’Discovery Mode’’ in your ‘’Campaigns’’ tab in your Spotify for Artists account.
For you to be eligible for Discovery Mode, you must meet some requirements. They include;
- Have at least three tracks that meet the track eligibility criteria.
- You must have at least 25,000 listeners in a month. According to Spotify, this feature works best with audiences of this size or above.
- Lastly, you must have an active Spotify Artist Team registered in any of the eligible countries.
For a track to be qualified for Discovery Mode. It must meet the below requirements:
- Have been uploaded on Spotify for not less than thirty days.
- The track must have a participating licensor as its distributor. Current participating licensors are CmdShft, CD Baby, Dance All Day, Amuse, Stem, DistroKid, Venice Music, EmuBands, Vydia, and UnitedMasters.
- And it must have been played in Autoplay or Radio in the last seven days.
This feature is best used to promote new releases. One good thing about it is that you can control its algorithm, as you can control how many tracks and for how long you want them in Discovery Mode.
Marquee
Marquee is a paid music promotional tool that allows artists and labels to run campaigns for their songs by increasing their music’s visibility. Before the advent of Marquee, artists had to rely on ads outside of Spotify.
However, most of these ads are inaccurate in their targeting, and the rigorous process that potential listeners have to take to get from that platform to Spotify makes them somewhat ineffective.
So, Spotify thought it wise to introduce its own music promotional tool, which will better serve artists. Marquee works differently compared to other paid promotional tools in the sense that it gets to listeners when they are thinking of what to listen to instead of when they are browsing.
With Marquee, you can run a campaign for any of your eligible new releases and increase your visibility and streams in no time.
The most unique thing about this marketing tool is that it allows you to target listeners based on their listening history, and it doesn’t appear like an intrusive ad but as a music recommendation.
Merch
In my subjective view, this is the best feature as far as I’m concerned. Apart from earning via music streams, you can also increase your revenue whenever anyone buys your merchandise. In the meantime, Spotify has partnered with Shopify to provide artists with multiple streams of income.
All you have to do is install the Spotify for Artists app in the Shopify App Store if you’re already merchandising via Shopify. In addition, Spotify gives you the privilege to choose which inventory is displayed on your artist profile and release pages.
What are you waiting for? Join the millions of artists who sell on Spotify by getting started with the Shopify starter plan for $5 per month.
Playlisting
This is yet another sensational feature that helps you amass extra play and new followers. One of the three types of playlists on Spotify is ‘’Algorithmic playlists’’. It is a type of playlist created by the Spotify algorithm for Spotify users by monitoring their listening habits and using the metric to create a personalized playlist for them.
This means that if a user listens to any of your tracks frequently, Spotify may decide to playlist them for that particular user, which will in turn increase your streams.
Promo Cards
This is a promotional tool that allows artists to create promotional images that they can share with their fans to promote their songs or albums on social media. Perhaps you’re featured in a song, and you want your friends to be aware of it.
All you have to do is search for the content and customize how you want them to see it by selecting your desired color and shape.
However, not all playlists are eligible for Promo Cards at the moment. Some of the eligible playlists include Viva Latino, Hot Hits Canada, Rap Caviar, Masion Reggaeton, Hots Hits UK, Indigo, Pop Rising, etc.
How to Create a Spotify for Artists Account
For you to enjoy all the above-listed features on Spotify for Artists, you must create a Spotify account. But then, you must already have a Spotify account before signing up as an artist on Spotify. Follow the steps below to set up an account:
- Visit the Spotify for Artists website on your web browser.
- Click ”Get Access” at the top-right corner.
- Spotify will then ask you who you are.
- Depending on your role, choose ”Artist or manager”.
- On the next page, which you are redirected to, named “Claim an artist profile,” click Continue
- Either click Next or Change account, depending on what comes up.
- On the next page, Spotify will ask you to claim a profile.
- Search for an artist or paste a Spotify artist URL.
- Spotify will ask you to provide an email address where they’ll send updates and other communications regarding the account.
- Enter the email address and click ”Next”.
- A six-digit code will be sent to the email address. Copy and paste it into the field provided and tap ”Next”.
- Now fill in the empty fields on the next page.
- After that, verify your humanity and click ”Next”.
- At this juncture, Spotify will ask you to connect to the artist’s social media account or ask an admin on your team to invite you so that they can verify your identity.
- Depending on which verification method you choose, click ”Next” after providing the necessary information.
Voila! Spotify will display a message on the next page that reads ‘’We’ve got your request’’. Now, you will have to wait for your application to be reviewed by the support team. Once your request has been approved, you will be granted access for as long as you want.
Is Spotify for Artists Free?
Just like every other music streaming platform, owning a Spotify account is absolutely free. Spotify won’t charge you a penny for owning a Spotify for Artists account.
Once fans start streaming your music on Spotify, you will get paid. Cool, right? But uploading music to Spotify costs about $9.99 via TuneCore. You get discounts while uploading multiple accounts.
How Long Does it Take Spotify to Verify An Artist?
Typically, when you apply to claim an artist account on Spotify for Artists, the support team will review it and send you an email within three days. But if you don’t get any response after three days of applying, you shouldn’t think of submitting another request until you hear from them.
Why Should I Use Spotify for Artists?
Honestly, there are tons of benefits you’ll enjoy when you create a Spotify for Artists account. Perhaps you’re a big artist or just upcoming, Spotify for Artists helps you find your audience and market better to them.
- The main reason we are all going through this is to make money. And this is the most important thing that has been put in place: offering you about $0.003 to $0.0084 per stream, with an average payout of $0.004 per stream. However, it involves many factors, depending on your domicile.
- As an artist using the Spotify artist features, you can improve the look of your profile and prove your authentication.
- Expand your fandom: It helps you build a great fanbase, exposing you to the world and giving you a massive audience from different parts of the world.
- Build your business: Leverage the in-built commerce tools to promote your merchandise. This is one of the features that makes Spotify for Artists more appealing to users. Perhaps you have an online business, you can add your merchandise to your music so that your fans can buy the products you’re selling while they’re listening to your songs. You must, however, have a Shopify account before you can join the millions of artists who sell on Spotify.
- Promote your new releases with Marquee: Marquee is a sensational music promotion tool on Spotify for artists, specially created for artists to promote their upcoming releases. Aside from artists, labels, and managers can also use this amazing feature to turn prospective listeners into engaged fans.
As you can see, Spotify for artists is indeed an indispensable tool for everyone in the music industry. With its plethora of features, you can conveniently grow your career and audience.
