Spotify Music Promotion for Independent Artists

With over 382 million active monthly users, Spotify is one of the top music streaming platforms used by music fans around the world. Getting your music on Spotify and effectively promoting it can be a game changer for independent artists looking to find new listeners. However, with over 82 million tracks on Spotify, standing out requires a strategic approach. Here are some of the most effective tactics for Spotify music promotion as an indie artist.

Optimize Your Artist Profile

Your Spotify artist profile serves as your homepage on the platform that fans can follow and engage with. Ensure your profile is completely filled out with:

- A professional profile and cover photo that conveys your brand

- Your bio filled with relevant keywords fans may search for

- Your available releases showcased

- Links to all of your social media profiles so fans can find you elsewhere online

An optimized profile makes you discoverable by fans and Spotify’s own algorithms recommending you on playlists and in the Browse section. Read more about Spotify playlist submission

Land Spotify Editorial Playlists

Securing placements on Spotify’s own curated editorial playlists is huge for music discovery. With tens of millions of engaged followers, editorial playlists like New Music Friday, Discover Weekly, and Release Radar can send streams into the tens or hundreds of thousands for indie artists.

To catch the attention of Spotify's in-house curation team:

- Submitting your releases on Spotify for Artists

- If available in your region, apply for Radar, the program for emerging artists

- Network with playlists curators on social media or industry events

- Hire a reputable Spotify playlist plugging service

- Pitch your album tracks, not just singles, for increased opportunities

While not guaranteed, developing relationships with the right curators and persistence with continued releases may eventually land you those coveted spots.
Find out about the best way to promote music

And check out the Submithub, One Submit and Playlist push review.

Music Blog Submissions

Music blogs that write about or premiere new artists can be highly valuable in their own right for gaining fans. But most music blogs today also have strong Spotify presences, including proprietary playlists, channels, and influencer accounts. By securing blog coverage and exactly timed Spotify premieres, you amplify that blog’s existing audience. Read more about how to pitch your track to music blogs.

When submitting to music blogs:

- Personalize your pitch highlighting why it's a good fit

- Offer assets like dropbox links to music files, cover artwork, photos etc

- Follow up multiple times if needed but avoid harassing

- Develop relationships with consistent outreach beyond just around releases

Securing blog posts and coverage on sites like Earmilk, Indie Shuffle, and Pigeons and Planes can directly translate to spikes of Spotify activity when releases go live there.

Spotify Playlisting Services

There are also paid third-party playlisting services which pitch your music to their networks of influential Spotify playlists. While quality varies widely, reputable providers can deliver hundreds to thousands of new followers and considerable streams. Key factors for the best services include: 

- Real Spotify followers and listeners vs fake bot accounts

- Pitching to influential mood, genre and regional playlists that fit your music 

- Persistent follow up over weeks to secure placements

- Results reporting to validate ROI

While an upfront investment, the best professional Spotify pitching services pay for themselves in streams, new fans, and resulting touring and merch income rather quickly at the typical artist royalty rate.

Reach Out to Micro-Influencers

Lastly, every genre and niche have its own network of micro-influencers on Spotify; the playlist curators, influencer accounts, bloggers, and power users rallying fans around the music they love. Like a digital word of mouth, getting on their radar can have network effects rippling through the Spotify ecosystem. 

Tactics to identify and contact relevant micro-influencers:

- Use Spotify charts to find top playlists and curators in your niche

- Follow users who saved your release or added your songs to see who organically engages

- Contact YouTube channels and Tastemakers in your space for cross promotion opportunities

- Search relevant hashtags and keywords by users discussing music like yours

While bigger names get inundated with pitches, offering personalized value to hungry up-and-comers can spark authentic shares, adds, and co-marketing all while avoiding spam.

The combination of optimizing your assets, securing prime placements with influencers and curators, and amplifying off-platform discovery channels is key. This comprehensive approach makes Spotify music promotion scalable finally allowing your music to cut through the noise.

TikTok Music Promotion for Artists

As emerging artists themselves receive over 2 billion views daily, TikTok has also become a vital platform not just for music discovery, but catalyzing songs into chart-topping hits. Lil Nas X launching "Old Town Road" from obscurity to the longest running #1 song in Billboard history put the music industry on notice to the power of TikTok. Artists today now pursue viral TikTok hits by design. 

Relatedly, TikTok playlisters and influencers focused on new music discovery have become the new radio DJs and gatekeepers to stardom. Securing their placement and promotion either organically or through paid campaigns now determines which songs get in front of millions daily and compels fans to stream and share. Here’s how artists can effectively promote music via TikTok:

Hashtag Challenges

Major artists like Megan Thee Stallion have partnered directly with TikTok on sponsored hashtag challenges to drive dance trends based on their latest singles. But smaller artists can also start grassroots hashtag campaigns with engaging calls to action around styles of videos that could fit the vibe of their music. If the hashtag takes off, it positions you as an emerging artist championing that meme or creative content style.

Duets & Stitches

Duets and stitches which allow TikTokers to riff on existing videos with their own creative spin also enable savvy artists to tap into videos with existing audiences by complementing them with their music. Tactfully dueting viral videos in your niche and adding your own musical twist can transfer that video's built-in discoverability to your own original sound.

TikTok Playlisting Channels

Playlist brands focused on TikTok music trends have over 7 million followers. Channels like VibeVessel, CrushVibes, and The New Hits leverage armies of creators submitting music for recurring placement. Submitting to have snippets of your songs featured in their videos can secure invaluable placements in front of engaged new music fans primed for discovery.

Influencer Marketing

Lastly, bigger musicians are directly paying and partnering with nano and micro influencers in their genres that maintain their own profile of highly engaged fans. Having influencers dance to or lip sync with your music builds visibility with the exact right audience perfectly primed for conversion across to streaming services. And partnering multiple mid-tier influencers provides compounding network effects through playlists, shares, and recommendations. 

While TikTok music marketing carries its own unique strategies, artists prepared to invest in data-driven promotions tailored to key viral trends and strategically collaborate with the right influencers are seeing the platform deliver on its game changing potential. 

Consistency across channels then sustains that initial momentum into long term fandom. So incorporating organic social media and YouTube, email signup popups on your website, and funneling fans to streaming services creates an ecosystem with stickiness. Following best practices empower artists finally realizing profitable, scalable, and reliable music promotion all starting from TikTok launch pads.