Strategies to Attract More Followers on Spotify
Do you want to build a loyal following on Spotify?
With the right strategies and tactics, you can attract more followers that love your music – but it won’t happen overnight.
Growing real, engaged Spotify followers takes planning, work ethic and a little bit of luck.
From claiming your artist profile to submitting your music to relevant playlists, there are many ways to get followers on the platform, and I’ll list them all for you now.
Quick Facts:
- Optimising your artist profile by having a catchy, unique name and high-quality pictures is essential for attracting potential followers.
- Gaining credibility as an artist will help increase exposure and reach new audiences.
- Streamlining collaborations with other successful artists or playlist curators helps leverage each other’s networks in gaining more followers.
- Growing a loyal following on Spotify takes dedication, consistency and hard work, so don’t be afraid to start out small!
The Importance Of High-Quality Spotify Followers
Having high-quality followers can help establish credibility as an artist, increase exposure and reach, and attract potential label attention whilst avoiding buying fake followers.
👇🏻 Establishing Credibility As An Artist
👇🏻 Increasing Exposure And Reach
👇🏻 Attracting Potential Label Attention
👇🏻 Avoid Buying Fake Followers
Establishing Credibility As An Artist
As an independent artist on Spotify, gaining credibility is essential. A strong and consistent brand, both visually and musically, will help you stand out from the crowd.
Playlisting plays an important role in building your credibility; when you land placements or curate for popular third-party playlists or Spotify-owned editorial lists such as New Music Friday, it shows that others believe in your music.
Take Taylor Swift as a prime example of someone who has built her own personal brand on the platform by collaborating with prominent industry figures like Dixie Chicks, Ed Sheeran and Zayn Malik on various tracks since 2008 – all of which have become hugely popular among fans around the world.
Increasing Exposure And Reach
Having a high follower count on Spotify can go a long way in helping aspiring musicians gain traction and establish credibility as an artist.
Growing one’s Spotify following can increase exposure to new audiences, which may lead to more streams, downloads, and fans.
It is also important for artists looking to attract the attention of labels.
With streaming becoming increasingly popular, it has become essential for emerging artists to have strong followings on platforms like Spotify before they launch their music careers.
There are several strategies that up-and-coming musicians can use to build or grow their audience on Spotify.
One effective way is by collaborating with other curators or influential playlist owners who have large followings themselves – this helps leverage off one another’s networks which ultimately leads to gaining new followers together without much effort required from either party individually.
Creating and curating compelling playlists that showcase your brand identity as an artist will also aid in bolstering your follower count while promoting your music through social media accounts such as Instagram, Twitter, Youtube etc.
Attracting Potential Label Attention
Having a healthy number of Spotify followers is an important step in building credibility as an artist and attracting potential label attention.
Record labels aren’t only looking for talented artists, but they are also drawn to talented artists with large fan bases that will help them maximise their sale potential.
More and more major record labels have implemented Spotify following measurements as part of their selection process when scouting new talent.
This means that having a good number of active followers can easily set you apart from the competition.
There are numerous ways to increase your credibility on the platform, including optimising your artist profile by using high-quality cover art, crafting compelling playlists with relevant keywords, releasing regular music on multiple streaming platforms, uploading original content or song covers and collaborating with influencers across social media platforms can all lead to growing your audience base over time.
Avoid Buying Fake Followers
It is important to ensure that the followers you are getting on Spotify are real and organic, as fake or purchased followers can be harmful to your artist profile.
Fake streams, likes, and followers make it difficult for an artist to establish their credibility and trust with potential labels.
Not only this, but they also limit the artist’s reach in terms of exposure.
It’s likely these will attract no engagement from other users due to being false accounts, so even if you have a large following figure, don’t expect too much success from this kind of promotion.
When looking at reputable ways to increase your follower count, there are plenty out there!
Optimising your profile by using high-quality artwork pictures along with effective title updates which accurately reflect who you are as an artist is very helpful in growing a loyal fanbase organically.
Optimising Your Spotify Profile
Your artist profile is one of the first things potential followers see, so it’s important to have an aesthetically pleasing and accurate page.
👇🏻 Choose A Memorable Artist Name
👇🏻 Use High-quality Profile Pictures And Cover Art
👇🏻 Write An Engaging Bio
👇🏻 Link Your Social Media Accounts
Choose A Memorable Artist Name
Choosing a memorable artist name can be one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make for your music career’s success.
