The first and biggest step for aspiring indie artists is to get their music on popular streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. After doing so through a music distributor, you're hit with the cold, hard reality of the music industry, which is the fact that without proper promotion, you're unlikely to get any decent amount of streams and, consequently, make much money.

This brings up the question of how I can get my music heard. There are plenty of tips and tricks to get those streams up, which I’ll go into detail about. One of the best ways to increase exposure is through music promotion services. These services specialize in getting your music out there and, more importantly, into popular playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, and even TikTok videos.

However, since plenty of music promotion services are available on the web, it can be difficult to decide which promotion service to go for. In this article, I’ll look into the subtle but impactful ways you can increase plays, delve into how music promotion services work, and highlight the best promotion services out there.

Tips for Promoting Your Music On Spotify

The music streaming world can be challenging to navigate for new artists looking to get on the big stage and become independent. With so many artists on the rise, the competition to get heard on Spotify and the likes is becoming increasingly more difficult. 

That's why knowing these tips and methods can be crucial to increasing exposure. To start, it's essential to have an appealing Spotify artist profile. Write a bio with information about your music, yourself, and notable releases and labels. 

Your profile must be visually appealing, too, so add pictures of yourself and any gigs you've played at, even simple stuff like a friend's party, and, of course, an eye-catching cover photo. 

Additionally, you should make sure that your social media profiles are up to date. If you’ve already released music or recently done so, set an Artist Pick to highlight it. 

Don’t forget to add a Canvas to your songs, which is the short video that replays in the background on Spotify when a song is playing. According to Spotify, having an attention-grabbing Canvas increases streams by up to 120% and saves by up to 114%.

Collaborating with other artists is also significantly effective in promoting your music; no matter how popular you or the other artist is, your usual exposure will be doubled as fans from both sides will see your work as both your names are included in the song details. 

Teaser videos and press shots are a no-brainer, especially if you have a decent social media following. Creating and sharing short snippets of your music is a surefire way of getting hype going before the release of your songs.

Promoting music on Spotify involves securing placements on curated, user-generated, editorial, and algorithmic playlists. This exposure helps you connect with a larger, more engaged audience. 

To improve your chances, submit your music in advance to Spotify's editorial team, include a description with social media tags, and reach out to relevant artists and curators. However, personally emailing curators can be arduous, and the likelihood of getting into playlists through this way is low. That’s why I recommend using a music promotion service.

How Music Promotion Services Work

Music promotion and marketing requires experience, knowledge of the market, and plenty of connections. Learning music marketing yourself can be a valuable investment for gaining new listeners. 

However, many musicians lack the time and energy to fully immerse themselves in these methods. That's where music promotion services step in to assist aspiring artists, providing them with the support they need to promote their music and reach a wider audience effectively.

Music promotion services work by promoting your music on various streaming and social media platforms, increasing exposure and streams through ads and placement in popular playlists. 

When you subscribe to a music promotion service, you start by selecting campaign plan options like the number of desired genres, their respective playlists, the duration of the campaign, etc., with the cost determined by those options.

After modifying your campaign plan, your music is sent to the service's music supervisor, who reviews the quality, mixing, and vocals. If everything checks out, your music is forwarded to the target music streaming service's playlist curators, who will decide whether your music is a good fit for their playlists.

It’s important to note that the number of playlists is usually only an estimate, and there’s no guarantee how many playlists your music will be added to. You can expect a placement percentage of around 30-50%, which is not definite but rarely lower.

Music streaming services aside, certain promotion services also offer TikTok campaigns, which work by sending your music to popular TikTok influencers who make short-term videos with them as sounds or background music. 

Lastly, some services do ad campaigns on popular social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

The Best Music Promotion Services

With the technicalities out of the way, let’s get into which music promotion services offer the best services and campaigns:

1. Playlist Push

Specializing in Spotify and TikTok promotion, Playlist Push is another reputable music promotion service that can get you organic streams. They boast working with over 3,300 TikTok creators, access to over 25 million listeners through their campaigns, and helping over 25,000 artists. You can learn more about Playlist Push in this article.

2. Omari’s Organic Promotion 

Omari's Organic Promotion has been the best music promotion service for quite a while now. What sets Omari apart is that they cover a wide range of social media platforms in the form of ad campaigns and optimizations, on top of the usual Spotify playlist placements.

3. ReverbNation

If you're looking for a digital distributor as well as a capable promotion service, then ReverbNation is the service for you. From getting your music onto Spotify and promoting it to finding labels, ReverbNation offers every tool a musician needs to go pro. 

4. YouGrow

Like Omari, YouGrow offers YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram ad campaigns in addition to Spotify playlist promotions. One of the main reasons YouGrow has been placed so high on this list is their 100% money-back guarantee in case the service cannot generate the agreed amount of streams, unlike many other services.

5. Indie Music Academy

Indie Music Academy is highly dedicated to finding organic human listeners. Despite not offering the same wide range of promotion services like ad campaigns and social media exposure, Indie Music Academy focuses on getting you more streams and monthly listeners. They are also one of the few music promotion services offering a full refund if their promises are not fulfilled.

6. Groover

Groover grants musicians a comprehensive music promotion solution, covering playlist submissions, record label contacts, media connections, social media content creators, and PR services. They offer direct contact with PR services and journalists and are one of the more affordable services since there is no minimum budget.

7. SoundCampaign

SoundCampaign is a service that promotes music on Spotify by running campaigns tailored to your song's genre. Like Playlist Push, SoundCampaign connects you with playlist curators who provide feedback on your music. SoundCampaign offers affordable campaigns starting at $130, making it an accessible option compared to other services.

Final Thoughts

Tools like music promotion services can definitely help you get more streams and increase monthly listeners. Still, ultimately, the main factor that turns listeners into loyal fans is the quality and consistency of your work. So, more than anything, focus on perfecting your art, and with the help of a well-planned promotion plan, you can turn your hobby into your primary source of income.