There’s no shortage of listeners on Spotify. As of 2024, this streaming platform boasts an active user count of more than 570 million, with almost half of them being premium subscribers. However, these listeners mean nothing if you can’t turn them into dedicated followers.
Unsure of how to get followers on Spotify? We’ve got you covered. Below, we’ll explore ways, from optimizing your profile to reaching out to playlist curators. We’ll also detail some useful tips on how to promote your music effectively, the power of collaboration, and how social media can enhance your efforts.
Tips for Growing Your Playlist
1. Optimize Your Spotify Profile
If you want to get heard on Spotify, your profile needs to be pitch-perfect. A key part of branding for emerging musicians, your Spotify profile is probably going to be the first contact new listeners have with you as an artist. As such, it’s important to make a strong first impression with an engaging bio and powerful imagery. Need some tips? Keep the following in mind when creating yours.
Write an Engaging Bio
Any serious musician should be using Spotify for Artists, rather than the standard version of the streaming platform. Once you’ve claimed your profile, it becomes verified. What’s more, verification means you can customize your profile with reams of information, including an artist bio.
If you’ve already written an artist bio and have experience with press releases, creating a Spotify bio will come easily. However, with only 1500 characters to work with, you’ll need to be economical with your wording. Focus on the following questions when writing your bio:
- What qualities encapsulate you as an artist?
- What genre do you occupy?
- What drew you to your chosen genre?
- What sets you apart from similar artists?
Approaching things chronologically can help you nail a compelling bio. Start with your backstory, touching on your earliest experiences with music. Talk about how you discovered your favorite artists and the albums that helped shape your sound.
Then move onto your career so far. Mention your first forays into songwriting and performing, before summarizing where you stand today. Discuss current projects or exciting collaborations you have lined up. If you have any upcoming tour dates or live gigs in the pipeline, here’s the perfect place to mention them.
Finally, wrap things up by looking forward. What are your ultimate goals as an artist? Are you wholly focused on awards or are you content in honing your craft until you deliver the perfect album? When writing your bio, do so in the third person and stick to the facts. There’s room for humor, however, so consider lightening things up if you want to connect with new listeners and grow your Spotify audience.
Use the Right Imagery
You might be happy with your artist bio, but your profile isn’t complete without an artist image. A key part of your branding, your artist image should encapsulate what makes you unique as an artist and showcase your personality.
If you want to establish yourself as a credible artist, it’s tempting to go with understated imagery. However, remember you’re at a stage in your career where you’re trying to get noticed. Those smoldering black-and-white profile shots might work well for established artists, but you may need to go bolder.
On Spotify, brighter i9s better. Thanks to Spotify’s dark interface, vibrant colors and vivid imagery contrast exceptionally well. For maximum impact, keep imagery as simple as possible. Your aim here is to sell your artist persona, so ensure you’re the center of focus. You don't want to get lost in a sea of props and complex staging.
Create Spotify Playlists
Another way you can increase Spotify followers organically is to create playlists. You can use your own material or put together a personalized pick of your favorite tracks. Of course, you can also combine both approaches.
Wondering how to promote Spotify playlist content? Keep the following in mind when creating yours:
- Don’t neglect your playlists: If you’re not listening to playlists, there’s little chance anybody else will. The more you engage with your playlist, the more visible it will be Spotify.
- Track selection: You’ll need to be cut-throat when selecting tracks to add to your playlist. If you’re adding ones from other artists, make sure they’re closely aligned with your own genre. You’re allowed some deviation, but music should tie thematically with the rest of a playlist.
- Playlist cover pictures: Playlists can be a powerful branding tool, so give them the respect they deserve. Indecisive listeners are often led by the eye, so make a statement with an eye-catching playlist cover picture. If you don’t have any suitable visuals to hand, turn to free-to-use image libraries instead.
- Constantly refresh playlists: In order to engage listeners with playlists, you need to keep things fresh. No track should gather dust in your playlist for more than a few months. After 3-4 months have passed, think about retiring a song and swapping it out for something new.
- Playlist sharing: To boost followers, you need to ensure your playlist is being constantly shared. You can only do this a certain number of times, so bring in outside help. Connect with like-minded musicians whenever you can. Their follower count will be made up of the same demographic you’re targeting, so a playlist share from a new friend can be a massive help.
Utilize the Artist Pick Feature
If you’re creating playlists of your own material, Spotify’s Artist Pick is one feature you’ll want to make use of. Perfect for promoting an upcoming single or exciting collaboration, your artist pick enjoys pride of place at the top of your profile. Artist picks are live for two weeks, but you’re free to update yours as often as you want.
Once again, you’ll need to think carefully when adding text and imagery. Here, you’re limited to just 140 characters, so you’ll have to be meticulous with word choices. If you’re struggling to fit everything in within that tight character limit, think about using emojis instead.