An original and creative name can help differentiate you from other artists on Spotify, enabling potential followers to quickly recognise who you are as an artist.
To provide some examples, successful rapper Post Malone chose his stage name because he loved basketball player Karl Malone so much — helping him stand out in an already saturated industry.
While Popstar Billie Eilish adopted her alias as a playful twist on her real nickname ‘Billie Eevee’— encapsulating her fun-loving personality while establishing herself as an iconic figure on the platform (and beyond).
When choosing a unique moniker, it’s essential that it aligns with your artistry and represents your brand aesthetically—as this has become more powerful than ever in 2020.
On the flip side, having a generic or commonplace stage name could have negative repercussions — Isolating you among other similar named acts — making it harder for potential fans to locate misspelt searches of yours, and streams targeting any particular genre may pass by if they breeze over something general such as ‘Artist x’, resulting in fewer followers overall and subsequently less opportunity for growth moving forward.
Use High-quality Profile Pictures And Cover Art
Having an aesthetically pleasing Spotify profile is essential for capturing the attention of potential followers.
Attractive graphics can help establish a brand image and create a strong first impression that music fans remember.
High-quality photos, illustrations, artwork or other visuals engagingly illustrate your style as an artist on your page and can be instrumental in connecting with new listeners who stumble upon your account.
On the flip side, low-res images or cover art detract from an artist’s credibility and may not entice music lovers to hit “follow”.
It’s important to spend time creating visually appealing graphics that reflect your unique style and aesthetic – invest in hiring a professional illustrator if you don’t have the skills yourself or leverage the photo galleries feature in Spotify For Artists to showcase multiple high-resolution images on one page.
Write An Engaging Bio
When crafting your artist bio, it is important to create something that sets you apart and will attract potential followers.
While including the basics such as genre, history of your music career, and influences—it is also beneficial to focus on what makes you unique.
Highlight the story behind why you choose this path and if there’s any personal reason or experience behind what pushes you.
Explain how different elements have shaped who you are today.
Ask friends or family for their opinion for a better overall understanding of who they find themselves through music.
Link Your Social Media Accounts
Connecting your Spotify profile to other social media accounts is an important strategy for connecting with music fans and growing your following on the platform.
Another benefit of linking accounts across different platforms is that it will make sure fans are never missing out when you release something new or drop exclusive content.
Additionally, keep an eye on the analytics provided by these platforms so that you understand what resonates best with your audience even further and can tailor content accordingly.
Consistent Music Releases
Aim to release music on a regular schedule for optimal exposure and reach, and ensure the production quality is high to keep listeners engaged.
👇🏻 Create A Release Schedule
👇🏻 Go For High-Quality Production
👇🏻 Encourage Sharing And Saving
Create A Release Schedule
Releasing music on a regular schedule encourages listeners to follow your Spotify profile, as they will know when to expect new music from you and can look forward to what kind of interesting sounds are in the store.
Choosing the proper times for release is important, and setting a reliable release pattern makes it easier for both fans and industry professionals who may be looking at your profile.
A well-timed plan that fits around seasonal patterns or activities like festivals and releases should be resourceful without overwhelming followers with too much content over short periods of time.
This allows them time to connect with the songs by building anticipation by sharing teasers and providing different versions.
If you want your followers on Spotify to grab each song as it drops rather than just savouring one at a time, create playlists or special editions ahead of releasing individual tracks so fans have something else to engage with before launch day.
Go For High-Quality Production
Producing music with high-quality production is an important factor when it comes to increasing your Spotify followers.
Not only does good production affect the overall sound of your song and give you a professional edge, but it also makes for a great listening experience which can help artists make an impression on their listeners.
Music fans are more likely to follow and engage with artists that provide them with an enjoyable, high-quality musical experience.
Moreover, since 2017 there has been an increase in the diversity of music consumption across platforms such as streaming services like Spotify.
Consequently, having higher-quality audio on songs will draw the attention of potential listeners who enjoy exploring different genres and sounds, leading to more organic growth for the artist.
Encourage Sharing And Saving
Encouraging fans and followers to share and save your music on Spotify is an important part of growing your audience.
Sharing the link to your profile or song can spread awareness about your music across different platforms while saving songs can lead more people to engage with other tracks on an album or release.
There are several ways artists can encourage fans and followers to save their releases on Spotify.
Offering exclusive content like bonus tracks after users have saved songs is a great way to get them interacting with both the artist’s page and individual releases, increasing both streams and visibility on the platform.
