How to get more pre-saves & streams on Spotify
Pre-saves! You should never underestimate the power of a very effective Spotify pre-save campaign. It could make a huge difference in momentum on the day your music is released.
In this article, we will give you a rundown on why it is important to collect pre-saves, what you need to begin collecting pre-saves, and the list of tools that you can use to do so.
Why should I bother collecting pre-saves?
When a fan pre-saves your music, it’ll automatically appear in their music library immediately upon release. Not only that, but the Spotify algorithm will give more love to tracks and releases that are receiving activities such as library saves, streams, and playlist additions. The more pre-saves you rack up, the more likely you will appear in algorithmic playlists such as Discover Weekly.
When you have more listeners on the day of your release, it can surely build momentum and will boost your chances of landing in an editorial playlist curated by Spotify.
The most important time is the first 24 hours of when your tracks get released. If Spotify sees a spike in saves and listens on the day of release, the editors will more likely to take notice of you.
Important: Make sure to pitch your music to Spotify at least six weeks before your release via the Spotify for Artists dashboard to ensure that it will be placed on the algorithmic Release Radar playlist, as well as for consideration by the editors at Spotify.
What do I need to begin my pre-save campaign?
Firstly, you would need to get your music delivered via your digital aggregator way in advance. We recommend that you have these delivered at least 6-8 weeks before your release date.
After your track(s) have been delivered, you would then need to get your Spotify track or album URIs for your release. You can do this in two ways:
- Contact your digital aggregator with your product’s UPC code, and ask for the album & track URIs
- Contact Spotify for Artists with your product’s UPC code, and ask for the album & track URIs
Whichever option you choose, you will need these URIs for the following pre-save tools.
List of Spotify pre-save tools available
The following is a list of pre-save tools available that you can use to grow your fanbase.
SmartURL
SmartURL is a free tool that you can use to build a pre-save link. Once you have your URI, you can create the link within minutes. The only issue is that you are very limited to features if you are on the free plan, and would not be suitable for advanced marketers and advertisers unless you are on the premium plans.
Linkfire
Linkfire is one of our preferred pre-save platforms. We love the way it looks, and how the user experience is so seamless. However, it does come under a premium price, but there are startup plans available for independent and emerging musicians..
Post-release, your pre-save link will turn into a smart link—displaying all the platforms your music is on. Additionally, you can also add merchandise links, concert ticket links, and much more.
Advanced features include channel tracking, meaning that you will able to see which channel e.g. your website, Twitter, Facebook your listeners come from, which is important to analyze which channel performs best for you.
Hypeddit
Hypeddit is an incredible tool created by house music artist John Gold, who used his own tool to grow over 10,000 followers on Spotify.
It is quite simple how it works—you can set up a ‘download gate’ within minutes.
What’s a download gate, you might ask? A download gate is a way to share a free download of your music to your fans, but in return, they must support with an action such as providing you with their email address, a Twitter follow, an Instagram follow, or in this case, a Spotify follow & pre-save.
Hypeddit can be a very effective way for artists to grow their fan base, and it can be done via advertising if it’s done right!
You can get started with Hypeddit for free to gain follows and library saves, or you can pay $9 a month for more features, such as:
- Linking unlimited social profiles to your download gates
- Gaining more followers
- Acquiring pre-saves
- Facebook Pixel installation to capture conversion data through Facebook or Instagram Ads
- Promote more music with automatic emails to fans
- Promote your tracks to their ‘New Releases’ section on their website
If you want help setting up your own Hypeddit campaign via Facebook Ads, contact us and we’d be happy to help you set it up with our proven best-practices.
Feature.fm
Feature.fm is a comprehensive tool, but it is very easy to use and navigate. Feature.fm also offers Facebook Pixel installation, so you will be able to use remarketing, as well as channel tracking, allowing you to see which channels are responsible for the click-throughs.
Ways to get more pre-saves
There are a few creative ways to get pre-saves, so let’s make sure you make the most out of the tools you have. Here’s a small list of ways you can get more pre-saves.
Share it
No kidding, right? The simple way is to just share your pre-save link to your socials.
However, do not miss opportunities by not adding the link to any of these:
- Twitter bio description
- Twitter posts & pinned post
- Facebook posts & pinned post
- Instagram story or “link in bio”
- YouTube description in the trailer
- YouTube pinned post in the trailer
- Email campaigns
Reward pre-savers with perks
When someone pre-saves your song, these are usually fans that love you, buy all your merchandise and go to your concerts.
However, for those who are not too invested in you, such as casual listeners who will just listen to the song when it’s out, and won’t bother pre-saving. These are the types of audiences that would need a bit more of a nudge. Essentially, they are doing you (the artist) a favor, so why not reward them as a thank you and an incentive?
You can do so by using a download gate such as Hypeddit by rewarding them with a free download of one of your existing songs. You can also set up a competition via a tool such as Gleam.io and have a pre-save as one of the entries into the competition.
Social media advertising
You will find that you can only do so much organically, and you have exhausted all you can from your existing followers. A great way is to do social media advertising targeting potential fans who have not listened to you before.
If you are not familiar with using social media advertising, we suggest that you speak to someone who does (like us!), so that they can make the best use of your budget, ensuring that you are targeting the right audience, as well as creating the right ad content. Otherwise, it could become a very expensive investment.
Contact us, and we will point you in the right direction! Similarly, if you have any questions about the above, please feel free to reach out.
Pingback:The Ultimate Album Release Checklist for Bands/Artists Releasing in 2020
Posted at 12:27h, 01 August[…] For an album, we recommend at the very least to give it 8-12 weeks, or even up to six months with a couple of singles leading up the release. That way, you have more time to rack up your pre-saves! […]