Spotify's Discovery Mode for Musicians 

Spotify has become a significant turning point for independent artists to mark their presence in the music industry. Not only can you release your music on your own on Spotify, but you can also closely monitor and make use of different features of the platform that allow you to be on the advantageous side. One such feature is Spotify For Artists. This tool helps music artists analyze their releases, better market their albums using Marquee ads, and so on. For more, check out our article on How To Make Spotify Marquee Ads?  

However, we are focusing more on the Discovery Mode of Spotify here. What is Discovery mode? It is a strategy, let’s say, that helps independent artists like yourself, be discovered by new users in crucial times. In other words, this tool helps new listeners find you and your music which ultimately results in growth and reach. This plays an elemental role in building your following and fanbase, especially if you are just starting out. Reaching potential fans is almost equivalent to gaining more streams as well. Speaking of streams, don’t miss out on our article on Manipulating Spotify Streams with Streaming Fraud.

What does it do?

Music publishers and musicians select tracks that are important to them, and The Discovery Mode system incorporates that information into the algorithms that ascertain customized listening hours. However, it only functions if the potential listeners like it as well. When a user isn't engaged with a track, Spotify interprets it as an indication that it isn't striking a chord with them and refrains from suggesting it to equivalent audiences. The key is a dynamic equilibrium.

How do you make use of this?

You, as an artist, are given a chance to focus on the tracks that you want to get traction for, depending on which Discovery Mode will employ algorithms and play it for potential fans. Are you familiar with Spotify Radio? Spotify Radio is this technique where a listener can discover songs similar to the one he or she is already a fan of. For example, if a listener is jamming to The Weekend’s Take My Breath, a track like Instant Crush by Daft Punk will likely play if the listener is using the radio. The vibe is similar, yet these are two different tracks coming from two different artists. 

Similarly, if a user is listening to a track that is probably in the same genre as one of your tracks, then your track may play next. This is basically what Spotify Radio is. Now the algorithm that Spotify Radio uses stems from Discovery Mode. That is, among the many tracks that may get played on Spotify Radio for the user, you directly get to select which one will get more limelight and that selected track will get played. And this selection happens through Discovery Mode. You will find this tool under the ‘Campaign’ tab. Here is a detailed thread of how to go about it. 

Spotify claims that as of today, personalized suggestions in algorithmic contexts account for 33% of all Spotify discoveries. These contexts just don’t mean just Spotify Radio, but also include Autoplay. 

Estimation shows that during the first month of Discovery Mode, artists have seen an increase of 50% in saves, 44% in users' playlist additions, and 37% in followers. That is, the chances of users coming across your selected track and adding them to their playlists is 44%, and then following you is 37% in the first month of the employment of the tool. 

There is a clear advantage that you have: you are in control when it comes to using Discovery Mode. That is why we recommend you carefully select the tracks that you’d want to be found more and streamed more. Since the tool is meant to give the artist the entire power of making the process reach a fruitful goal, you should understand that if it doesn’t happen, it is ultimately the fact that potential listeners aren’t vibing to this track (let’s say the selected track is track A) as much as they probably would have to track B (a track you may have not chosen). 

Also understand that even if you enable the tool for all of your songs, it is highly unlikely that all the tracks will get a similar response or reach. Every track and every song is different and even if it is coming from the same artist, the listener might not be engaged with all the tracks as you’d expect. So make sure that you first analyze the growth of each track after using the tool and then collectively. We recommend giving more importance to the individual metric here if you want to build a long-term fanbase. This makes you understand where you are going wrong and leads you in a more informed and measured direction. You should monitor your development towards your targets to decide to either enable or disable Discovery Mode for each track. 

We recommend you always turn it on when you are releasing a brand-new track on Spotify. Discovery Mode works in conjunction with your new release strategic plan. Utilize in advance to notify fans of your top songs, and thereafter push the focus to other sections of your collection/EP/album when your latest release reaches a high point.

Impact

Spotify claims that every month, the streaming platform pushes 16 billion artist discoveries, which means that audiences listen to an artist they haven't ever noticed before on Spotify 16 billion times. By placing you, the music artist in the driver’s seat, Spotify gives you complete power to make use of the Discovery Mode as and when you want, you can turn it on and off as per your analysis and traction. 

Pretty simple, eh?

We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now! 

 

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