Spotify has launched a new tool for artists that allows them to purchase sponsored music placements on the platform’s homepage.
The new marketing tool, called Showcase, lets artists select a song or an entire album to be featured as a mobile banner on the site. This banner can then be set to target a specific type of listener in up to 30 markets.
Spotify is primarily marketing the new feature as a way for artists to maintain streaming numbers on new releases for longer.
In a press release, the company said, “Promoting new releases remains critical, but not only during the release moment: On average, 75% of a release’s first-year streams happen after the first month.”
Spotify also claims that users who view a Showcase banner are six times more likely to stream the promoted release.
In order to take advantage of Showcase, artists will need to meet a number of eligibility requirements, including having at least 1,000 target market streams over the past 28 days.
Musicians can then set a specified budget, based on a “Cost Per Click” model, charging them based on the number of times their ads are displayed to the target audience. Budgets for the Showcase feature start at $100 when booked through Spotify for Artists.
Artists who take advantage of Showcase will receive access to detailed breakdowns on the outcome of each promoted campaign, with engagement data from their most active audience, new listeners and the audiences they’ve missed.
Spotify users will begin seeing sponsored recommendations over the next few weeks. For more information about the new service, click here.
Featured image from Spotify.