Utilising social media platforms is one of the most effective methods for encouraging sharing; letting followers know when new content drops increase exposure in wider networks outside one’s dedicated fanbase as well as motivating existing listening habits.
Create And Curate Compelling Playlists
Curating playlists that are tailored to your brand as an artist is a great way to attract potential followers and increase exposure.
👇🏻 Curate Playlists That Reflect Your Brand As An Artist
👇🏻 Use Relevant Keywords And Titles
👇🏻 Collaborate With Other Artists And Curators
👇🏻 Consider Using A Playlist Curator Service
Curate Playlists That Reflect Your Brand As An Artist
As an artist, having playlists that accurately reflect your style and aesthetic can be a great way to make sure fans recognise your sound.
Choosing tracks that match the mood and tone of your own works is also key for creating a cohesive environment that reflects your overall brand as an artist.
You can also link up with other artists, curators, labels or even genre specialists to showcase related music in addition to yours.
This not only helps you expand the reach of your songs but also signals listeners about what sort of music they should expect from you in future releases.
In terms of content creation for yourself – don’t forget to add some of your own works to the playlist mix!
Doing this strategically will help increase exposure while giving new listeners an idea of your sound right away.
Use Relevant Keywords And Titles
When trying to get more Spotify followers, musicians and artists should think carefully about how best to optimise their profiles and create compelling playlists.
Creating an attractive user profile is important, but so is doing everything you can to stand out from the crowd! In this article, we focus on the importance of using relevant keywords when creating playlist titles as well as descriptions for increased visibility.
When crafting the title of a playlist, it’s essential that users utilise descriptive words that will make them stand out in search queries.
It’s important to research which is trending or popular within your genre and also includes contextual terms related to any themes or moods featured in the playlist.
Specific artist names can be added too – these could be collaborators listed inside a given mix or simply just those who feature heavily throughout its tracklisting.
Google Trends can be used as a helpful tool here in order to give one an overview of exactly what key phrases should be front-paged by certain searches.
Collaborate With Other Artists And Curators
Networking with other artists and curators is one of the best ways to get more Spotify followers.
Taking part in collaborations not only helps build relationships within the industry but also offers an increase in exposure for both parties involved.
Sharing each other’s music on social media or curating a playlist together can be effective strategies to draw attention to your newly released songs/albums.
In order to ensure fruitful collaborations that will have real beneficial results, you should find people who share similar musical preferences and tastes as yourself so that their followers may also become interested in what you do and follow your account.
Additionally, reaching out platforms such as Reddit or LinkedIn could help facilitate this process by allowing you access to hundreds of potential collaborators.
Consider Using A Playlist Curator Service
Getting more followers on Spotify can be an intimidating and time-consuming task for musicians, but working with a playlist curator service can make the process easier.
These services provide musicians with the opportunity to get their music featured on highly credible playlists that have been created by professional curators who understand how the algorithm works.
This is a great way to increase exposure and reach as well as attract potential label attention.
Working with these services also provides access to various strategies that maximise song streaming opportunities in terms of the target audience, social responsibility and global marketing knowledge – all important parts of any successful artist’s profile.
For example, Taylor Swift has seen success using Apple Music’s curated playlist curator program, where she personally requested that her songs be added to popular playlists such as Hot Hits UK and Pop Party – resulting in increased streams and followers across multiple platforms, including Spotify!
Likewise, Drake released his album Scorpion solely through a curated playlist builder called Amuse, which helped successfully launch it into the Billboard 200 chart within its first week.
Promote Your Music On Social Media
Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are an invaluable tools for spreading the word about your music and reaching out to new audiences.
Utilising relevant hashtags, engaging with followers, and collaborating with influencers can help you get more Spotify followers.
👇🏻 Use of Social Media
👇🏻 Use Relevant Hashtags
👇🏻 Engage With Followers And Other Artists
👇🏻 Collaborate With Influencers
Utilise Instagram, Twitter, And Facebook To Share Your Music
Social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have become an invaluable tools for musicians looking to promote their music and increase their Spotify followers.
Creating engaging content is key to capturing the attention of your current followers and attracting new ones.
Your content should reflect your unique brand as an artist — use relevant hashtags, include creative visuals, collaborate with other artists or influencers who align with your style, and encourage fans to share and save your music on streaming services.
Many successful musicians owe part of their success to effective social media campaigns; take, for example, Ariana Grande’s 2014 album release, which included a strategic mix of tweets from both herself and her label team that led to over 25 million views on YouTube in its first 48 hours!
