Music Distribution
Lesson 1 of 3
Spotify Wrapped: How to Engage Your Fans With Spotify’s Yearly Recap
Each year Spotify users look forward to that special moment when their yearly Spotify Wrapped report comes out.
Everyone (who uses Spotify) gets a chance to share what they listened to most over the course of a year and see what everyone else found themselves listening to.
Music is best when shared and Spotify Wrapped has its own way of contributing to that conversation.
Artists also get their own version of Spotify Wrapped to share with their followers—it’s similar to the user version but instead shares how their audiences grew, and what playlists and demographics follow their tunes.
That means Spotify Wrapped is a big opportunity to increase engagement with your music and excitement about just how far you’ve come.
But what tools are available to help you engage your audience with the best possible Spotify Wrapped experience?
In this article, we’ll unpack everything Spotify has to offer artists around its Wrapped feature and we’ll share some unique pointers for getting the most out of them.
What is Spotify Wrapped?
Spotify Wrapped is a yearly recap produced for users of the music streaming service known as Spotify.
Each year the company produces a recap for each user that uses real listener data to show what artists, songs, genres and listener profile each user fall into.
Wrapped is presented with social media in mind, using colorful formatting, fun graphics and a story-friendly format that makes it easy for Spotify to share their favorite music and see what their friends got into musically for the year.
The Spotify Wrapped event always takes place around early to mid-December and is positioned as a feature that users get when they download the newest update for the Spotify app.
What is Spotify Wrapped for Artists?
Spotify’s Artist Wrapped is similar to the one it generates for its users except, it instead shares yearly milestones for artists who’ve uploaded their music to Spotify.
For example, an Artist Wrapped may show how many total streams an artist received as a whole or for a certain track.
It also can highlight a new release or an interesting statistic about the artist’s audience with respect to location and demographics.
Peggy gives her advice on releasing music to streaming platforms.
What’s new for Spotify Wrapped in 2023?
This year Spotify is rolling out cool new features to further support artists looking to engage with their fans through Spotify Wrapped.
Most interestingly, you’ll be able to record a short video up to 30 seconds thanking your top percentile of fans for their listenership.
This unique video will go to anyone who’s listened to your music enough to qualify—it’s a pretty special way to send a message to your biggest fans.
Not to mention, the high probability of these fans sharing your thank you video to their followers.
If this is something you’d like to do, make sure to get your video submitted by November 23rd and check out Spotify’s page for the specs on what your video will need.
If you've already made a Spotify Canvas, your can upload your Wrapped video similarly. Read - Spotify Canvas: How To Stand Out With Video and Find New Fans.
How to prepare your artist profile for Spotify Wrapped
Aside from the new top listener video feature, there’s a few more things to keep in mind to get the most out of your Spotify Wrapped.
Update your artist page’s on tour section with upcoming shows
You may want to update your upcoming shows, since Wrapped will promote any upcoming dates to your fans, both through their Spotify Wrapped and your artist edition.
To update the shows listed on your Spotify artist page, you’ll need to add your shows to a partner ticket seller’s website that integrates with Spotify’s upcoming shows tool.
You can do this for free by listing events on Eventbrite, DICE, Resident Advisor or others.
Update your Artist Pick playlist
Since your profile might get more attention than usual, it never hurts to update your Artist Pick playlist.
Highlight your songs that you particularly like, make a playlist of your favorite tunes or any other project you’re involved in.
Ask fans to support you or a cause you care about
During the pandemic, Spotify came out with its Fan Support feature that allowed artists to ask for direct financial support or donate to an organization of their choice.
The feature stuck around and continues to be used by many artists today.
Wrapped will promote whatever cause you choose for your Fan Support section—so make sure to update it with whatever you feel comfortable asking fans to support.
It’s a great opportunity to encourage fans to support something you care about or collect end-of-year tips!
Music distribution explained
Become a master of music marketing.
Selling merch with Spotify Wrapped
This year Wrapped will promote your merch to your top fans and encourage them to support you by buying any merch posted on your Spotify profile.
So if you have any new items you’d like to post for sale, get them up before November 7th as this will be the cutoff date for items that make it into the Wrapped presentations for your top fans.
Even if you don’t have merch, Spotify offers some impressive features to help you ship prints through Printful and sell online through Shopify.
Get more details on setting up your Spotify merch store on their details page.
How to get the most out of Wrapped
Our complete guide to music promotion. Read - Music Promotion: How to Promote Your Music in 2023.
Wrapped is based on user data, so the best way to get the most of Wrapped is to keep building your audience on Spotify and engaging your fans on and off the platform.
But, aside from Spotify’s built-in tools, there’s plenty of ways to get the most of Wrapped.
Here’s a few outside music promotion tactics to try.
Get the word out with social media
Here's where you might need to re-think your social media strategy- Read - 5 Social Media Metrics Musicians Think About All Wrong.
As you get closer to the release of Spotify Wrapped, make sure your social media game is on point.
Use all your platforms to create a sense of anticipation. Tease the stats, thank your fans for an incredible year, or drop some behind-the-scenes stuff that people haven’t seen before.
Remember, Wrapped is designed to be social media-friendly. The more buzz you generate, the more people will engage with your Wrapped content when it finally drops.
Collaborate with other artists
This might be a bit left-field, but think about collaborating with other artists to cross-promote each other’s Wrapped data.
This is especially relevant if you’ve featured on each other’s tracks, or you share a fan base. It’s a win-win situation where both of you get to tap into each other’s audience.
Analyze and adapt for next year
After the dust has settled on your Spotify Wrapped, take a hard look at the data. What songs performed best? What countries are most of your listeners from?
The answers to these questions are like pieces of a puzzle that reveal what you should focus on next year.
If a particular song style blew up, consider creating more tracks in that vein. If you find out you have a bunch of listeners in a city you’ve never played, well, maybe it’s time to plan a little tour.
Don’t just make it about you
Last but definitely not least, use this opportunity to show some love back to your fans.
Whether it’s through shoutouts, personalized messages, or even a unique live session where you play the top tracks that got you through the year, make it about the community you’ve built.
Your Wrapped isn’t just a reflection of you; it’s a reflection of the people who’ve supported you along the way. So give ’em some love.
Wrap it up!
Spotify Wrapped isn’t just a year-end review; it’s a tool that can propel your career forward if you play your cards right.
From prepping your profile to analyzing your data, each step is an opportunity to connect with fans and make your music journey even more remarkable.
So when Spotify Wrapped rolls around this year, don’t just watch from the sidelines—dive in, and make it a launchpad for the awesome stuff you’ve got lined up for next year.
And there you have it! You’re now equipped to make the most out of Spotify Wrapped, not just as a recap of your year but as a playbook for the year ahead.
So go ahead, make your Spotify Wrapped as unforgettable as the music you create.
Alex Lavoie works as a staff writer at LANDR by day and writes indie post-punk tunes in his band UTILS while moonlighting as drummer for folk-rock outfit The Painters.
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