How to Raise Money as an Artist on Spotify
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the music industry harder than anything that has come before it. But the reality is, most of the artists that make up the “music industry” have been struggling to make a living way before the coronavirus was in the picture. But we’ll save that conversation for another day.
The more urgent (and important) conversation is around which streaming platform was going to step up to the plate in creating something that could help artist’s during this time and honestly, live on as something useful with our without a pandemic.
An answer to that need came from Spotify when it announced its new fundraising feature, Artist Fundraising Pick on its Spotify For Artists platform. With this addition, artists can choose to raise money for themselves, their teams, or a cause they feel passionate about and do it all from their Spotify profiles that listeners and fans lists on a daily basis. Game Changer.
Artists can choose between CashApp, GoFundMe, or PayPal.me for a linked fundraising account. Our advice? Use the account you already have setup so that your fundraising efforts are all in one spot. Especially if you’ve already been running a campaign with one of those services.
Side Tip: Cash App established a $1 million relief effort for artists during the COVID-19 pandemic through their partnership with Spotify. If a Spotify for Artists user uses Cash App and secures at least one contribution of any amount, they’ll receive an extra $100 in their account from Cash App! The $1 million total won’t last forever to make sure to get in on that ASAP! (We should mention its only available to artists in the US/UK but people from all over the globe can contribute).
This is a SERIOUS no brainer. ALL artists should be using this tool as just another way to raise money for their careers.
AND its all under one roof on Spotify - the biggest advantage of it all.
When we live in a world of immediate gratification, fans should be able to access something of yours through the least amount of clicks. Period. The more clicks they have to go through, the less chance there is of them getting to the end destination of anything; listening, donating, following, you name it.
With Spotify’s new feature, you can kill two birds with one stone by leading fans to your Spotify to not only listen to your music but now also donate to a cause ALL IN ONE CLICK.
Here are some ways/reasons to use the fundraising tool to your advantage:
Want to raise funds to record a new single/EP/album?
Create a campaign for your socials around creative ways to fund the project. Lead your fans to your Spotify page to listen to your music, and to donate to the recording costs if they like what they hear/want to hear more. Some ways to say thanks can be early access to the release, or an exclusive bonus track off the project!
Want to raise money to go on tour (#LivestreamLivingRoomTour)?
Lead fans to your Spotify page to listen to all the music they would hear live (on livestream). Guide them with some clever marketing and gives them an incentive to click on the donate button for your “tour""! For example, those that donate can have access to an exclusive VIP experience for when your live experience is funded! (VIP Zoom chats, early access to new music, etc).
Other reasons to raise funds:
- help fund and build your team of heroes (manager, publicist, artist development company like us!, musicians, etc)
- help build your marketing budget
- help pay your rent so you can focus on making a new record
And sooo much more!
So what are you waiting for?! This tool is absolutely free to use for all Spotify For Artist users and is definitely a win-win.
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