Merchandizing on Spotify 101

Marketing merch for your music is an essential part of making money as an indie artist. Not only does that pay the bills, but it will help your audience grow as you use some of that money to fuel your music marketing efforts. Spotify often provides opportunities for artists to not just distribute their music throughout the world, but also promote and sell their merch. The services provided by these streaming platforms help artists in their music marketing endeavours and make it easier for them to promote their music. 

Up until recently, the only way artists could sell their merch directly on their Spotify artist page was through the online marketplace Merchbar. That was great for established acts, but not for up-and-coming artists. Independent artists, however, had difficulty joining the platform due to its notably exclusive nature.

Thanks to a partnership between Spotify and e-commerce company Shopify, all that has changed. As part of this new agreement, all artists can now sell up to three merch items on their Spotify profiles.

Some people may find it hard to figure out how to sell merch on Spotify, especially if they are new to this platform. Given below are some basics, and tips and tricks to help you navigate the world of selling your merch on Spotify. Let’s dig in.

What needs to be done?

• The first step that needs to be done is to create an account on Shopify. You can do this by visiting their website and creating your store there. Shopify is a monthly subscription service, and their basic tier starts from $29. After you do this, you’ll be able to add all your merch to the store that you created on Shopify and have another level of music promotion under your belt.
  
  
• You must also have an artist profile on Spotify. Having an artist profile on Spotify means that you need to have your music distributed to Spotify through the help of a distributor. Your distributor can help you with this.
  
  
• Finally, you will need access to Spotify for Artists and be a verified artist. Your distributor can help you get verified for your Spotify for Artists profile. Once you’ve done this, you can edit, change, customize your Spotify for Artists profile, and also add merch to your Profile. 

How to Link your Spotify and Shopify Accounts?

Mentioned above are just the preliminary steps. The next step in selling your merch is to connect your Shopify account to your artist profile on Spotify. Given below is a step-by-step guide on how to connect your Shopify account to your Spotify.

First, you will have to log into your Spotify for Artists account. From there, go to ‘Profile’ and click on ‘Merch’. The next step is to click on ‘Log In To Shopify’. After you’ve completed the previous steps, enter the URL of your Shopify store and click on ‘Link Shop’. Once you log into Shopify, follow the prompts to set up your account, and you will be all set. 

The next step you need to do is to publish your merch on your Spotify for Artists page. To do this, first, log into your Shopify account and go to settings. From settings, go to ‘Products’ and then click on ‘All Products’. Now, choose a product and then go to ‘Manage’ and see that ‘Spotify’ is checked. After you do this, click ‘Done’ and then click at the top of the page on ‘Save’.

How to Add Merch to Your Artist Profile on Spotify?

Once you publish the required merch on your profile, you can choose up to three products from your merch to list publicly. To do this, first, log into artists.spotify.com and go to “Profile” and click on “Merch“. Then, click on ‘Add to Shop’ on the merch products that you want to display publicly on your profile. 

Once you have added your merch, anyone who visits your profile will be able to explore it. It is recommended from a music promotion and music marketing perspective that you update your merch before each new release.

According to Spotify’s Fan Study, there are certain things that you can do to improve your merch sales that will subsequently help your music marketing efforts come to fruition. This includes:

• Having to make sure that you sell t-shirts during summer
• Stocking up on vinyl during April and May
• Offering outerwear and warm clothes in the holiday months of December and January.
• Selling more coloured and printed t-shirts, as they grab attention more easily. 
• Updating the pictures of the merch, yourself, and your bio, every time you release new music. 

The list given is, obviously, not exhaustive. You can try different music marketing strategies to find what fits you the best and stick to it for the best results. 

Since streaming royalties aren’t paying the bills anytime soon, it’s only fair that you make the most out of this feature to get more fans to buy your merch. Speaking of streams, here’s everything you need to know about TIDAL’s new Direct Artist Payouts Program.