Spotify Music Promotion for Nigerian and African Artists: Connecting Talent to Spotify Curators
In the wild rush of the music streamer world, Spotify-like services have dramatically changed how artists from literally all over the world can share their voices and touch those who are listening. For both Nigerian and African artists, Spotify offers a passport into the ears and hearts of millions of fans beyond borders. Yet, as more musicians upload more tracks, competition to be seen can be overwhelming. Spotify music promotion, more so connecting with Spotify curators, has indeed proved an effective way for African artists to gain recognition and reach out for new listeners.
This article looks at how Nigerian and African artists can use Spotify promotion, with a key focus on how connecting with Spotify curators can help take their success on the platform to the next level.
Why Spotify Matters for African Artists
Spotify has more than 500 million active users, ensuring unparalleled exposure for artists. Such is a rare chance for African artists to expose the world to new sounds, rhythms, and languages. Afrobeat, Afropop, Amapiano, among other genres, have already found their way to international markets and the consumption of African music is on an upward swing. But all this is not easy to achieve on such a huge platform; it is not sufficient to merely upload the music-it requires aggressive promotion.
Spotify Curators and Music Promotion
Spotify curators serve as the gatekeepers for playlists on the service, and indeed, their role has become quite indispensable in deciding which songs appear on popular playlists. Spotify has a cadre of in-house Spotify-owned playlist curators and independent ones creating and maintaining highly followed playlists. A well-curated playlist addition may mean that your song gets exposed to thousands and sometimes millions of potential fans; hence, this is one of the most effective promotional methods on Spotify.
Why Playlistings Matter
Increased Visibility: Being listed on playlists is one of the ways whereby an artist will be able to be better discovered on the platform.
Organic Growth: When listeners enjoy and discover a song on a playlist, they look up the artist’s profile and listen to his or her music while following him or her. That drives organic growth.
Algorithmic Boost: Spotify’s algorithm favors engaging tracks; hence, the more playlist inclusions, the greater the chance of additional Spotify recommendations via Discover Weekly or Release Radar.
How to Get in Touch with Spotify Curators as a Nigerian/African Artist
Here’s a step-by-step approach on how artists in Africa can get their music across to Spotify curators:
- Get Your Spotify for Artists Profile in Check
Before engaging curators, first, ensure you already have a professional Spotify for Artists profile set up. Use High-Quality Visuals: Ensure you have cover art that may be appealing and display artist photos that are professional.
Update Your Bio: Write an interesting bio about your journey and inspirations as an African artist. Connect Social Media Profiles: Connect your social media profiles with their links so curators and fans can easily find you. 2. Submit to Spotify’s Editorial Playlists
Through Spotify for Artists, the platform has made provision for artists to upload unreleased tracks directly for consideration onto its playlists. This feature will target Spotify’s editorial curators who manage playlists such as Afropop Rising and African Heat. The earlier you submit your track, the more probable it is that you’ll get picked up by Spotify’s editors. - Research Independent Spotify Curators
Along with Spotify editorial playlists, there are also independent curators who maintain popular playlists. Some of them may be focused on genres like Afropop, Amapiano, or Afrobeat and, therefore, ideal for African artists seeking to reach specialist targeted audiences.
Search on Platforms like Soundplate, SubmitHub, and PlaylistPush: These sites link the artists to independent curators.
Leverage Social Media: The majority of curators are on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. You are able to research specific hashtags, such as #SpotifyCurator or #PlaylistCurator, to find useful contacts.
Make a Curator List: Make a list of the curators you would want to reach, then organize them into genre, number of followers, and how and if they accept submissions so that everything is ready to go for easy outreach.
- Pitch to Curators with Results
With your pitch to curators, make sure your email is personalized, showing that you know something about the playlist and who it caters to:
Be Quick and Professional: Curators have a lot of submissions, so keep your message as short as possible.
Bring Out Your Unique Sound: Describe what makes your music different and why this fits their playlist.
Links and Assets Provided: Direct Spotify links for the track and any press materials or social media links that add context.
- Take Advantage of Collaborations and Remixes
One great way to do so is through collaborations. These make for great ways to get traction with both curators and listeners alike. By collaborating with another African artist who’s already on Spotify, you will be tapping into their audience, offering playlist curators something different.
Building Relationships with Spotify Curators
Steady communication with the curator builds long-term relationships beyond just a pitch. Here are some ways of creating these relations:
Interact with Curators on Social Media: Go beyond promotion; comment on their posts and like their content to forge some kind of connection.
Share Playlists Which Feature Your Music: If a curator decides that your track fits in one of their playlists, share that playlist with your following and give the curator a tag. Chances are, this will put you on their radar and make them like you.
Appreciate: Sometimes, thank-you email or shoutouts goes a long way to building good relations with curators.
Benefits of Spotify Promotion to African Artists
The advantage of Spotify promotion to African artists includes a number of key opportunities, such as the following:
Increase in Audience: This will expose African music to other parts of the world through play-listing.
Increased Revenue: With increased streams, also come increased revenues through Spotify’s streaming payouts, which is a really useful stream of income for independent artists.
Brand Building: Being featured on respected playlists can build your brand and reputation as an artist; thus, it helps the growth of the artist’s career in the long run.
Conclusion
Spotify music promotion changes the game for any Nigerian and African artist looking to expand their talents to an international arena. The strategic connectedness will see the artist amass huge grounds and attract a new breed of fans to his turf to gain permanency in the competitive music industry. More indelible marks will be left with hard work, professionalism, and persistence in connecting to the Spotify playlist network and carrying on the music career to the highest possible level.
Perhaps Spotify promotion focusing on curator connections is that last step for African artists into the international market.
