Spotify has four distinct music marketing options they have now rolled into one neat package called Campaign Kit.

Campaign Kit consists of pitching to Spotify’s editorial playlists, Discovery Mode, Marquee, and Showcase.

Two of these options are free (editorial pitching & Discovery Mode) while two are paid (Marquee & Showcase).

And Spotify has put together a compelling case for leveraging each of these options in conjunction with the others to fuel growth on its platform.

But are all of these tools worth testing, or should we only focus on certain ones?

How can we use the right ones to our advantage?

Well, let’s have a look at all four of these options and attempt to answer those questions and more.

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First, start with ads

Every one of Spotify’s Campaign Kit options (with the exception of pitching to editorial playlists) requires artists to achieve a certain amount of traffic to unlock.

This means a new artist on Spotify can’t release one song and immediately start using these tools.

So we have to find a reliable way to go from zero to one when we first start releasing music to gain access to options like Discovery Mode, Marquee, and Showcase.

Now I won’t rehash every single prerequisite for unlocking these tools here (if you want to dig into that, you can read about it on Spotify’s website), but just know we have to do a little work before we can add more marketing opportunities to our toolkit.

Enter: ads.

In my experience, running ads is the most effective way to start generating streams and listeners for your music as a brand-new artist.

And it’s not even close.

As an example, our agency has effectively used ads to help hundreds of artists see impressive early-stage growth in streams and listeners, allowing them to access these additional music discovery tools on Spotify.

If you’re struggling to establish a foundation of marketing and growth as an artist (or as a label on behalf of your artists), ads are the place to start.

Pitch to editorial playlists

You should always pitch your new releases to Spotify’s editorial team.

But not for the reason you think.

With the exception of massive, global, bluechip-level artists like Taylor Switch, Ed Sheeran, etc., no one is reading your editorial playlist pitch.

With tens of thousands of new songs being released on Spotify every day (estimates range anywhere from 40k to 100k, depending on who you ask or what you read), there is just no way Spotify could employ the level of manpower required to read every single pitch.

No, a computer is doing that.

The point of your pitch isn’t so much to delight and convince a human reader of your song’s inherent awesomeness, but to paint a picture for Spotify’s algorithm about where your song belongs.

Which artists are similar to you?

Which playlists and songs should your track be on and beside?

And yes, even hashtags can help—Spotify uses those too.

But most importantly, your editorial pitch is a submission to ensure your new song ends up on Release Radar for every person who follows your artist profile on Spotify.

It’s a direct line into their library and listening habits, so don’t skip it.

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Skip Discovery Mode

In most cases, though, you should skip Discovery Mode.

Now, I’ve gone on record about Discovery Mode more than once, most notably in this video.

The short version is I’m not a fan, not because of some inherent bias, but more so because in every Spotify for Artists account I’ve ever been in that has used Discovery Mode, the results have been bad in the long term.

I’m not sure how or why (that’s math and decision-making above my pay grade), but Spotify seems to trade all other algorithmic traffic in favor of Discovery Mode.

Meaning: when Discovery Mode is turned on, artists receive far fewer streams from sources like Discover Weekly and far more streams from Radio, where Spotify takes a 30% cut.

And what’s more is that it takes about three months to right the ship and start seeing those Discover Weekly streams again even after you turn off Discovery Mode.

And let’s face it, because Discovery Mode is more of an ongoing growth tool anyway, running ads is basically creating your own Discovery Mode campaign off-platform as it is.

Only with ads, you can retarget your fans for leads and sales.

Better on all counts.

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Use Marquee for new releases

Spotify’s Marquee option is incredibly powerful for pushing new releases.

And being that it’s only available for new releases, that makes sense.

I always recommend artists use Marquee for new releases when budget allows for it.

Leveraging Marquee alongside ads and getting your song into your followers’ Release Radar playlists via the editorial pitching process can be a powerful means of generating a lot of early streams and pushing your popularity score up quickly.

If you want your release to go off, and you have the budget, use Marquee.

It’s worth it.

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Showcase is a multitool

Spotify’s Showcase feature is easily the most adaptable, depending on your needs.

You can use this marketing channel for a host of different options from pushing catalog music to drumming up interest for a new release to re-engaging fans to prime them for new material.

There are a lot of options here.

Of course, that multitude of options can make it easy to spend money without seeing any real, measurable impact for your music, so you have to be careful.

My favorite implementation for Showcase is for new releases.

When we have agency artists stack Showcase, Marquee, and ads for new releases, the results tend to be explosive.

If you have a decent budget, combining these three options is almost a guaranteed way to pull off a Release Radar “pop” on day seven and ultimately get your song on Discover Weekly.

Second to that, I like Showcase as a way to sort of “swell the tide” in the days leading up to a new release as well.

By running a campaign to previously active listeners, you can reposition yourself as a top-of-mind artist for them, making them more likely to engage with your next release when it drops.

Almost like a one-two, music marketing punch.

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