Spotify Marquee vs Facebook Ads

Spotify Marquee vs Facebook Ads

by | Feb 10, 2022 | Highlight, Spotify

There are limitless ways to get your music heard, and sometimes, the immensity of options can confuse artists. Facebook ads and Spotify Marquee are two great options for artists who are conversant with their usage. This guide will compare both platforms and draw a definite conclusion on the winner. 

The winner will be chosen based on six crucial factors: CTR, replays, awareness, minimum budget, data, and campaign diversity. Let’s roll!

Click-through Rate: Spotify Marquee Wins

The argument for advertising is that it brings brands closer to their potential audience. Facebook allows business pages to target people based on affiliated groups, competitors’ pages, hashtags, and approved keywords. While running Facebook ads has been one of the most effective ways to get people to cross over to Spotify, its click-through rate is relatively low – 0.89%. Spotify Marquee CTR is 21.7% higher than Instagram, Facebook ads, or Twitter (according to Rolling Stone).

Replays: Spotify Marquee Wins

Harassing listeners with multiple and intrusive ads won’t compel them to stream your music, let alone save it. Hence, the best way to 

advertise is to target an audience that is more receptive to your content when they are most receptive. In summary, the interests of the target audience and the timing of the ad matter most.

Although Facebook lets you target their users based on their preferences, locations, age, or sex, Spotify Marquee takes music ads to the next level. Instead of targeting Facebook users who might not have anything to do with your music, you can target your old fans on Spotify and potential fans of your competitors in the same genre. For instance, if you are a conscious rapper, you can target Common Talib Kweli, Mos Def, and The Roots fanbase. 

Regarding timing, most of the Spotify listeners you will be targeting are in the right mood for some good music, so they might be willing to try out some new music of yours. Unfortunately, when promoting your new music on Facebook, there is no way to know if the listeners are getting ready for work, coming home during a hectic day, or just uninterested, putting you at the risk of targeting an audience in the wrong state of mind.  According to a Spotify report highlighting the success of Drama with the tool, a quarter of Listeners who were targeted with a Marquee saved or playlisted at least a track from the album. It appears these listeners streamed 17 tracks.

The good thing about Spotify Marquee is that it brings your music where your potential and current fans are gathered. No more traffic diversion from Facebook to Spotify. Why not go to Spotify directly?

Also, running Facebook ads for Spotify is like burning dollars to promote the Spotify brand for free. Running a Spotify Marquee ad is the opposite; it allows you to exploit already-established Spotify users, not people who may have accounts on other DSPs like Apple or Deezer. So when it comes to the number of replays gotten per ad, Spotify Marquee is the winner.

Awareness: Facebook Ads wins

An awareness campaign aims to bring people’s attention to a brand. If you want to build brand awareness, Facebook is your best go-to. Spotify has roughly 165 million subscribers, while Facebook has 2.91 billion active users. Consequently, Facebook has more users and a wider demographic compared to Spotify. Also, you can go viral on Facebook with $5000, but spending the same amount on Spotify Marquee will only give you 9000 streams, according to Rolling Stone. The Facebook pay-per-click system allows you to pay less money if you choose to target a wider audience or audience from third-world countries. You can take advantage of the Facebook system to introduce your brand new fans across the globe. Facebook is the clear winner here.

Minimum Budget: Facebook Wins

The minimum budget for a Spotify Marquee ad is $250. On the other hand, all you need to set up a Facebook ad is $5. So the margin is too far, and Facebook is the winner.

Data: A Tie

Advertisers who advertise only for streams are short-sighted.  We live in an information age where data is power. One of the reasons big labels make accurate moves is because they have access to data from their artists and tech companies.

Spotify offers data metrics such as ads reach, clicks, campaign engagement, fan development metrics,  conversion rate, number of streams, saves, playlist adds, and many more. In addition, Facebook gives you access to the number of ad views, ad clicks, and budget spent. Also, you can check the performance by demographics and placement. 

The Facebook algorithm can predict the results you could get according to your budget. But, when it comes to data, it’s a tie. If you want data about your users’ behavior on Spotify, go with Spotify Marquee. On the other hand, if you want to track consumer behavior outside Spotify, Facebook is your best bet. With tracking tools like Bitly or LinkTrackr, you can get more information via Facebook ads.

Campaign Diversity: Facebook Wins

As we’ve mentioned earlier, when it comes to diversity of users, even if few companies could beat Facebook, unfortunately, Spotify is not one of those companies. You can target users across all walks of life and race on Facebook.