Another great tip is using a playlist curator service – this allows you to submit playlists curated for unique audiences according to the genre/style, which can enable more people to stream and find your music.
Use Relevant Hashtags
If you’re an artist who is serious about promoting your music on social media, then using hashtags should be part of your marketing strategy.
Hashtags are a fundamental tool for increasing exposure and reach – essential when building loyal followers and fans.
When used appropriately, they can also boost engagement with your brand or profile, allowing more people to discover your sound and drive streams, downloads, check out gigs etc.
The key is to use relevant hashtags so that potential followers are able to find you within the right context, along with other artists in the same genre.
For instance, use #indiepoprock if you make indie pop/rock songs or #chillhop if you create chill hop beats.
It’s wise to experiment with different hashtags as this increases the chances of getting noticed by other listeners and influencers who could help promote your music further.
Engage With Followers And Other Artists
Engaging with your fans and other artists is essential to growing a loyal base on Spotify.
As an artist, it’s important to build relationships with listeners/followers and stay connected by replying to comments on your music as well as sharing the content of related musicians or bands within the same genre.
Interacting across multiple social media platforms can further increase reach and impact for your music if done strategically – this could mean hopping onto Twitter conversations or making sure you post content for any challenge hashtags featured in each platform (e.g., Twitter chats, Instagram Challenges).
Building meaningful connections will set you apart from the rest, create trust amongst peers in the industry and gain supporters who can share your message online, which could result in more followers organically.
Collaborate With Influencers
Collaborating with influencers is a great way for musicians and bands to gain more followers on Spotify.
Influencers are people online who have a large following and can help widen the reach of an artist’s music.
Using social media is key when looking for potential collaborators; there are lots of platforms where you can find popular influencers – from TikTok stars to YouTubers.
Creating a spreadsheet listing potential creators’ names, social media handles, and contact information will ensure that you stay organised when reaching out to them.
Some successful collaborations between musicians and influencers include the breakout artist Jillian Jacqueline working with Vine star Nash Grier for her 2017 single “Reasons”.
Influencer marketing not only helps increase exposure but also humanises an artist in front of fans, enabling them to connect on a more personal level.
Utilise Spotify For Artists
Spotify for Artist is a great tool that will help you understand your followers as well as improve your current and future releases.
👇🏻 Claim Your Profile
👇🏻 Analyse Your Data To Optimise Your Releases
👇🏻 Submit To Playlists
Claim Your Profile
As a first step, go to artists.spotify.com/c/access and click “claim your profile” – it’s pretty straightforward from there!
The system will ask for basic information such as name, email address, combinations of artist aliases, label credentials & related artist profiles — but if you’re not hosted with Spotify, you can still claim yours by creating a Spotify for Artists login.
Additionally, be aware of using Spotify For Artists:
It gives you real-time streaming analytics like listener numbers & demographics so you can improve performance in the future; they also give amazing podcast analytics allowing insight into who’s listening, how much they’re consuming and where exactly they’re tuning in from around the world (the latter only available if claiming regardless).
With regular analysis based on metrics like listeners per month & playlist additions over time so, understanding what works (& what doesn’t!) couldn’t be easier – making it easy for artists to get started on Spotify.
Analyse Your Data To Optimise Your Releases
It’s no secret that understanding the Spotify algorithm and using data analysis to your advantage can help artists increase their Spotify followers.
Analysing your data allows you to identify what songs are resonating with fans and helps you craft tailored releases for the most success on streaming platforms.
Understanding genre trends, popular themes, demographic interests etc., will also give you an idea of what works in regard to music promotion.
Utilising Spotify for Artists is one way of analysing such data – it gives access to insights like where listeners come from, which demographics they belong to and more – this information can be used when curating playlists or releasing new songs.
Additionally, artists have access to proprietary datasets comprised of millions of users’ listening behaviour which provides a greater depth into what audiences appreciate about a certain artist allowing them to optimise fan engagement.
Submit To Playlists
Submitting your music to relevant playlists is a great way to increase your Spotify followers.
When researching suitable playlists, make sure that they’re the right fit for you and your brand as an artist.
Pay attention to the keywords used in their titles and descriptions as well as the types of songs featured on them – these can help guide whether or not submitting makes sense.
Submitting playlists to Spotify for Artists officially gives you access to more promotion opportunities, such as algorithmic playlisting, which prioritises new releases from artists who make regular appearances on those specific playlists.