When it comes to imagery, you can see similar pictures to the one you’ve used in your artist bio. However, here’s an opportunity to build on your branding and give listeners a peek behind the curtain. Think about using candid shots from the recording studio or band photography from a recent tour.
2. Create High-Quality Content
How do you get followers on Spotify? No matter how many savvy tricks you’re using, it all boils down to putting out great music consistently. As an emerging artist, a consistent release schedule is crucial in getting noticed and building a following.
When you’re just starting out, releasing a single at least once every month is an effective way of building momentum while staying relevant. What’s more, a packed release slate means you’ll get plenty of experience in showcasing your music with creative promotional strategies.
If you’re mixing and mastering your own music, make sure you’re dedicating sufficient time to your compositions before releasing them. It’s easy to skimp on the fundamentals when you’re itching to get new music heard, but a single misfire can turn existing followers away and tarnish your brand for good.
While it’s the sound that ultimately counts, every artist knows that a compelling music video can send a song into the stratosphere. However, few aspiring musicians have the resources to invest in a video with high production values. Thankfully, there are many alternatives available. Spotify’s Canvas feature allows you to create immersive video loops to complement your tracks. Meanwhile, IndieFlow’s Instant Video Maker can be used to make stunning visuals to accompany your music.
Release Radar
Prior to any release, you should be promoting your upcoming material across multiple platforms. This means utilizing things like YouTube for Artists and TikTok. While existing Spotify followers are likely to engage with your new music, there’s no guarantee.
However, you can improve your odds with Spotify’s Release Radar. This feature delivers a personalized playlist to listeners, made up of artists they listen to and follow, along with some recommendations. To ensure your music makes it onto Release Radar, aim to deliver your tracks two weeks before general release.
Discover Weekly
Discover Weekly is another playlist feature you’ll want to exploit. Assembled by Spotify’s editorial staff, Spotify listeners receive a fresh playlist every Monday morning. If your music makes it onto a Discover Weekly playlist, your follower count can easily soar into seven-figure territory. You can increase the odds of being added by submitting your music to existing Spotify playlists with a lot of exposure. It’s also worth reaching out to curators so you can promote a new release.
Collaborate with Other Artists
Searching for a quickfire way to boost your followers? Collaboration is a tried and tested tactic that delivers. By connecting with more established artists, you can expose your music to potentially millions of new listeners. If your styles are closely aligned, there’s a good chance your collaborator’s listeners will decide to follow you. Collaborating with more experienced musicians also gives you invaluable insights and helps you quickly build a network of contacts within the industry.
Finding potential collaborators is relatively easy. You can choose to reach out directly via email or social media or take a more subtle approach. Putting out an acoustic cover version of one of their tracks is a good way of getting noticed, while a daring reimagining can quickly catch fire and go viral.
Collaborate with Playlists
It’s not just artists you should be looking to connect with. Spotify boasts many influential playlists, with some of them boasting more than 17 million regular listeners. Pitching a track to one of these playlists is relatively straightforward:
- Open your Spotify for Artists account
- Select an unreleased track to submit
- Make your pitch to the playlist editorial team, providing as much detail as possible
Bear in mind that you’re dealing with a very busy editorial team here, so you’ll need to make a strong case to get your music listed. When providing details, include everything from genre to the listening demographic a track is geared to.
3. Promote Your Spotify Profile
Social media remains one of the most useful promotional tools for upcoming artists. Ideally, you should be using a combination of platforms. Twitter is great for engaging fans with bite-sized updates, while Instagram is ideal for image-heavy campaigns. However, don’t forget about Spotify. Add links to your Spotify profile across all of your social channels if you want to drive up follower numbers. You can even incentivize things with a prize giveaway.
Aside from promoting new music and live performances, social media is a useful tool for connecting with your audience. You can engage fans on a more personal level with question-and-answer sessions or by encouraging user-generated content submissions. Put a call out for cover versions of one of your tracks, dishing out free tickets or merchandise to the best.
Seek Out Playlist Placements
Social media is also useful for touching base with playlist curators. These people wield considerable influence and can help introduce your music to legions of new listeners. Most platforms support direct messaging but bear in mind that curators are going to be fielding a ton of DMs every day. To increase the odds of them reading yours, keep your messaging succinct.
You can also make use of playlist submission platforms. Once again, many of these support direct messaging, but remember that you’ll be dealing with considerable competition. Using premium submission platforms can prove expensive, but there’s a guarantee your material will actually be listened to, increasing your chances of getting listed.
During the early stages of your career, playlist curators are going to be a key point of contact. Keep them sweet by getting straight to the point, while painting a clear picture of who you are as an artist. What’s more, fight the urge to send them multiple tracks at once. A single well-chosen song is far more likely to get playlisted.