Conclusion: Spotify Marquee vs Facebook Ads

The overall winner is the Facebook ads manager. However, if you wish to capture your music audience where they are gathered, Spotify Marquee is the best route. If you are running a brand awareness campaign, feel free to use Facebook ads.

Spotify Promotion Tips for 2022

Spotify Promotion Tips for 2022

by | Feb 2, 2022 | Highlight, Spotify, Tips

What does 2022 hold for Spotify artists?

How can Spotify artists make more money off Spotify this year?

2021 was a great year for Spotify artists, especially those from emerging markets like Africa, India, and Latin-American artists in general. On a scale of 1-10, Spotify attained 7 out of 10 for transparency last year, in my opinion. They published two Fan Studies; one gave out impressive data on the best practices on Spotify and the markets that paid the most while the second report tipped artists on how to maximize the Spotify platform for more streams. No other music DSP doles that much data to artists.

So far, this year has been dramatic for Spotify, as a brand, but we’ve heard little that concerns the artists. Apart from the Joe Rogan situation that got them siding with the podcaster over Niel Young and a 25% stock dip in January, Spotify has not been vocal about platform changes that could determine how artists should tilt their Spotify Campaigns in 2022. Hence, artists are left in the post-pandemic bubble regarding the dos and don’ts of Spotify promotion. Any blog or vlogger that pretends

to know what 2022 holds for the Spotify artists is simply tempting fate or straight out lying.

One update however that could piss Spotify fans off is the continued postponement of the launch of Spotify HiFi for premium Spotify subscribers. The Spotify HiFi is a feature that could boost fan experience and music interaction of the platform but for whatever reason, the Swedish music distribution behemoth is holding back. According to a Spotify community post in early January, 2022, the Spotify HiFi feature is “under consideration” and unavailable till further notice.

Below are the best practices that helped our Spotify artists in 2021. Every artist should take notes and apply them.

Get on other artists release radars

A great cosign from an established artist could be all you need to offshoot’ your career. Apart from getting all the visibility and bragging rights that come with a huge cosign, there are also algorithmic benefits attached. You can easily get on another artist’s Spotify Release Radar by featuring them or getting featured by them. Spotify would push your feature music out to your fans alongside theirs. It’s a win-win move. People like Vory, Lil Durk, and Fireboy recently got mainstream because of cosigns. There are barely any established artists who have not benefitted from the “stimulus package” system.

Use Spotify Canvas

Spotify Canvas is an 8-second visual loop that keeps fans engaged while playing music on Spotify. The Canvas is presented in a vertical style on the Spotify app. Artists are encouraged to add a canvas according to the Spotify report. They stated that Spotify Canvas has helped boost the fans’ engagement on the page of artists like Billie Eilish. According to a Spotify report, artists that used the Canvas feature enjoyed more than a 145% increase in share rate, 20% increase in playlist adds, 5% increase in the number of streams, 9% boost in profile visits, and 1.4% increase in save rate. It is worthy to note that Canvas is restricted to specific locations. Check if you are eligible to post a Canvas here.

Stay up on everybody’s face before and after release

Why do you think popular artists stir up conversations around their relationship, beef with another artist, body, sexuality, label issues, or allegations when they are about to drop new music. Kanye West and Drake did it when they were about to release Donda and Certified Lover Boy.

While this controversial pattern among artists seems corny, the game is the game. The moment people stop talking about you as an artist, your music experiences a downtrend. As an upcoming artist, starting your career with controversy might be a no-no, but you have to ensure that your social media account is always updated with “likeworthy” content that reminds your listeners of you especially during your release month. Leave the mysterious persona or selectively available status for when you are established. Now is the time to put yourself out there.

Always pitch your music for Spotify Playlist Consideration

I understand that the chances of getting into Spotify editorial playlists are slimmer for newer artists compared to the established ones. However, not pitching your music to Spotify editors also robs you of the chance to be featured on an algorithmic playlist. Unlike editorial playlists, you have a good chance of getting on algorithmic playlists such as 

Discover Weekly and Release Radar only if you go through the Spotify pitching process. If you are having trouble getting your head around the terms editorial and algorithmic playlists, ensure you check out our guide on the 5 types of algorithmic playlists on Spotify. While you are at it, try to research any non-editorial playlist before pitching to any independent playlist curator. Use the down-to-earth steps discussed in this article to detect fake Spotify playlists.

