Spotify gives artists option to pay to appear in feed

Until now, Spotify’s home feed was based on providing recommendations to users based on their previous listening and music preferences. However, recommendations can now include artist-sponsored items.

Spotify is offering artists and their teams the ability to pay to have their songs and releases appear as sponsored recommendations to users. The new “Showcase” tool is presented as a way to reach new, untapped audiences.

In the Showcase announcement, Spotify highlighted that most plays of new songs do not occur immediately after release, but in the months afterward. According to Spotify, approximately 75% of plays in the first year of a release occur after the first month.

Artists can pay to have a sponsored banner at the top of the home feed, which will be displayed in more than 30 markets. According to Spotify, people who see an ad are six times more likely to stream promoted music. However, it appears that sponsored music will not be integrated into recommended playlists or other parts of the app, so most of the content users see will remain organic.

Showcase can be used to promote both new releases and older music. To use this feature, Showcase campaigns have an initial cost of $100, and artists must have at least 1,000 followers to book a campaign. In addition, the billing country of the artist or their team must be the United States.

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