Of the top ten clubs in the world鈥� only two have official Spotify accounts. That鈥檚 surprising, given that the music streaming giant has over聽聽and 140 million active users. If you want to define the feel of your venue, create shareable content, and reach highly engaged music lovers, why wouldn鈥檛 you start where fans expect to discover their next favourite artist?
The challenge is simple: Spotify isn鈥檛 a traditional聽social network聽and cultivating a following is nuanced. But by committing to the platform, venues have a unique opportunity to engage with fans and boost ticket sales. If your ticketing provider聽distributes your events to Spotify, then your potential to convert Spotify fans to ticket buyers is even greater.
So how should a venue set itself up to take advantage Spotify and its listener base? Here鈥檚 how to get started.
Step 1: Build out your venue鈥檚 profile
First, you need to build out a compelling profile. Like other social networks, your profile is home base. It shows your most recently played tracks, your playlists, followers, and more. While venues can鈥檛 make a decked out artist page, you can聽聽to prove your venue is managing it.
To customise your venue鈥檚 profile, you鈥檙e going to want to pull in a clear and compelling profile image. Your venue鈥檚 logo is the most direct choice.聽聽in Washington, D.C. and 聽in Victoria both went that route and have developed strong followings.
That being said, some originality in this department will help your venue a stand out. Consider an action shot of fans at a show, a performer in the moment on stage, or a shot of the marquee outside your venue. Just make sure the file is a JPEG 4MB or smaller and you鈥檒l be able to upload the chosen image.
Step 2: Prime your playlists
Once you鈥檙e happy with your profile, it鈥檚 time to choose the themes for your playlists. This where you see the majority of venues, blogs, festivals, and curators let their creativity loose. Create a theme that not only encapsulates your accounts鈥� personality, but also the mood of the individual playlist.
A playlist is composed of four parts: name, artwork, description, and music. All four give you an opportunity to differentiate and create a unique feel.
Take Starbucks and Run The Trap鈥檚 playlists for example. Run The Trap鈥檚聽聽artwork utilises a warm colour scheme and image of an聽artist of the moment, 2Chainz, to tip listeners off to the music they鈥檙e about to experience. On the other hand,聽聽uses a wood grain image to bring listeners鈥� minds to coffee shops and the soulful sounds that accompany them.
Notice how both accounts made sure to include their logo within the playlist image for greater brand recognition. Once you match your playlist artwork with a short, sweet description, you鈥檝e got a playlist set up for success! (Pro-tip: Use the hyperlink functionality in the playlist description to point to your website, ticketing page, or any social channels you鈥檙e looking to grow.)
To start building your playlists, just click the 鈥�+ New Playlist鈥� button in any Spotify application. You can then set your playlist name, upload your artwork, and insert your description. While these fields aren鈥檛 all required to start adding music, they鈥檒l help fans find your playlists and encourage them to follow.
Step 3: Add the tunes
Now that your playlist is fully set up, it鈥檚 time to add the main ingredient: great music! Take the time to research artists, search the web鈥檚 recent releases, and make a playlist of cohesive tunes. This is an opportunity to give fans a sense of what vibe to expect at your venue and to create a mood for them wherever they are.聽If done right, your Spotify playlists could bring new fans lining up at your door sooner than you think.
Until then, learn more about how you can use Spotify to promote your music venue by聽selling tickets on Spotify聽鈥� and follow our own Spotify playlists聽.