Have a TikTok plan

Spotify is the latest social media platform doling out free exposure to non-celebs, giving upcoming musicians the opportunity to gain clout. Sooner or later, this window of opportunity would close as TikTok would monetize their platforms by demanding money for exposure. The same thing happened to Facebook and Instagram. These two platforms used people to promote their platforms and dumped them when they decided to monetize their platforms. It is not unusual for Facebook pages with over 100k followers to have little success reaching a good percentage of their followers.  They have to pay to do that. Whether it is fair or not – that’s a discussion for another day – my point is you should get on the TikTok bandwagon before it is too late. 

Final Thoughts

2022 promises to be a great year for artists. Stay tuned for regular updates on the best Spotify promotion tactics used by established labels and successful indie artists. 

How to recognize fake Spotify Playlists

How to recognize fake Spotify Playlists

by | Jan 19, 2022 | Highlight, Spotify

Don’t get scammed by crooks who disguise themselves as organic playlist curators. Instead, become a mobile bot streams detector by following the steps discussed in this guide.

There is no automated app for checking the validity of Spotify streams garnered from playlists of interest. Hence, artists must rely on instincts, logic, or common sense to differentiate between bot-supported playlists and organic ones. Contrary to popular belief, it is pretty easy to detect fake playlists, but you must be quite familiar with the techniques discussed in this guide.

Who is the Biggest Loser?

When a desperate artist pays for a thousand bot streams on Fiverr or a sketchy website, who is the biggest loser. Spotify or the artists?

To solve this puzzle, we must understand how Spotify makes its money and payout model.

According to Eric Dott, an associate professor of music theory at the University of Texas, Spotify is not getting mad at artists who use artificial streaming because technically, they have nothing to lose. He maintains that creating systems that eliminate bot streaming might be more expensive than letting it remain on the platform. Although Spotify has called out a few artists who used artificial streaming, they have little incentive to go on a massive campaign against entities that use bots to boost their streams.

In his words, the money lost to artificial streaming affects the musicians’ share, not Spotify’s share.

This is because Spotify makes money from subscriptions of fans and ads, but artists only get paid per stream. So the amount paid to artists depends on the net revenue from advertisements and premium subscription fees.

A dollar gained for fake Spotify streams is a dollar lost by innocent artists who get their streams from organic listeners.

Follow the steps given below to detect fake Spotify playlists.

Check for an unreasonable spike in followers count via Chartmetric

Chartmetric is a data analysis tool that can be used to see how well or how bad a Spotify playlist is performing. You can also get data on how an artist’s account is performing. It is a freemium tool, but you can check any Spotify playlist’s followers’ count graph for free.

Search for the playlist name or paste the playlist link in the search bar on the Chartmetric website. Look out for any sign of ridiculous increase or decrease in followers’ count on Chartmetric. You can ask the curator to explain what influenced the increase in followers. If the curator cannot provide a tenable answer, assuming the followers are bots is safe.

Calculate the ratio of the monthly listeners to the number of followers

You can get the ratio by dividing the number of monthly listeners by the number of followers. Round off the results to get whole figures. The normal ratios are 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 up to 26:1. New artists that are just gaining clout can have a ratio of 50:1. However, artists who bought fake streams can have ratios of 100:1 up to 200:1.  In a case where an artist with 100,000 monthly listeners has 50 followers, know that something is wrong somewhere.

Check for random recommended artists

Based on the artist’s playlists, Spotify recommends related artists on the artist’s profile page. However, if an artist gets plays from bot-supported playlists, the Spotify recommendation would be incorrect.

Ask the playlist curator for proof of organic growth

Most fake playlist curators would want you to believe they are getting streams organically. Ask them about the growth process. Real playlists curators use influencer marketing, cross-playlisting platforms, Facebook ads, and blog placements to boost organic streams. If a playlist curator claims he or she is using Facebook ads, ask for proof. If they cannot provide you with evidence, there is a high probability that they are getting plays from bots.

Ask other artists who have been featured on the playlist via social media DMs

If you got duped by an Amazon manufacturer, you would be motivated to drop a bad review and report them to Amazon. Unfortunately, although artists can report playlists to Spotify, there is no way to drop bad reviews since the act of soliciting for playlist features is illegal on Spotify.  

You can reach out to artists featured on the playlist to know their experience with the playlist curator. If they say the streams are fake, it is most likely fake.

Check the top cities of the artists on the playlist

In the past, Spotify had a feature that allowed anyone to check the top cities where an artist’s listeners are based.

More often than not, the top cities of artists should come from well-populated areas. The exceptions are artists who are famous in small cities. Such artists might be able to pull off impressive numbers from their hometowns. Also, artists trending in a particular town might experience a sudden spike in streams coming from that region.

If the top cities shown on the Spotify profiles of various artists that are featured on a particular playlist are the same or the top cities have small populations, the playlist is fake.

