As artists, we are currently experiencing a revolution in tech. We have access to advanced tools and online services that offer us more insight into our music than ever before. At Playlister Club we believe that data and analytics are the true equalizers when it comes to independent artists competing against labels with large promotion budgets. We built Playlister Club precisely because, while we saw great tools in some areas, we were frustrated with the lack of visibility, trust, and accessibility in one key aspect of today's music promotion checklist-- playlist pitching. 

If you're a musician looking to promote your music, you need to have a comprehensive strategy to collect data and make decisions. In alignment with our mission of ensuring that great music reaches its intended audience, and based on our own experiences as artists and artist managers, we have compiled for you the five must-have tools for any music promotion campaign. 

1. Spotify For Artists

The first performance analysis tool is Spotify for Artists. This is a free service that offers musicians with in-depth performance stats about their music's popularity on Spotify. It provides information like the number of times your tracks have been played, how many followers you've accrued and more! 

How we use it:

• For our artists, we look at the overall traction for each track and the overall profile. Understanding your momentum on Spotify can determine when to accelerate other promotion avenues to support the campaign, and it can also help you determine how to split your budget between tracks.   
• SFA is great for determining which playlists are featuring your tracks and how many listeners are enjoying your track on those playlists, this allows us to understand which curators enjoy us, AND of those, have the most active listeners! Having a list of curators that have enjoyed your tracks in the past can give you a roadmap of who to reach out to in future campaigns.‍

‍2. Youtube Insights

The second helpful tool is YouTube Insights. Like the Spotify for Artists, this free service offers musicians with in-depth stats about their music's popularity on Youtube. Although it isn't as extensive as Spotify, there are a few killer features.

How we use it:

• The data we find most useful is estimated video views by country. Why? Firstly, because it allows us to project, more or less, how much we stand to earn, and build our budgets accordingly. Secondly, it's a great tool to help us allocate Google and Facebook ads budgets across different geographies. Sometimes, it's more cost-effective to invest in Korea than in the U.S.  

3. Playlister Club Artist Dashboard

The third performance analysis tool is the Artist Dashboard from Playlister Club. The Dashboard is a very powerful tool to not only track your membership on Playlister Club, but also to gain insights and analytics on how your music & branding is received among the world’s leading playlisters, and compare it to other artists of your caliber. 

How we use it:

• We use the Brand Engagement Index (BEI) to A/B test different artwork on different tracks to see how clickable our tracks are for curators. We use this to determine artwork for other channels and future tracks. 
• We use the Geo-Attractiveness tool to see which markets' major playlists are featuring tracks with similar traits to ours and then invest in Google Ads in those countries.  
• Finally, we use the Playlistability Index to help choose which tracks are most similar to the ones that curators are currently adding to their playlists, and hence, more likely to be considered. If we are unsure which track to push first, the Playlistability Index has been a trusty tie-breaker time and again!

4. Soundcloud Analytics

The next performance analysis tool is Soundcloud Analytics. Like Spotify for Artists, this service provides musicians with information about their music's popularity on Soundcloud. 

How we use it:

• We like to use Soundcloud like a mini laboratory for emerging artists. We use the detailed track counts and the Top Listener profiles to better understand where and how this track has the best chance of succeeding and shape the campaigns accordingly.
• For artists who are a little more established, we may even choose to do pre-releases on Soundcloud to get performance data before doing a wider release and spending a larger budget. 

5. Reverbnation

The last performance analysis tool is ReverbNation. This is a free service that serves musicians with in-depth information about their music's popularity in a community built around indie artists. Reverbnation is also a social network, so it can be used for connecting and building relationships with other artists, as well as participating in contests! It is a great way to start building your reach while also gaining valuable insights

How we use it:

• Reverbnation is a great way to measure traction of certain tracks with their analytics tools, but most importantly it's a great mechanism to gather expert feedback from other artists, like yourselves, who are constantly looking to improve. 
• It shows data like the number of people who've listened to your tracks and how many followers you have. This can be helpful for artists looking to improve their music, as well as those just starting out. 

So remember, the next time you're looking to promote your music, why not give one or more of these helpful tools a try? You might just be surprised by the results! 

In particular, make sure to try out the free tools that we provide at Playlister Club, like the Playlistability Index. Create a free account to also get a taste of the kinds of insights and access that we can provide! We would love to hear how you manage your campaigns! Ping us at info@playlister.club!