Many artists and labels ask us– should we be focusing 100% of our promotion budget towards driving traffic to Spotify? The short answer is ‘yes’. The long answer is ‘no’. Confused? Then read on.

Spotify is the poster child for the music streaming industry. For many artists, growing on the platform encompasses their entire existence – and rightfully so. The Stockholm-based streamer controls 33% of the global music streaming market as of 2023 (compared to Apple at 15% and Amazon at 13%). The platform can provide artists with an incredible launchpad for their careers, so it’s no wonder that many independent artists focus entirely on Spotify when starting out.

However, artists who have gotten a little bit of traction start to wonder about other opportunities on the wide range of platforms out there today – and more specifically – how to best market their music on a more holistic level. 

Why should you diversify your streaming traffic? 

In short- to reach a broader audience. Each music streaming platform has its own user base and demographics. By diversifying your streaming traffic, you can tap into different audiences and reach listeners who may not be active on your primary platform. This allows you to expand your fan base and gain exposure to new listeners who may become dedicated fans.

1. Increase discoverability: Different DSPs have unique algorithms and recommendation systems that determine which songs get featured and recommended to users. By diversifying your streaming traffic, you increase the chances of your music being discovered by algorithmic playlists, personalized recommendations, and user-generated playlists on different platforms. This boosts your visibility and increases the likelihood of attracting new listeners.
   
   
2. Reduce dependency on a single platform: Relying solely on one streaming platform for your music distribution can be risky. Platforms may change their algorithms, policies, or even shut down, which can significantly impact your reach and income. Diversifying your streaming traffic ensures that you are not overly dependent on a single platform and mitigates the risks associated with relying on one source for your music promotion and distribution.
   
   
3. Adapt to audience preferences: Different platforms cater to different listener preferences and behaviors. By diversifying your streaming traffic, you can gain insights into which platforms resonate better with your audience. This knowledge allows you to tailor your promotional strategies and content to better engage your listeners across multiple platforms, ultimately building stronger connections and increasing the chances of long-term fan loyalty.
   
   
4. Monetize your music effectively: Different DSPs have varying royalty rates, payout structures, and revenue opportunities. By diversifying your streaming traffic, you can optimize your revenue potential by leveraging the strengths of each platform. Some platforms offer higher per-stream rates, while others provide opportunities for additional revenue streams such as merchandise sales or direct fan support. By strategically distributing your music across multiple platforms, you can maximize your earning potential and diversify your income sources.
   

Like what you heard so far? Are you ready to expand your focus to multiple DSPs? Let’s explore some of the most effective ways to do so today. 

Optimize your profiles

Start by having control over each and every DSP’s backend analytics trackers (the equivalent of Spotify for Artists) for each service. Streaming marketing consultant, Mike Warner, has a great panel on this exact topic, diving into each streaming service and what you can do to optimize your profile on each one.
This first step is very important if you are going to be sending traffic to each of the services. You want to ensure that your brand is cohesive, wherever someone searches you. This makes sure you make the most of the marketing opportunities you are creating on each of these fans’ home turf. Furthermore, you get a huge added benefit of actually being able to track your streams and other metrics for each service. Another great benefit is that certain DSP’s have additional marketing opportunities that you can take advantage of directly via these backend services. Pandora’s AMP program is one example, one tool of theirs allows you to algorithmically push your song out into listener’s feeds and prioritize the songs you chose for that push. This is free marketing that you should definitely be taking advantage of!

Diversify your Promo Traffic 

Within your marketing campaign for your track, you should have various channels of traffic coming into the song. We explore this concept more in-depth in our Funnel-Building blog that you can dive into. A step deeper, you should think about the DSP breakdown for that funnel.
For example, Playlisting is typically Spotify-heavy, so the step below (Direct-To-Fan Advertising) could be an area where you focus on diversifying your DSPs. Luckily, advertising campaigns make it very easy to do so with Landing Pages. At SongTools, we built our own landing page solution called SongPage that is not only cost-effective ($9), but offers some unique benefits like direct integration with your ad campaigns, automatic set-up, and even click-farm protection so you don’t have to worry about bots eating up your advertising budgets. 

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The beauty of a landing page is that it allows you to acquire a potential fan via ads, and then let them select which streaming service to listen to the song on. This makes it extremely easy to diversify your traffic and gain new fans on each of the other streaming services. 
Pairing the SongPage ease of use with a SongFly campaign – which allows you to launch an ad campaign at the click of a button – it’s never been easier to diversify your streaming traffic into all DSPs, and have your dashboard looking like this screenshot from one of our recent campaigns in the House genre. As you can see from the screenshot below, with $150, this artist was able to acquire significant traction on a handful of streaming platforms:

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While the above outline is a great way to do so via SongTools, here are some other quick organic ways, to diversify your streaming traffic: 

• Collaborate with other artists who have a presence on different DSPs. By teaming up and featuring each other's songs on your respective profiles, you can tap into each other's fan bases and introduce your music to new listeners on various platforms. Cross-promotion is a powerful tool in expanding your reach.
  
  
• Engage with your fans on social media and encourage them to listen to your music on different DSPs. Create content that highlights the benefits of each platform and why they should check out your music there. Utilize platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to interact with your audience and share direct links to your songs on different streaming services.