In the game of Spotify streaming, first impressions can be transformative, often determining whether an artist’s new track fades into the background or becomes the next viral sensation. One metric for musicians and music producers navigating this landscape has emerged as an invaluable tool to ensure a powerful debut: pre-saves on Spotify. This strategy, used correctly, can elevate your release day, turning it into a high-impact event with far-reaching repercussions for your career.
Our guide dives into the intricacies of this essential promotional mechanism that many artists and producers either haven’t thought of or procrastinate heavily in executing. We will break down the art of running an unconventional pre-save campaign, providing comprehensive strategies and actionable tips. Whether you are an industry veteran or an up-and-coming artist, this guide will arm you with the knowledge to catapult your music directly into the ears of listeners worldwide, ensuring that your new track hits the ground running.
Line Up Premiers On Blogs And Outlets
Landing premiers and blog debuts used to be the most effective way to build initial momentum for your track before its official release. But the music space has changed since the heyday of blogs a decade ago. And while often premiers don’t rack up tens of thousands of plays in a week or two leading up to the actual release day, the same strategy can be an excellent way to get your music and accompanying pre-save link out in front of new and broader audiences before release day.
Securing these premiers can often be harder than it seems, as many music journalists don’t have the time to scope out every premier request in their inbox. But if you can think outside of the box and build a relationship with somebody writing about music or who manages a popular platform on sites like SoundCloud or YouTube, the investment almost always pays off in the long run.
Many platforms also allow you to skip the line and necessary networking hurdles simply by paying an upfront fee to have your track premiered on their site. If you have the budget and the platform is credible enough, this can be a great way to invest marketing dollars into your release. Just be wary, as music marketing targeted at up-and-coming artists and indie musicians is fraught with scammers preying on musicians who don’t know better.
Call In Your Community
Building a community around your music is paramount for long-term success in the music industry. While many artists continue to put community building on the back burner, the few artists who prioritize it often reap significantly more benefits over the long term.
There is no better platform for this than Twitch, as it allows you to kill multiple proverbial birds with a single stone. Streaming on Twitch consistently allows you simultaneously:
- Build a community behind your music as you provide value to that community through free DJ sets, production streams, performances, etc.
- Creates content by recording your DJ set to upload to other platforms or video content to be cut into clips for social media.
- It is a platform for you to directly interact with your fans in real time, which no other medium can offer (considering that Instagram live streams have always felt a little forced and clunky).
When done correctly, this final point makes all the difference when you ask your community, in real-time, to pre-save your upcoming release and call in but a small favor from the community you’ve been slowly growing on the platform. Denver-based producer Discognition – pictured above – leveraged his Twitch following and community to help push his self-released single in 2023. Through lively Twitch chats, phenomenal DJing, and consistency, Chad’s audience on the platform grew over time into a sizable force to be reckoned with.
Stream The Single Below and Join His Twitch Family Here
Twitch isn’t the only community, though…
The internet has given us numerous ways to connect with our community and offer value to the world. Twitch is a popular method, but several other methods exist. One such method is offering advice and resources to the production community. Serik Slobodskoy, popularly known as Hyperbits (yes, the dude from the massive online school, The Hyperbits Masterclass), has been building his online community by providing free sample packs, insightful blog posts, hosting free workshops, and much more.
This strategy has allowed him to grow his community to thousands of producers ready to support his pre-save campaign. Although building a community of this size takes years, it is something that everyone can aspire to achieve. Because despite not having released a song in nearly five years and with Spotify listeners being almost non-existent in the weeks leading up to the release, thanks to the algorithm-triggering pre-saves amassed during his pre-release strategy, he gained 70k monthly listeners within three weeks of his release.
Give Something Away
Likegates have always been a tried and true method for getting a little something out of not only your core group of followers but also those who don’t know about your music (yet). And while the most common ways to use like gates are to build your mailing list or social media followers, they can also be used to drive pre-saves to your upcoming single on Spotify. If they want the free download, they must pre-save the track, which is hardly a big ask in exchange for a well-produced bootleg.
And as is the case with releasing such content, you can use the bootleg as a chance to tell your own story as an artist. Maybe the famous track you decided to make a bootleg of was a big inspiration for your upcoming single you’re asking to pre-save, or perhaps the group was incredibly formative to you throughout the early years of your musical journey.
This simple strategy worked wonders for Columbus-based producer Entel, helping boost the number of pre-saves on his release by 50 or more.
Share It On Your Socials
This is the lowest-hanging fruit, so we won’t spend too much time reviewing it. But it is worth mentioning here only because so many producers and artists are looking for the secret marketing hack that will 10x their streams or pre-saves that they ignore the most basic and most easily-accessible ways of getting the job done.
So don’t forget to ask your social media followers, friends, family, and everyone else in your immediate circle to pre-save your upcoming track. In this game, just a few pre-saves can kickstart the Spotify algorithm and land you on some serious playlists, so it’s worth swallowing your pride and asking that rival from high school to do you a solid and pre-save your s**t.
Host A Contest
Contests are a great way to help supercharge the number of pre-saves your song gets, and there are many different ways you can approach it. Sure, it often requires a bit more legwork and upfront investment, but if you have the resources, it should be a serious consideration for you and the label.
Remix contents are one great way to drive pre-saves to the track. They must pre-save the upcoming release to enter the contest and access the stems! You see this all the time with significant labels hosting remix contests, and if it works for them, it could work just as quickly for you! Beatport used to be the go-to platform for remix contests, but many more sites are out there now that allow anyone to host their contests so don’t think you need to have an in at some massive website to make this happen.
Another thing you could do is do a giveaway of some merch. Maybe a custom T-shirt-signed vinyl pressing or something else like that. Fans love one-of-a-kind merch, and offering the winner a signed vinyl or custom-made merch could help pour some serious fuel on the fire.
Conclusion: Why This All Matter In The First Place
Promotion is as important as production in today’s digital music landscape, especially for experienced musicians and producers. As Spotify continues to dominate the streaming space, it becomes imperative to maximize the potential of this platform. One key method is launching a well-planned pre-save campaign before your latest track or album release.
A pre-save campaign works similarly to a traditional album pre-order system. It allows your audience to add your unreleased music to their Spotify libraries, ready to play as soon as it goes live. This feature can increase the impact of your music release by ensuring immediate engagement and visibility.
The benefits of a well-executed pre-save campaign are plentiful. Primarily, it increases the likelihood of listeners interacting with your music on its release date. Since your track or album is immediately available in their library, it nudges your audience to listen, eliminating barriers. This initial interaction prompts immediate listens and drives future plays if listeners resonate with your release. This strategy can lead to a potential increase in followers and inclusion in user-curated playlists, fostering long-term success on Spotify.
Moreover, a pre-save campaign can translate your promotional efforts into tangible action. It goes beyond just creating buzz around your new music; it encourages your audience to engage with your upcoming release. Convincing listeners to pre-save your music also means they’re more likely to retain your songs in their library, making your release more effective.
Lastly, a strong pre-save campaign can boost your presence on Spotify. High streaming numbers on new releases can influence Spotify’s algorithm, improving your chances of being featured on algorithmic playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar. Inclusion in these curated playlists can significantly amplify your reach.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