Spotify removed the feature some weeks ago due to unknown reasons. The data visible on the about section of artists are the number of followers, bio, playlists, and the number of streams on recent tracks.

Final Thoughts

If you have been added to a fake playlist and discover that the listeners’ location doesn’t add up via your Spotify for artists dashboard, ask to be removed from the playlist and report them to Spotify.

How to build real Spotify fans using mailing lists

How to build real Spotify fans using mailing lists

by | Jan 13, 2022 | Highlight, Spotify

You cannot afford to release another masterpiece that won’t get heard outside the walls of your studio.

You have invested too much time, money, and creative effort into your new track, and it deserves to be celebrated globally.  

It does not matter if you have 1000 Instagram followers or 300 followers. If you follow the steps in this guide, you will be able to reach out to your fans directly and sell them your cool customized tees for your upcoming projects.

The bitter truth is that it pays to have 1000 Spotify fans than 30,000 Instagram followers. Why? We explained why your Instagram followers are not your fans in a recent report. That report also exposed how social media companies are cheating you. Read now to know what’s at stake before proceeding with this mailing list guide.

More Spotify Followers; More First Week Sales

The Spotify algorithm promotes your music to people who resemble your immediate audience (Spotify followers). If you don’t have enough followers, the best way the algorithm can help you is to feature your track on an algorithmic Spotify playlist. Then, if your track gains traction via the playlist(s), the Spotify algorithm will push the song to personalized

playlists of your lookalike audience. Does the term ‘personalized Spotify playlists’ sound confusing? Don’t stress! We got you. Educate yourself on the various types of playlists available on Spotify.

As an upcoming artist, the chances that you would be added to Garnering many followers on Instagram will only get you miserly likes that won’t pay your bills. To make things worse, Instagram limits the percentage of followers who see your content, leaving you no other choice than to pay Mark Zuckerberg to reach your followers. Which do you prefer? One thousand engaged  Spotify followers coupled with an opportunity to grow big on Spotify or 30000 unresponsive Instagram followers that won’t see your content let alone stream your music. Serious-minded musicians will choose the former.

If you are still reading this guide, it means you are very passionate about music. Congratulations! You have stumbled upon the success secrets of big indie artists and labels. In the next section, I will introduce you to the tools used by professional music marketers to sell merchandise and boost album sales. Without these tools, your first week’s sales would plummet badly.

What is a mailing list?

Big labels use various tools such as Facebook fan pages, playlists, and conventional promotion platforms like TV or billboard spaces but the ultimate music marketing tool is the mailing list.

A mailing list is simply a compilation of addresses employed by artists to reach their subscribers via mail. It allows artists to seek the user’s permission before showing up on a random Tuesday morning with a ‘new music’ newsletter.

How does a mailing list work?

The mailing list allows you to send newsletters to subscribers who have previously permitted you to send them emails. In addition, you can garner people’s emails via website pop-ups, social media, and manually from shows/gigs.

There are two types of mailing lists – the announcement list and the discussion list. A discussion list allows subscribers or external entities to post messages that would be visible to every member. In contrast, an announcement list enables the owner to send emails to the recipients’ inboxes.

Some low-range companies often purchase people’s emails to send them bulk emails. As an artist, you should not engage in such acts. Always seek permission before using people’s emails. Why mail someone who did not consent to get emails from you? It is counterproductive as the mail service provider will get ‘listwashed’.

an algorithmic or editorial playlist is slim. Likewise, the likelihood that the followers of machine-curated playlists would appreciate your type of music is smaller. So your best bet to blow up on Spotify is to nurture a couple of thousands of followers on your account and self-curated playlists. Then, BOOM – you can scale up from there.

How do I create a mailing list?

You don’t need to be skilled in coding or programming to create a mailing list. However, to efficiently operate an announcement list, you need to register with an email marketing service like MailChimp. Some services are free until you reach a specific number of subscribers, while others are paid. An email marketing service lets you send bulk messages at once, check your subscriber activity, know your subscribers’ location, and give you access to advanced reporting tools.

How to grow your Spotify followers using mailing lists?

Write killer content

Subscribers have done their part by signing up for your mailing list. It is your job to send them entertaining content consistently. If you are not a good writer, you may have to hire one on Upwork or Fiverr. Don’t let your inability to come up with creative posts push your subscribers to unsubscribe from your list.

Promote your personal playlist

Playlist curation gives you a reason to show up on your subscribers’ desktops more often. The fact is that you cannot release music every time, so you must find ways to stay relevant when you are not dropping music. Add your music and songs from other artists to the playlist. The more people listen to your playlist, the higher your stream count. Check here for more tips on how to promote your Spotify playlist.

