Want to have an artist profile on Spotify that attracts fans and keeps them around? Here are the 3 steps you need to take to build that impressive artist profile in just 15 minutes.
Step #1. Create an artist profile.
Spotify is different in the sense that unlike most other online services (like Twitter), you can’t just create an artist profile by clicking a button on their site, putting in your name, email and then you have your profile ready. You can do that to create a personal Spotify profile, but not an artist one.
You have to go through a digital distributor to get your music on Spotify, and to get an artist profile generated. When you choose the digital distributor you want to use, you give them your songs and your artwork and then they go and deliver that content to the streaming platforms of your choice, like Spotify or Apple Music.
Now, there are tons of digital distributors to choose from and they all have their own pro’s and con’s. CDBaby seems to still be the most popular choice. Ari Herstand has done an amazing comparison blog where he runs through a lot of distributors, testing them out and weighing their pro’s and con’s.
Now that you have your digital distributor picked out and they’ve published your music, it’s time to move on to step #2.
Step #2. Verify your profile on Spotify for Artists.
If you want that blue verified checkmark next to your profile, you need to verify your profile through Spotify for Artists.
You don’t need a certain number of followers to do this anymore – anyone with an artist profile can do this. All you need to do is head to artists.spotify.com and then click “Claim Your Profile”.
From there it will ask you to search for your artist name or paste in the link to your profile. Choose the account you want associated with your profile, confirm your details, and then you move on to the most important step of proving that you’re really you.
Spotify do this through website or social media verification where they’ll ask you to login to your artist accounts on social media or enter in your website URL. Then you just have to wait for Spotify to accept your request.
Now that you have access to Spotify for Artists, let’s move on to step #3.
Step #3. Add profile upgrades.
Within Spotify for Artists, you can update your artist profile photo and header image, update your bio, add an Artist’s Pick and highlight some of your merch on your profile.
Let’s assume you’re happy with your artist photo and header image. If you’re not, you can update those in Spotify for Artists. Don’t worry if you don’t see you changes right away, Spotify says it can take up to 72 hours to update them publicly.
The first upgrade you should make to your Spotify profile is updating your artist bio. If you don’t have one yet, write one! If you have an old one, it’s time to change it up. In your artist bio, you can do things like tag other artists, albums, or playlists.
You can also paste some Spotify links within your bio to direct your fans to where you want them to go.
Next, you’re going to want to choose your Artist’s Pick.
Spotify is giving you the choice of what displays at the top of your profile. You can pick anything to feature – a song, an album, or a playlist… and it doesn’t even have to be your own!
This is also a great place to show off a tour announcement. You should also write a short message to pair with your choice, talking about why you’re featuring what you’re featuring. There are tons of creative ways to use this space.
Now it’s time to spotlight some playlists.
I like to feature a variety of playlists in this section.
One can be a single playlist with every song you’ve ever released on it.
Another featured playlist can be a pick of your favourite songs at the moment from other artists.
The third playlist you can highlight is one you’re super proud about being featured on. For example, did you make it onto Spotify’s official Women of Indie or Bedroom Pop playlists? You should proudly display this in your featured playlists section.
Last but not least, if you have merch you’re selling online, you should be featuring it on your artist profile to boost sales. Spotify are exclusively partnered with Merchbar, so you have to have your merch available on their platform first.