Setting up a pre-save campaign can help you promote your music and get noticed by the Spotify algorithm, making it easier to get your music heard. For independent artists who use indie music distribution services like TuneCore or CD Baby, setting up a pre-save campaign is key in growing your fanbase. The pre save Spotify function is a tool you can use to boost your new releases and have your music stand out among millions of songs. Here’s how to set up a pre-save campaign for streaming services and the advantages of doing so!

1. Release day: a moment of truth for the artist

The day your work is released is an important moment for all creative people: songwriters, musicians, actors, painters, comedians and artists of all kinds. However, preparation for release day starts much earlier than you may think! Sure, some of our favorite artists can drop a new track out of nowhere and immediately go viral without having to prepare promotion ahead of time. Sadly, we cannot all be Beyoncé or Drake! To make sure your new music gets the attention it deserves, a simple step you can take is setting up a pre-save campaign. Whether you make hip-hop, punk, or even classical music, all artists can benefit from the pre-save function.

Platforms like presave.io and feature.fm allow your followers to pre-add or pre-save your tracks to their music catalog before they appear. Feature.fm has also partnered with SoundCloud to expand its pre-save functions to this popular site to discover music online! These different services offer different plans and premium features depending on how you want to set up your pre-save. What better way to get people to listen to your music if it shows up in their music collection right from release day? Not only will this foster your fanbase, but it could also incite others to become subscribers. Turn an Instagram follower into a Spotify subscriber! Taking it one step further, if your track is pre-saved and listened to right from the start, the Spotify algorithm will notice and be able to push it even further to more listeners who like similar genres.

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2. What is pre save on Spotify?

The process of setting up a pre save campaign is relatively simple. When using a partner service mentioned above, you’ll create a pre-save page, i.e. a promotional page announcing your track or new album that contains the cover and the exact release date. This page also highlights a series of links to your different streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etc.) As soon as the user clicks on one of these links, they will automatically subscribe to your profile on the platform and pre-save your titles in their music collection. It is obviously advisable to specify on this promotional page that by clicking on the link, the user agrees to follow you and save your music. Existing services do this automatically. The pre-save is basically the digital music version of the pre-order.

Here is an example of a pre-save campaign on feature.fm. Once your page is created, all you have to do is to share your link across communication and distribution channels. Don’t neglect any forms of communication that you can use to promote your music (emails, external YouTube links on music videos, Facebook Messenger etc.) Also remember that your fans don’t need to have a Spotify premium paid subscription to be able to pre-save a track. The pre-save link works with the free version as well!

3. What are the advantages of pre-save?

Advantage n°1: Use the data collected by the pre-save page

The digital aspect of the pre-save is a great opportunity for artists to interpret data and improve their release strategies. In the traditional physical distribution model, all the information related to your fans’ data was only accessible to distributors. This new pre-order model now gives artists the upper hand, providing them with two major resources:

1. The possibility of using a more relevant database of fans to distribute your sponsored posts or to optimize your digital communication by reaching an already partially acquired audience
2. The possibility of increasing your natural audience (automatic tracking of your songs on streaming platforms)

The pre-save page includes links to streaming platforms optimized to improve the user experience. This simplicity encourages the listener to connect their social networks and the platform then organizes the data. You will then get a precise summary of data including age, location, favorite listening platform and a plethora of other information about your audience.

Advantage n°2: A direct and original way to communicate with your fans and future fans

Another benefit of the pre-save function is that you can accompany your release campaign with a game, competition, or even raffle. Your fans can win merch, an autograph, a meet-and-greet (etc.), if they pre-save your title in their library. The approach has already been well tested, notably by the label Reach Records (Atlanta, USA) during the promotion of Lecrae and Zaytoven’s album, “Let The Trap Say Amen”. A raffle offered one of the participants a $300 in-store discount voucher. This is where the music-industry meets the marketing industry!

In addition to boosting their release on streaming platforms, the artists were able to see that their biggest fans lived in Dallas and Atlanta and that 60% were between 14 and 25 years old. With this information, you can figure out where to play live shows and find similar audiences that want to listen to your music!

Advantage n°3: Optimize your chances of being noticed by the algorithm

You can ensure a maximum of listens on the release day of your single, EP, or album, by using the pre-save tool. It’s a simple way to provide artists with key data for communication & promotion strategies.

In particular, using the pre-save tool on Spotify can help get your song noticed by the algorithm. It has been proven that tracks that show strong natural traffic and are added to many playlists (this can be done through a successful pre-save campaign) were detected by Spotify’s algorithms. If your track is already generating data points before it’s released, you increase your chances of being pushed to algorithmic and editorial playlists. If a fan follows your profile (most pre-save links include a follow) and you pitch the track in Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before release, it will show up in their “Release Radar” playlist.

The Spotify algorithm works like a snowball effect and wants to keep listeners listening. If your track has too many skips, for example, these are seen as negative data points and can hurt the success of your track. The more that people listen to your track, share it, and add it to playlists, the more Spotify will be able to identify similar artists and tracks, pushing you to new audiences. After all, the platform is quite curated and revolves around music discovery!

If you want to take it one step further, you can reach out to specific media to include your pre-save campaign in a section that informs readers each week about new and upcoming releases. Think of it like how movie theaters promote feature films that are “Coming Soon”. If you want to get in touch with media and influencers in the music business to promote your release, you can contact them directly on Groover!

4. How to get fans to pre save your music on Spotify

So you’ve set up your pre-save campaign and you’re ready for release day! Make sure you take the time to share your pre-save link with your community and fanbase. People want to listen to music easily, so make it easy for them to save your track! Post a clickable pre-save link into your Instagram story or in your bio, making it easy to click. Send the pre-save directly to friends, family, and fans through direct messages or in an email campaign. Go beyond your usual fanbase and send your link to radio stations, record labels, or recording industry professionals that are looking for the next best talent.

With so much music to listen to and so many new artists releasing tracks every day, it can be hard to stand out. Wanna get creative? Figure out where people listen to music online and more importantly, where people discover music over the internet. Maybe you can share your pre-save link on a Reddit page! Make a QR code with the pre-save and turn it into stickers that you post around town or display at your next show. Figure out how to make your release as effective as possible, using the pre-save tool to get creative and boost your chances of success.

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L’article Pre-Save Spotify: An essential tool for artists to promote their music est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.