{"id":9311,"date":"2023-06-16T07:01:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T14:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/passivepromotion.com\/?p=9311"},"modified":"2023-06-18T13:51:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T20:51:43","slug":"spotify-discovery-mode-is-a-no-brainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/passivepromotion.com\/spotify-discovery-mode-is-a-no-brainer\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify Discovery Mode is a No-Brainer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By now you’ve likely heard of Spotify Discovery Mode<\/a>. It’s a relatively new feature, still in beta, that provides more algorithmic exposure for your music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tracks you opt in will appear more often in two specific contexts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Radio<\/strong> \u2014 Algorithmically generated playlists based on any artist, album, or song I paid $1000 for similar exposure on Deezer (see here<\/a> and here<\/a>) and couldn’t wait until the day I could run the same sort of campaign on Spotify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That day is here and the reality is better than I ever would’ve anticipated! If you’d have told me that it would be free, I wouldn’t have believed you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it’s better than free! Spotify actually pays for the promoted streams. That wasn’t the case with Deezer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there’s a catch, it’s this: Spotify \u201conly\u201d pays 70% of the usual rate for the promoted streams.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They frame it thusly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 30% commission is applied to recording royalties generated from all streams of selected songs in Discovery Mode contexts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n And because of that, they’re being raked over the coals by not just artists and labels, but by the US Congress! That 30% commision is being referred to as \u201cthe new payola.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That strikes me as ridiculous, but I agree that there’s cause for suspicion. Spotify’s motives aren’t purely altruistic, since every Discovery Mode streams saves them 30% over what they would’ve otherwise served up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems likely that at some point all the Radio and Autoplay slots will be filled by Discovery Mode tracks. The further we are along in that journey, the more your tracks will be penalized for not<\/em> opting them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My recommendation is this: opt in every eligible track.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spotify frames Discovery Mode as a way to prioritize your most important songs. What we don’t know is whether the tracks you opt in are competing against each other, or against tracks from other artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, if I opt in everything, is it going to serve up one of my weaker tracks instead of my new single? Or is it going to serve up one of my weaker tracks instead of some other artist’s track?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until I hear otherwise, I’m assuming the latter. I’m all in.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out if you’re eligible for Discovery Mode by going to the Campaigns tab in Spotify for Artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing there? That’s probably because your music isn’t being distributed by CD Baby or DistroKid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Other qualifying distributors are Amuse, CmdShft, Dance All Day, EmuBands, Stem, UnitedMasters, Venice Music, and Vydia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than half of my catalog is on Tunecore and therefore ineligible. I’m tempted to move it to DistroKid, but it’s only a matter of time until Tunecore becomes eligible. There’s also the tiny, almost-not-worth-mentioning fact that at $1 per month per song, it would cost me over $500 a year to distribute all my cover songs through DistroKid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have to have 25K monthly listeners, which I suspect is the biggest hurdle for most.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, a good friend got in with 19K and still isn’t at 25K. I’m under the line at 23.5K right now, and I’m pleased to report that they don’t take it back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n UPDATE<\/strong>: I got a message on Instagram from someone who got in at 9K monthly listeners!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final requirements are that you need at least three qualifying tracks that have been released over 30 days ago and streamed in Radio or Autoplay in the last 7 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the 11th of each month I receive an email like so:<\/p>\n\n\n
Autoplay<\/strong> \u2014 When a listener reaches the end of an album or playlist and another song comes up<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
How Spotify Discovery Mode Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n