Not all tools are created equal—some are open to artists at every level, while others require meeting specific criteria. When used effectively, Spotify’s marketing tools can be a game-changer, helping you grow your audience and reach more listeners. In this blog, we’ll break down each tool and how you can make the most of them.
Playlist Pitching
Spotify for Artists is the only way to pitch for a spot on Spotify’s coveted editorial and algorithmic playlists (Release Radar). Once the release is delivered to Spotify’s store you will have the option to pitch via the Music tab and then the upcoming tab.
Select the release you want to pitch (you can only pitch one song from an EP or LP) and then fill out the metadata (artist location, genre, mood, instruments etc.). Being as specific and detailed as possible is the best thing to do and when filling out the text pitch it’s best to save space/characters by avoiding things that are covered by the metadata filled out previously (genre, instruments etc). We recommend discussing marketing details, previous support you’ve received and upcoming plans (New releases etc).
Then review all details, make sure everything is correct and submit!
Showcase
Showcase is a banner for new/catalogue releases that appears at the top of Spotify’s Home and allows artists to have their music pushed out to the right people at the right times. As the artist, you can add a headline to contextualise the music that you’re promoting. If you’ve got new music coming out soon then you can build pre-release hype with ‘Releasing New music soon’, if you’ve just dropped new music then you can use ‘New Music’ to highlight that release and if you’re extending the promotional cycle then you can use ‘Recently Released’ or ‘Getting Buzz’. Other examples can include: ‘You Might Like’, ‘Release Anniversary’ & ‘Seasonal Vibes’.
The Showcase banner appears at the top of the UI Homepage, which just so happens to be the most visited place on Spotify where users make their decision on what to listen to there and then. As such, those who see a Showcase appear in front of them are 6x more likely to stream that release. The tool can be used to reach listeners in over 30 markets but in general tends to reach listeners who are most likely to stream your music (based on listener habits). You can choose to target specific segments of audience based on the following: Active Audience (super, moderate & light listeners who purposefully stream your music from active sources), Previously active audience, programmed audience (listeners who streamed from programmed sources e.g. editorials, DW, Radio etc.), and potential audience.
To book a campaign: You must have at least 1K streams in the previous 28 days in one of the target markets. If eligible, log in to Spotify for Artists, head to the ‘Campaigns’ tab and then ‘Showcase’ and click ‘Create campaign’.
Marquee
Marquee is a full-screen, in-app ad recommendation for your new single, EP or album which gets listeners to focus on your new releases. Appearing on both free & premium users profiles but targets those who are most likely to stream your music. It guides users from the home screen straight to the chosen new release. If you have the audience to support the new release, you can also target audience segments (use Marquee to target Active Audience or previously Active audience).
When to start a campaign: You can start a campaign any time within the first 3 weeks of that release, but the best time is dependent on your goals (i.e. if you want the greatest and quickest impact then start on Release Day, but if you want delayed boost then start after Release Day).
Discovery Mode
With Discovery Mode, artists and labels identify songs that are a priority, and Spotify’s system adds that signal to the algorithms that power personalised playlists. Today, 33% of all discoveries on Spotify happen via algorithmic contexts.
58% of all first-time artist discoveries from tracks in Discovery Mode are from listeners outside of the artist’s home country. On average, tracks in Discovery Mode are streamed in 100 markets during the campaign period.
Discovery mode allows artist teams to signal which tracks are most important to them within Mixes, Radio & Autoplay.
Eligibility: Check here to see if you or your are eligible for Discovery mode.
