You are totally ready for your release. The music is mixed and mastered, your album artwork is perfect, you’ve uploaded your music and been approved for distribution. Now what do you do? The answer – create a Spotify Pre Save link.
What is a Spotify Pre Save link?
This is a link that will allow your fans to save your music to their Spotify library prior to the release date. That way, on release day, your music will automatically be added to their selected playlist.
Why is a Pre Save important?
As we all know – Spotify’s algorithm is stacked against you. The best way to combat that is to do everything in your power to get as many streams as possible on release day. This tells the algorithm that people actually like your music, which makes it more likely for your song to appear in a curated Spotify editorial playlist.
How do I create a Pre Save link?
Feature.fm
One of the most popular platforms to create pre-save links on is Feature.fm. Not only is the design of their pages sleek and sophisticated, but they also automatically collect email addresses from those who have pre-saved (up to 50 are FREE).
Show.co
Another great option is show.co. Show.co is the first to offer free pre-save campaigns for indie artists. What’s even more amazing is you get access to it automatically if you are using CD Baby as your distributor!
HyperFollow
HyperFollow is Distrokid’s very own built-in pre-save campaign platform. If Distrokid is your distributor, this is a no-brainer. It’s within the same backend program and easy to use. Distrokid will automatically add all your new followers – and saves – on your release date. They also email those followers and lets them know that they can start listening.
What do I need to create a Spotify pre-save link?
All you need is your release date, artwork, and UPC or ISRC code. Even if this is your first release and your Spotify artist profile isn’t built yet, you can run a pre-save campaign. In fact – it’s even more important in this case, because you will automatically get listeners on your release day from the campaign.
How do I promote my link?
Send It To Everyone
Send it to anyone and everyone – including all of your friends and family. You also should share it often on socials. Add it to your linktr.ee (if you have one), pin it as a tweet, add to your Instagram story, and Facebook post. You can even change the button on your Facebook page to link out to your pre-save link.
Social Media Headers
Make sure you are taking advantage of your header images on each platform as well. If there isn’t a button or caption like there is on Facebook, put the link in the graphic itself for awareness!
Newsletters
We are constantly preaching about newsletters here at Cyber PR – and there is a reason for that. This is the only form of direct communication that you have with your fans that is not affected by an algorithm. Creating an announcement email with the pre-save link, and a reminder the day before release, is key to making the most of your campaign.
Want to get the most out of your release and land on some Spotify playlists? Check out Ariel’s Ultimate Guide to Music Publicity. Available now!
I appreciate your tips here.
We ran a test and directed 6,000 targeted visitors to our pre-save hyperfollow link. Only 8 managed to sign up. The conversion rate is horrible, mostly because people don’t know or trust the process. They visit a third site and are then asked to give an unknown page access to their Spotify account (if they even know their Spotify login details at all).
In my opinion this would work a lot better if Spotify offered the Pre-Save natively but they do not. Pre-Save is a great idea but unless you have a LOT of money to throw at it for bringing over traffic it’s not the most cost effective way to get the word out.
We totally agree that hyperfollow links have low conversion rates. Feature.fm converts much better. And whether or not a Spotify pre-save will generate a high amount of conversion is also dependent on your audience! If you have a very engaged audience who is on the younger side and is used to pre-save links it is essential. Whereas if your audience is older and is more used to getting emails from you and downloading mp3s, offering free downloads in exchange for an email address is a better use of energy. All variables should be considered. 🙂