Stockholm-based music streaming giant Spotify has recently made headlines, first for suspending its services in Russia following the country’s new law against spreading “fake news” about their armed forces, and then for facing criticism by some members of the US Congress over their new option of reducing an artist’s royalty rate in exchange for pushing them on their Discovery Mode platform. As a fast-evolving platform in a rapidly changing industry, we explore the latest news, tips, and tricks, for artists and bands to get the most out of Spotify.
Having a Canvas can help, so make sure to create them
Spotify Canvas is a short looping video or animation that plays along with a song. Typically they last between three to eight seconds and then it loops again. By adding a simple visual component to any of your songs, you add a whole other level of enjoyment and possibility of engagement for your listeners.
According to Spotify, when a song has a Canvas, listeners are 145% more likely to share the track. More than that, the platform also says that listeners are 20% more likely to add the song to a playlist if it has a Canvas and 9% more likely to visit your profile page.
You can add a Canvas to any and all of your songs, which can in turn help give you a boost in engagement. Your Canvas shouldn’t contain any offensive material or promotional text, rather it should be a visual aesthetic that fits your music brand. With platforms like Rotor Videos and tuneform that help create Canvas videos, artists should create them for all their songs, or at least every new release moving forward as well as for older, more popular songs. This simple but effective feature is a great way for artists to boost engagement on their music.
For more information, check out: canvas.spotify.com
Million-dollar generating artists on Spotify
According to Spotify’s Loud&Clear publication, the platform paid out rights holders $7B in 2021, up from $5B in 2020, which, according to Spotify, makes it “the largest sum paid by one retailer to the music industry in one year in history — including any single retailer at the height of the CD or digital download era.” That’s quite a development for the streaming space and showcases the continued financial growth of music streaming as a whole.
Moreover, Spotify stated that they’ve reached a new landmark in 2021, in which 1,040 artists generated $1 million on Spotify. This number is up from 860 artists in 2020 that hit the $1 million mark in revenue generation. Similarly, 52,600 Spotify artists generated $10,000 in 2022, up from 42,500 in 2021. While there’s still quite a way to go, these may be encouraging numbers for artists considering all the challenges that indie artists in particular face when it comes to generating revenue from streaming.
Spotify trying a ‘Featured Curators’ playlist pilot project
Spotify has always only pushed its own curated and algorithmic playlists on its platforms, meaning that users had to search for user-generated playlists. But that’s changing now as part of a new pilot project that Spotify’s been testing out.
Spotify will now start promoting popular playlists by users on its platform. The playlists will be promoted similarly to their own curated playlists, and so will appear alongside of their playlists on the user’s homepage. Spotify will be selecting music influencers who already have popular playlists and an established following. Considering studies have shown that 81% of songs on Spotify’s top 100 playlists are from major label artists, this new feature could be a great way for indie artists to get discovered by new listeners.
Frederic Sahyouni is COO and Head Copywriter at the Dotted Music Marketing Agency and Editor of the Dotted Music Marketing Blog.
