Suppose you desire the Spotify algorithm boost that comes with releasing singles on Spotify while building momentum for your album; this guide might be the most important message you will ever read because it will break down the Spotify waterfall release strategy (a tested and trusted strategy that bridges the gap between a single release and album release). This strategy allows you to build a loyal fanbase, spread content over a more extended period, and attain your desired milestones.
Here’s a sneak peek of what this guide entails for those in a hurry. So have a taste, bookmark this page and come back for the full meal when you are free.
● What is a Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy?
● Does Spotify support the Waterfall Release Strategy?
● How do you do Waterfalls on Spotify?
● Benefits of the Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy
● Examples of Popular Artists who use the Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy
● Final Thoughts: Movement Creates Impact
Did you know that Spotify only allows artists to pitch a song per release? This policy gives single releases an edge over album releases. Hence, it is counterintuitive to drop an EP or album without building momentum before the record release as an upcoming artist.
A release is not the same as a song. An album release consists of a variety of songs (ranging between 30 minutes to 2 hours). On the other hand, when an artist puts out a single track, the release is the same as the song. There are other forms of music releases like the mixtape and EP (but that’s a discussion for another day).
Some songs are better off as singles than album fillers. It’s painful when songs never attain their full potential because the album overshadowed their brilliance. Using this strategy gives your tracks exclusive exposure, and every time you promote your OTG project using ads, it will up the streams for your previous tracks.
Artists like Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, or Kanye West can afford to drop albums or double albums without dropping lead singles because they have fanatic fanbases. As a result, these artists are inevitable on social media, plus they have stans who spam Google Search every day for more information about them. (If you followed the annual Billboard report of the most trending artists on Google Search in previous years, this wouldn’t be new to you).
Putting out lead singles before your album release helps you build a fanbase, get more press, take your audience through a beautiful album rollout/experience and provide the Spotify algorithm with more data, hence helping it identify your lookalike audience.
“If you examine the waterfall concept well enough, you will understand that movement creates impact”
What is a Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy?
A Spotify waterfall release strategy, also known as the building-the-album strategy or SWRS, is a strategy that originated from the growing need to adapt to the streaming era without having to sacrifice conventional album release cycles.
It involves releasing an album track-by-track (gradually) over a specific time until the final tracklist is completely available on Spotify.
Alternatively, SWRS can also be defined as a chain of singles distributed to compile an album as time goes on. An album released with this method does not equate to a playlist, as it can be featured on Wikipedia and Google Knowledge Panel as a record, while playlists don’t get acknowledged in the same light.
The album era was in the 1960s. At first, the primary consumers of albums were wealthier old music fans. As time went by, listeners across all the demographics became consumers of albums, and every genre made it a part of their culture. The production styles differed, but the rollout method was the same – labels built momentum with catchy lead singles and toured radio and TV shows in preparation for the album release.
In the 90s, the album culture primed, and the music industry recorded a revenue boost of about $15 billion from pure CD sales. The big problem was that no one saw the internet coming.
The rise of file-sharing platforms like Napsters wrecked the revenue from CD sales. Then, the 21st century witnessed a decline in album sales. It was not until 2015 that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced that music revenue had bounced back due to the advent of proprietary streaming and media services like Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, iTunes, Deezer, etc.
Even though the revenue from music sales is back to normal, the music culture has shifted in favour of singles. We are now in the streaming era, an era plagued with inattentive listeners with unending options.
As we proceed, you will learn how to take advantage of the Spotify bias towards singles while reaping the benefits of an album release.
Most blog publishers won’t take you seriously as an upcoming artist if you approach them with a single. They may not get past the first sentence of your email pitch.
Dropping a body of work lets music fans know that you have musical depth and attracts listeners who love to binge artists’ catalogues. Who knows? You may be lucky enough to build a massive fanbase like the Beliebers (Justin Bieber’s fanbase), ASAP Mob (ASAP Rocky’s fans), or Ragers (Travis Scott’s fans).
Does Spotify support the Waterfall Release Strategy?
Spotify is a fan of the waterfall release strategy as it promotes the streaming culture and ensures that users visit their platform from time to time.
How to release an album using the Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy?
Earlier in this article, we differentiated between
a release and a track. You can revisit the definition to understand the issues we are about to trash out here.
The Waterfall Release Strategy involves replacing the previous release on your artist page with multiple releases over time. The newer releases include fresh and old tracks that are organised so that listeners consume the new ones first. As the marketing method matures, unfamiliar audiences will get to discover previous releases while established listeners enjoy the growing musical experience.
Although Spotify treats each release separately, the artist can add old tracks to their latest releases using the Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) code.
Instead of making one release and adding tracks to it over time, the waterfall strategy involves making multiple single releases and adding all the tracks when the full album is ripe.
It must be noted that Spotify does not support the Instant Gratification release strategy. The I.G strategy allows artists to make some tracks in an album available for instant purchase before the release date. Then, when the full album is out, platforms that support IGS notify its users.
