Are streams on social media just as important as streams on Spotify?
All too often, I find artists saying that they get tons of streams on social media, but they don't get tons of streams on Spotify, and therefore, they're failing as artists.
That's not true. Now I'm not sure why they get that in their head because getting plays and streams on social media is an extremely important indicator. Realistically: a play is a play, a stream is a stream, and a follower is a follower.
If you develop that engaged audience, brands look at you and say, “hey this person has a very good engagement rate on their platform.”
Maybe they'll do a deal with you. If you go to a festival and say, “hey I can bring this many people to a show,” that's a huge look for festival.
They need artists like you.
Also, keep in mind that Spotify and streaming services are owned by large corporations, and in Spotify's case, they're owned by record labels. All those big playlists generating millions of views are owned by record labels.
So, how can you do that on your own?
Well, by building through social media, by using that clout you're generating on social media to get on bigger festivals, to build an audience, that's how people will find you on Spotify.
Word of mouth.
I know the way that people do it through playlisting, but you can do it on your own, and I see people doing it, but then they go, “well I should just give up. I'm not getting streams on Spotify.
No, don't give up. Keep going and pushing on social media. Streams will come later. Right now, what you're doing is generating an audience, and not just an audience, an engaged audience.
So stop selling yourself short. Remember, it is a marathon, and also it is a game. It's an industry. In order to get on those big playlists, you need that initial buzz anyway. So, generate the buzz in socials, the word of mouth will spread, and then you can generate streams on Spotify.
Maybe once you have enough of that, you can go to a record label and get yourself a nice licensing deal or distribution deal.