An Easy Guide to Digital Ads & Playlisting Across Genres

From the soulful depths of R&B, through the storytelling heart of Country, to the pulsating beats of Electronic Dance Music (EDM), artists & labels are finding innovative ways to reach their audiences. Two fundamental strategies that have shown considerable success across these diverse musical territories are playlist pitching and digital advertising. While the core principles of these strategies apply broadly, the nuances of their execution can vary significantly by genre. Let's dive into how leveraging the unique characteristics of cover art, digital ads, and targeted geographies can make a notable difference in promoting music effectively.

Playlist Pitching: The Art of the First Impression

The Power of Cover Art

A song’s cover art is often the first point of interaction between a potential listener and a track. It's not just an aesthetic choice; it's a strategic tool that can influence the decision of playlist curators and, consequently, the track's visibility and success.. After helping place more than 1.4 million tracks via our playlisting platform (Playlister.Club), we have a pretty good idea of what type of cover art converts best for each genre. 

Country Music: The top performing album covers in this genre focus directly the artist and their storytelling. Cover art featuring pictures of the artist, or snapshots from performances, can create a personal connection and draw listeners into the narrative world of the song.

R&B: This genre offers more flexibility in terms of cover art. Abstract images, often with darker backgrounds, can intrigue and pull listeners into the track's emotional or thematic landscape. The cover art should hint at the depth and richness of the music.

EDM: Given the genre's emphasis on mood and atmosphere, cover art tends to lean towards abstract images or captivating sceneries with brighter backgrounds. These visuals aim to evoke the immersive and often euphoric experience of EDM tracks.

Below is an easy quick reference guide to the types of cover art that converts best in Playlisting for each genre. 

Digital Ads: Crafting the Viewer Experience

Leveraging Video Content and Targeted Geographies

1. Video for the Ad

Our digital ad automation tool, Songfly, has already created, launched, and optimized thousands of campaigns across genres. Even though our default AI-generated cover art converts well, we find that when artists upload great videos, the campaign can take a whole new dimension in terms of conversion rates. But for each genre, the type of video varies. 

Country Music: Performance videos resonate best with country music fans. Showing the artist engaging with their music connects with the audience's appreciation for authenticity and live music.

R&B: Both music video cuts and mood/abstract videos outlining the album art are effective. Showcasing the artist's presence & perforamnce of the music can captivate the target audience, highlighting the genre's emotional depth or cultural relevance.

EDM: Mood videos are paramount. The visual content should mirror the sensory experience of EDM, focusing on visuals that enhance the track's atmospheric qualities, often abstract and pulsating with energy.

A pro-tip for all of the above genres: focus the first 3 seconds of your video to be as attention-grabbing and punchy as possible. After analyzing the data, we see that music fans tend to skip ads after 3 seconds if they are not interested - so make sure to give your song the best chance to be heard.

2. Targeted Geographies

Digital ads allow for precise geographic targeting, which is crucial for tailoring promotion strategies to regions with established or growing fan bases. While Songfly will automatically optimize your geographies based on genre, artists can tweak these as well, based on their needs or targets. 

Country Music: Focusing on areas with a strong country music heritage or large country festivals can yield excellent results. In general, the entire U.S. and Canada, are currently great markets for country music, especially with the recent ascent of the genre in the music charts.

R&B: While some artists might target specific urban centers known for their vibrant music scenes and cultural diversity, the reality is that Hip Hop has gone global. We would recommend focusing on US markets, but run experiments in other geographies in Europe and Latin America.

EDM: Targeting can be both broad and specific, aiming at global hotspots known for their dance music culture as well as areas with emerging electronic music scenes.

Below is a quick guide that summarizes the key attributes for Digital Ads that ensure higher conversion. 

By carefully creating cover art that has a high click-ability, and crafting digital ads that have a high chance of engaging fans, artists can significantly maximize their chances for successful marketing campaigns. And in any genre: remember that great performance starts with great music - so make sure you use SongTools to automate your growth, so you can spend 99% of your time making amazing music!