Give your audience an incentive to follow you on Spotify

You can give away free merch, Instagram shoutouts, or tickets to your shows in a bid to get people to follow you on Spotify. You can get creative with giveaways and find ways to reward your subscribers for following you on Spotify.

Use relevant CTAs in your newsletters

Call to action (CTA) refers to the words or phrases added to an article to encourage the readers to take action. For example, use catchy phrases to save your songs before a release and follow you on Spotify. Remember: the algorithm pushes your song to your followers and the lookalikes.

Final Thoughts

At the top of the music pyramid, there are a few outliers. Why few? The unsavory truth is that there isn’t much space for everyone at the top (It is what it is). To get to the top, you must be willing to take a path less traveled. While others are crazy about social media, keep building your mailing list and secure your future as an artist.

Million-dollar merch tips from Spotify to Artists

Million-dollar merch tips from Spotify to Artists

by | Dec 22, 2021 | Highlight, Spotify

Since you all loved our previous article on Spotify’s first-ever fan study, we felt cute and decided to cover their latest fan study (merch edition). Below are the biggest takeaways from the recent report, and we believe these tips are worth a million dollars. Enjoy. 

New Converts pay the most $$$ 

Lovers do the most when their relationship is new. They text more often, laugh hard at each other’s silly jokes, wait forever for either of them to cut the call, kiss in public, and tell the world about their newly found love. However, these little acts fade as their relationship ages.

The same thing can be said about music fans. Although your day-one fans will always be the ones to defend you when you get involved in scandals or when you clash with your music rivals, it is the new converts that would be willing to spend their money on your merch in the first week of release without much marketing.

Stats for nerds: According to Spotify, new fans are 7.8 times more willing to cop your merch a day after they hop on your music, and they are 7.0 times more likely to donate to your fundraiser account.

More Music Release; More Merch Sales

Unless you are Ye or Rihana, it may be challenging to get your fans to buy your merch when you are not releasing a new album or single.

The media buzz artists get during a music release, their once-in-a-blue-moon interaction with fans, and the buildup of FOMO across their

fan social media group pages make it almost impossible for the core fans not to purchase their new merch.

Stats for nerds: According to Spotify, artists get the most merch clicks 24 days after a fresh release. Fans are 7.2 times more willing to cop your merch on release days compared to other days, 4.0 times more in the first week compared to other weeks, and 2.1 times more in the release month compared to other months.

The most followed artists make more sales

Are you surprised that artists with many followers sold more T-shirts than those with fewer followers? No? Me neither. I mean – you don’t expect an upcoming artist with less than 100,000 overall followers to have more sales than Drake. But, it is what it is.

Stats for nerds: In line with the November Spotify fan study, 67% of fans who clicked on an unspecified artist’s merch were those who playlisted their tracks, liked their tracks, or followed their Spotify account.

Black is the key to more sales 

Spotify noticed that 50% of the T-shirts by artists were black, while white and grey T-shirts made up 30% of the overall T-shirts stocked. The reason thousands of artists prefer to use black T-Shirts is that all colors pop with a black background, making it harder for fans not to notice your new merch. So if you want all the attention, join the #teamblack.

Stats for nerds: The colors – grey, blue, green, red, yellow, pink, and purple – dipped below 10%, according to Spotify Fan Study (merch edition). In addition, 50% of the T-shirts attached to artists’ profiles were black, while about 20% were white.

Stand out or get lost

Fans are not stupid. No one is willing to put their hard-earned cash on some crappy generic T-shirt because the face of their favorite artist is featured on the merch.

So boss up and hire the best designer to help you create amazing designs. The automated merch designers won’t help you. 

Treat your merch the same way you treat your music (we assume you care about the music); no artist in their right mindset would use an automated mixing tool or put out music that’s not on par with the current industry standards. So why then should you do that to your merch?

Stats for nerds: Sorry, no stats available for this section.

My Christmas Gift to You 

2021 is the year to bury the idea that DSP sales alone can sustain you in the music business. It does not work that way. Ye did not become a billionaire because he had 10 number one albums. Rihanna did not attain the Forbes billionaire status because of her Grammys. At a point in time, these two artists have complained about the low pay they get from music sales. Hence, they are billionaires because they started selling something different than their music – physical merch. Ye has Yeezy, and Rihana has Fenty. 

What do you have? Yes, you.

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and we have a system to make it work in your favor.

We are preparing some great material to guide music artists on their path to success.

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