Additionally, when reaching out with submissions, you should always try to personalise each outreach email based on what would be best for that curator rather than sending mass messages.
When collaborating for the creation of playlists, get together with other artists / curators to exchange ideas around genres and sonic approaches, proving what kind of content works effectively together; this can also work towards building relationships over time, helping further extend exposure on Spotify overall.
Submit Your Music To Relevant Playlists
Researching and submitting to relevant playlists can be a great way to increase your Spotify followers, as long as you follow submission guidelines and personalise your outreach.
👇🏻 Research And Submit To Relevant Playlists
👇🏻 Follow Submission Guidelines
👇🏻 Personalise Your Outreach
Research And Submit To Relevant Playlists
Submitting your music to relevant playlists on Spotify is a crucial step in gaining followers and increasing your visibility on the platform.
It is important to research and target playlists that are closely related to your genre and style of music, as this increases the chance of playlist curators enjoying what they hear.
Additionally, personalised pitches that talk about why you think you’d make an excellent addition to their playlist can help increase interest from both curators and listeners.
Engagement metrics such as the number of streams, followers, saves, shares etc., also influence recognition from people with access to larger reach platforms or other influencers who could potentially add serious weight to your work.
Follow Submission Guidelines
It is essential to follow submission guidelines when submitting your music to relevant playlists on Spotify.
Failing to do so can mean that your submission goes unread or, worse yet, deleted without ever being looked at.
Common submission guidelines include requirements such as audio quality – 320kbps or higher – genre and playlist appropriateness, and artist biographies or descriptions of the track submitted.
Additionally, some curators may have specific formatting preferences for biography information and/or custom artwork that they need alongside a release in order to consider it — it’s best to check their website ahead of pitching for any additional instructions they may have.
Personalise Your Outreach
Personalising your outreach when submitting to relevant playlists can be crucial for gaining more followers on Spotify.
Dedicating the time to research the right kinds of playlists, curators, and audiences can go a long way in helping you build relationships with those who are already connected to what you have to offer.
Catering your pitch by writing personalised messages is extremely important as well since it conveys that you do understand exactly whom you’re addressing and why they should pay attention.
When done correctly, this helps foster a positive rapport with both curators and fans while allowing for greater interaction with them.
Host Giveaways And Contests
Spark interest in your music by offering exclusive content to followers through giveaways or contests.
👇🏻 Offer Exclusive Content To Followers
👇🏻 Encourage Sharing Of Your Music
Offer Exclusive Content To Followers
Offering exclusive content to your followers is a great way to grow your Spotify following while building closer relationships with the people who support you.
Exclusive content can be anything from behind-the-scenes videos of you making music, early access to new material and songs, live streams with other artists, personalised messages for fans or even discounts for them.
Engaging in this kind of communication will give you a better understanding of what resonates with your audience and help build trust between both parties.
Encourage Sharing Of Your Music
Encouraging your Spotify followers to share your music can be a great way of increasing exposure and reach.
This can help you establish credibility as an artist, attract potential label attention and, ultimately, grow more followers on Spotify.
When promoting your music, make sure to provide content or incentives that are exclusive to the people who follow you on streaming services.
This will encourage them to spread your music further by sharing it with their own social media platforms, as they’ll get access to something unique if they do.
You can also create shareable graphics that include snippets of information, such as the title of the track, or simply advertise its availability through popular streaming platforms like Spotify.
Take advantage of industry stories about artists having success thanks to this strategy, too:
For example, Ella Mai used her program for “Boo’d Up” remixes where credited producers got a 1M streams bonus for signing up and opening doors for new collaborations, which ended up being successful just because she was encouraging people not only stream her song but actually produce a remix contest around it!
All in All
Building a loyal following on Spotify requires consistency and patience. It isn’t an overnight process – there is no secret formula or quick fix to achieving success.
Keep grinding, and you can do that too!
Cheers, Josh
Browse our CD duplication products
The Big Lists Of Music Promo Contacts
Includes PR companies, UK promoters & UK booking agents. Everything you need to put your band on the map.
Access Lists
Hello, I’m Josh, and I’ve been honing my graphic design skills for almost 15 years now, catering to the needs of bands and businesses alike. What really fascinates me is the business aspect of the music industry. In addition to my design work, I also happen to play the Hammond organ, and I strive to share my knowledge through helpful articles that I write exclusively for you all!