4. Leverage User-Generated Content
One of the simplest ways to boost your follower count on Spotify is to encourage users to create content around your music. Encouraging listeners to develop content around your material is an effective way to engage a demographic. What’s more, the content you’re left with can be a useful branding tool.
User-generated content comes in many forms. It can include everything from a cover version of one of your tracks to a visual arts piece inspired by your music. It can include imagery, videos, and even reviews of your work. While some of this content will come naturally, there’s no harm in giving listeners a little nudge. Put the call out for content on your social media channels, incentivize engagement, and build a loyal community around your music.
Integrate Spotify into Your Social Media Strategy
Your social media channels are a key marketing tool that can help get your music heard on Spotify. If you want to engage fans and encourage user-generated content, make sure you’re constantly turning to your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.
You can put out a call for user-generated submissions at any time. Use hashtags to improve discoverability and increase the odds of getting noticed by your target demographic. Hashtags can be shared across all of your social media accounts. For as long as you’re calling for user-generated content, make sure you’re including relevant hashtags in your bio.
Tap into Targeted Ads
The likes of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok all supported targeted ads. Make sure you’re leveraging these to engage potential listeners. These ads target users based on their age, location, and interests. Calculating return on investment can be difficult, but the potential benefit is huge.
Engage Your Audience Through Contests and Giveaways
Sometimes, putting a call out for user-generated content isn’t enough. However, you can drum interest easily by incentivizing things. Contests and giveaways are an effective way of boosting listener numbers and giving them a push to create compelling content you can use to promote your brand. Need some ideas? Try one or more of the following:
- Ask listeners to pick one of your tracks and record their own version
- Use birthday anniversaries of iconic artists to encourage cover versions
- Encourage users to create a short-form video set against one of your tracks
- Put out a call for single, EP, or album cover submissions ahead of a new release
Maintain momentum by constantly engaging your audience. Comment on standout submissions, promoting your favorites from time to time. Eventually, you’ll need to pick a contest winner. While some fans are going to be happy enough that their content has been picked, it’s always a good idea to incentivize things with a prize.
If your budget is tight, stick to simple perks like tickets to a live gig or a physical pressing of your new recording. You can also reach out to brands to see if any would be happy to sponsor a contest or giveaway. Most smaller brands will be happy to accommodate, provided you give them a mention.
5. Analyze and Adjust Your Strategy to Boost Spotify Follower Count
If you want to know how to get more Spotify followers, you first need to understand how well your music is performing on the platform. Thankfully, Spotify for Artists offers a comprehensive suite of data analytics tools to help with that. You can see how many streams your music is getting, assess follower growth, and build a clear picture of listener demographics.
It’s also useful for determining listener engagement. It’s easy to identify which tracks are resonating more with listeners. Armed with these insights, you can tailor your release schedule accordingly. Other metrics like age and gender can also prove useful when deciding which social media channels you’ll be using to promote your music off-platform.
Experimenting with Different Promotion Tactics
While paid promotion services can prove effective, they’re not a financially viable option for many emerging artists. However, there are many promotional tactics you can deploy to get your music heard.
You can stick to social media to capitalize on an already loyal fanbase or reach out to potential collaborators and influencers to extend your reach. There are also more traditional ways of promoting your music, such as email marketing. Investing time into mailing lists can pay off, especially if you’re keen to cement your reputation with existing fans. Aside from spotlighting upcoming releases, email updates can be used to promote upcoming tours and live gigs, merchandise, and more.
Start Boosting Your Spotify Follower Count Today
Increasing your follower count on Spotify isn’t rocket science. It all starts with the fundamentals. A compelling artist bio and attention-grabbing imagery are essential for making a strong first impression while curating your own Spotify playlists grants listeners a real insight into who you are as an artist.
The basics aside, growing followers on Spotify ultimately hinges on putting out great music consistently. Don’t start using the platform until you have a stock of finished tracks ready to go and aim for a release schedule where you’re dropping at least one new song every month. This builds momentum, keeping new listeners engaged with fresh content and giving playlist curators plenty of material to work with. Of course, you can reach out directly to playlist curators. Just keep your messages short and to the point.
It might seem counterproductive to divert attention to your social media channels, but your Twitter and Instagram accounts can be useful tools for directing new fans to your Spotify profile. Use Spotify’s data analytics tools to build a clear picture of listener demographics, then target the social media channels they’re more likely to use.
Finally, remember that growing followers on Spotify takes time. Occasionally, aspiring artists can catapult themselves into the mainstream thanks to a viral video or shout-out by an established star. But these people are exceptions. For the vast majority of musicians, increasing followers is a gradual, nurturing process.
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