Do not confuse IGS releases with waterfall releases. Spotify has a distaste for IGS and does not support that release. However, other platforms like Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, iTunes, and Deezer support the Instant Gratification album release method.
Below are the steps required to make a successful waterfall release on Spotify.
- Have a distributor plan that supports multiple releases for a cheap fee because, in 6-12 months, you would be releasing singles back to back. On the other hand, if your distributor requires a one-time fee per release, you may spend too much on the project. For example, Distrokid allows you to put out multiple releases for an annual fee (which depends on the premium tier you subscribe to). You may also want to look at distribution platform such as CDBaby. Still, for artists who want to release multiple songs per year and don’t mind paying annual fees, Distrokid’s model is the bee’s knees.
- Draft your plan and release sequence. Yes, we know you want to roll out an album using SWRS, but you need to know how you want the
record to be arranged. Also, you want to outline your budget for each release. Your budget does not have to be the same for every release as listeners would have their favourites, and you ought to keep promoting your best releases throughout the album campaign.
3. Once you’ve dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s, you are ready to make your first
release (which has just one track). Let’s dub your first release – “release A.” Once release A goes live, you should keep promoting it and let your fans know more music is coming from your album. Then, you wait till it’s time to make your next release.
4. On your artist dashboard provided by your distributor, prepare a new release of two songs dubbed release B. The Ep will contain your next single and your first release. Note that your new release will have a fresh UPC, but to include your last release, you must add the Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) code of the last track when filling in the details for Release B. To avoid any project delay or confusion, make sure the track metadata for the first track is the same as the one on the previous release. This will ensure that you keep the stream count garnered from the last track, plus new listeners would be wowed if they found that some of your old tracks are already popping. Also, the metrics from the first release remain the same when added to another release. You may wonder what all the fuss about metrics is? Metrics from a release help the Spotify algorithm decide who to recommend your music to. The more metrics you can provide the algorithm throughout the release process, the higher the chance of building a strong fanbase when the full album drops.
5. Repeat the process for as many releases as you intend to put out. And be consistent with it. An album can consist of 10-30 songs (as long as the total duration of the record exceeds 30 minutes).
6. Since all distributors offer different dashboards and systems, there is no one way to synchronize the date of your releases. If you get lost in the process, you should contact your distributor for more details.
Benefits of the Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy
I’m sure you must have noticed some of the few benefits we outlined earlier, but this section discusses the pros of the SWR strategy on a deeper level.
Artists will be able to pitch every song on the Ep for playlist consideration.
Spotify only lets you pitch a track per release, meaning if you want to put out your album at once, you will only get a shot at editorial playlisting. That’s it – just one shot. However, if you practice the strategy we preached here, you can pitch all your album tracks to Spotify. And if your pitch is solid enough, all your album tracks may get playlisted
Solve the cold start problem before the album is released
In our previous article, we discussed how the Spotify algorithm works. The report explained why every new artist doesn’t get the right exposure they deserve because of the cold start problem. Using the SWR strategy as a new artist will solve that problem before releasing your album.
The algorithm compiles enough data on the
artist’s by the audience, giving Spotify BaRT insight into the type of people who would most likely appreciate your music when your song is recommended. Next, build momentum for the release of your album. Then, you will always have content to post.
Boosts previous songs.
Pretty obvious if you keep adding previous releases to the latest ones, you will get more people to stream your old tracks. This is a great deal, especially for artists who pay Zuckerberg for Facebook ads. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.
Examples of Popular Artists who use the Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy
Two music brands, namely the Chainsmokers and Spirit box, have employed the waterfall release strategy in the past. The more popular brand, the Chainsmoker, experimented with the relatively new idea in 2018 and recorded outstanding results after the campaign. At first, mapping out the strategy was a headache, according to Joe Gallo of Columbia Records. Their first release using the building-the-album strategy had 112 million but garnered more streams (3.3 million streams) when it was added to the second release titled ‘You Owe Me.’ Finally, as highlighted by a Billboard report, they solved the problem they wanted to tackle – the reduction of streams gotten by streams after all the pre and post-release buzz had died down. Also, they could see what single was suitable for radio promotion from their dashboard and build momentum before their album release date.
Final Thoughts: Movement creates Impact
One of the most beautiful things in life is the waterfall (the pirouettes of river dance). It’s a sacred place for many naturalists who appreciate the basic things of life and engross themselves in the musical notes made by every drop of water. In the enlightening words of D Mason, the sound of a waterfall is nature’s lullaby”. Following this note, don’t drop your album all at once since it will be less impactful. Instead, give your audience some time to digest your album, one track after another. Are you curious to get read more on how to BEAT THE SPOTIFY ALGORITHM and BUILD A PROFITABLE FAN BASE? Sign up for Loudlab newsletter updates.
