Should You Promote a Single or an Album on Spotify?

Promote one track at a time, even when the release is an album. Playlists add individual tracks, and listeners find you through one of them. The album is where they go once that track has caught them.

Why one track focuses everything

One track means one message: this is the track we want you to hear. That makes every other decision simpler. You know which playlists to aim for, what your clips should use, and which numbers to watch. Nobody has to choose where to start, including the listener.

For an artist still building an audience, that focus is worth a lot. Every choice you put between a stranger and pressing play is a chance for them to move on.

Albums still matter

An album gives a listener who liked one track somewhere to go. It shows the bigger picture of what you make, and different tracks can reach different people. The mistake is pushing every track at once and learning nothing about any of them.

Pick the strongest way in

If you're promoting an album, work out which track gives a stranger the clearest introduction. That's usually the most immediate one: the strongest hook, the clearest genre, and an opening that does its job fast. It's often not your favorite, and that's fine. You're picking a way in.

Curators hear the track they're given, so the one you lead with is the one your whole release gets judged on.

One album, several moments

An album doesn't get just one promotional moment. Different tracks can go to different audiences over several months:

• The upbeat track goes to energetic playlists in your genre first.
• A slower track from the same record suits mood playlists a few weeks later.
• A track with a different flavor might suit a neighboring genre.

Space the focus tracks out. Only one of your tracks can sit in your followers' Release Radar at a time, according to Spotify's own guide, so each focus track gets the most from a few weeks of its own.

A worked example: an EP

Say you've made a four-track EP: an upbeat opener, a moody midtempo track, a stripped-back ballad, and a long closer that lands best after the other three. You're proudest of the ballad. The opener is the one a stranger gets in ten seconds.

You lead with the opener, since it's doing the introducing. A few weeks later, once it has found some listeners, you promote the ballad to mood playlists in the same genre, where people are already in the mood to slow down. The closer stays on the record for everyone who makes it that far.

Track by track, without the old way's cost

Promoting track by track the old way multiplies the work. Every track needs its own curator research, its own pitches, and its own follow-ups. On pitching platforms, around $150 usually buys submissions to about 15 curators, with nothing promised, and the curators keep the money whatever they decide. That model isn't compliant with Spotify's rules either, which don't allow charging even for considering a track for placement, and it's the artist who carries the risk. Do that for each track on an EP and you've spent hundreds with no idea what you'll get back.

On Soundmango each track gets its own campaign. You start a campaign for the track you're leading with, choose the genres that fit that track, and pay once. It goes only to curators whose playlists fit, and it keeps going to the next fitting curator until one takes on your campaign. Approved tracks have an estimated 99% chance of landing on at least one playlist. When the next track's turn comes, you start a new campaign with the genres that fit it.

Use one track as the door into your catalog

When someone likes a track, they open your profile and look around. That's what the rest of the album is for. Make sure the profile has a real photo, a short bio, and the album right where they'll see it.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to promote a single or an album on Spotify?

A single track. Promote one track from the album at a time, and let the album catch the listeners that track brings in.

Can I promote a song from an album to Spotify playlists?

Yes. Playlists add individual tracks, so any track from an album can be promoted on its own.

Should I promote every song on my album?

No. Pick the tracks that make the best introductions or that reach clearly different audiences.

Can different album tracks fit different playlists?

Yes, and they usually do. Tracks on one album differ in mood and energy, so each one suits its own playlists.

How long should I wait before promoting the next track?

About four to six weeks. That gives each track its own run and keeps your releases from competing for the same Release Radar spot.

Lead with the track that opens the door

Pick your strongest way in and give it its own campaign. Start a campaign for your lead track, and it goes to curators who run real playlists in its genre, or you get every cent back.