So you have finally decided after doing months of work you are ready to release your first album. You may have your CD out in the stores or already selling it after doing some gigs, but you may want to learn more about streaming. If you have finally decided to give streaming a chance, you need to learn about Spotify and how this can help you in earning more money.
Why Join Spotify?
This is a streaming service for music that has over 75 million people subscribed of which 20 million are premium members, making it a leader in the streaming game. This is a streaming service that was founded in 2006, and it will be a service that drives the listeners to pay for songs they listen to, instead of pirating them. The company has already made a bold claim to have paid out over 2 billion dollars in royalties.
If you want to get your piece of the pie, then you need to make sure you upload your songs to the system. If you have a label already, they can usually handle the process for you. If you are an independent artist, though, you can do the work on your own. You have to read the information below to get started.
How To Get Your Account Set Up?
The first step that you need to take is to make your music ready for online purchase with companies like CDBaby, Record Union or even EMUMBrands. The independent labels can also have a relationship with Spotify with places like Fuga or Finetunes. These services tend to charge a fee or take a percentage of the royalty fees. Alternatively, read this guide to Spotify promotion if you want to do it yourself.
When you have this taken care of, you will want to get your account with your name or the band and get 250 followers to get verified. When you have done this process, you will give Spotify an artist image; you should use Rovi, which is an excellent service. Then you create the profile, upload the high res image 2048×2048 and give Spotify your Rovi ID. Then you will be sharing all of your music to the whole world.
How Much Do You Make?
Spotify earns a 30% commission. The remaining 70% is paid out to the labels, publishers, and artist through the services that we talked about above.
The amount you will get varies.
The streaming country origins.
How many people are paying vs. free?
How much the royalty rate is for the artists.
That being said the price per song for the artist averages out to .006 and .0084 cents. These may seem low, but the audience reach is potentially 75 million and that exposure is enormous.
Tips To Promote Your Profile
Now that you have your account you need to share your music with the world to hear.
Use Facebook Ads
Facebook ads only cost a few dollars. Not to mention if you target them correctly will provide huge returns. You can even narrow down your ads, by targeting the users that only have a Spotify account.
Partner With Other Artists
You will want to look for other artist and partner with them. This way you will have a great playlist that can provide all of you with some fantastic exposure. You will be able to create a win-win with future albums as well.
Use The Play Button From Spotify
This is a simple HTML code that allows you to add streams to your profile. You embed the code on your website so the users can listen without leaving your site. This could be invaluable if you have merchandise on your website and want to get the fans to buy your stuff without going your website to get the merchandise.
Invite Fans To Follow You
This is just like a Facebook fan page; you will want to make sure you get your fans to follow you on Spotify so they can hear your music online as well. This could be very valuable, and it will even alert your fans to the new songs that you may have coming out before they have heard it.
