Are Your Spotify Streams Not Growing? Learn How to Fix It

Rising music artists on Spotify are struggling to gain organic streams from relevant listeners. Let’s find out the issues of stagnant growth and how to fix them!

Spotify is currently the biggest music streaming platform around the world, where all kinds of music artists are trying to create a successful career ahead. This platform allows emerging and independent artists to post their music and share it with listeners. The platform also provides monetization benefits for the artists who successfully reach the threshold of royalties. However, Spotify has also become very competitive as the platform is receiving an increasing number of music artists on a daily basis.

Clearing the clutter in this digital and competitive landscape is not an easy task, and the growing number of music artists is making this situation even more difficult for the rising artists who are in dire need of exposure. Spotify’s monetization system is directly linked to its stream count, and if you are unable to gain ample organic streams as a music artist, you might not be able to monetize your content. The value for monetization or the royalty is also quite low on Spotify, and earning a greater number of streams is a must to reach a profitable situation where you are able to make money from your craft.

Why are your Spotify Streams not growing?

A lot of artists have faced this situation, and it is perhaps the common situation for most artists in the initial phase of their music career. Spotify streams might not grow for many reasons, and some of the significant reasons are inconsistent marketing, an optimized profile, irregular releases, and the list goes on. You see, only making good music is not enough to stand out and create a career in this digital age, since you will have to focus on your online presence and promotional approaches as well. You need to actively cater to the online listeners to make sure you get a certain number of streams with each music release. Let’s take a better look at the reasons for reduced streams.

Common Reasons for Stagnant Stream Growth on Spotify

    • Irregular Releases

The modern music industry is filled with a huge number of established and rising music artists. With so much musical content, even listeners struggle to remember an artist who is not making consistent releases. The best way to stay trendy and on the radar of the listeners is to make musical releases at regular intervals, which allows listeners to stay in touch with your creative work, and after a certain point, they will be waiting for your upcoming releases. With so much anticipation and expectations, fans can make each release successful. Besides, regular releases also help to be a part of the algorithm and allow appearing in the playlists like release radar, fresh finds, etc, to name some.

    • Not Enough Marketing 

It is quite common for independent and emerging artists not to have a big budget for their marketing needs as they are at the initial stage of their career. It is not just about posting links, but you would also require running paid ads sometimes, which can offer you improved reach and exposure. Besides, promotional agencies also follow dynamic methods like content marketing and social media marketing, which are not always followed by the artists themselves. Lack of marketing approaches can also reduce the number of streams, and no new listener gets to know about your music.

Also Read: Spotify SEO: Learn How to Get the Top Rank on the Music Streaming Platform

    • Poor Profile and Music Quality 

Your Spotify profile works like an online brand for your music where you can showcase your talent through each musical creation. Your Spotify profile for artists should be completely optimized with proper profile and cover images, along with a strong and brief bio that shares more information about you as a music artist. The discography should be well-oriented under the right categories and albums to make sure listeners can easily find everything that they might look for. Also, make sure to upload good-quality music only to attract both paid and free listeners.

    • Playlist Submission

Playlists play a vital role on Spotify, and getting featured in the right playlists can help to improve your listener count drastically. Many personalized playlists on Spotify get created based on the listening habits of each listener. Similarly, there are editorial playlists created by the Spotify executives. Other than that, you can easily get featured in the playlists that curate music based on genre, style, or mood. These playlists usually have a huge and relevant listener base, and getting featured in similar playlists can improve your stream count as well.

Now that you are aware of the reasons why your stream count is not growing, you can actively put effort into the avenues that need the most work. You can fix the situation through actionable steps that can work for all kinds of music artists on Spotify, whether a rapper, a singer, a DJ, or a music composer.

Actionable Steps to Fix a Stagnant Stream

The best way to fix promotional needs is hiring a professional agency that specializes in Spotify music promotion, which allows you to grow effectively with more listeners, fans, and exposure in the competitive market. However, buying promotional packages from professional agencies can also cost some money, and most independent artists lack a strong budget. Here are some easy steps to help you out.

    • Optimize Your Music Profile – As mentioned before, a poor Spotify profile can appear quite repulsive to listeners, and it offers a sense of unprofessionalism. Claim your Spotify for Artists profile, getting verified with high-quality images, bio, and social links, which make you appear as a professional artist with legitimacy.

    • Increase Release Frequency – Try to aim for more frequent releases, which can help to gain more momentum and traction in the competitive market. While you can fix your frequency based on your creative pace, it is recommended to make a music release every few weeks to keep the listeners engaged with your musical works.

    • Playlisting Approaches – Actively pitch the playlist curators who make such playlists and feature artists based on their creativity, musical style, genre, and mood. Submitting to independent curators can help to gain a wider reach in the market.

    • Paid Ad Campaigns – You can embark on paid ad campaigns for Spotify music, which are cost-effective and offer a massive reach among potential listeners. Yes, it is paid, but the best feature is that you can set the budget for the campaign, and it will not run after the budget is exhausted.

    • Engage with Your Audiences – No music artist can become a superstar without the support of their massive fan base, and if you are trying to become the next superstar on Spotify, you'd better engage with your targeted audiences to turn them into your loyal fans. You can utilize the social media platforms to interact with the listeners directly. When you engage with your community, they will be more likely to engage with your music and offer more organic streams. They can also share the music with family and friends, increasing the streams even further.

It is evident that music artists cannot grow in the modern music industry by just depending on their musical works. It also requires a fair amount of personal and promotional approaches to stand out in the competitive landscape for Spotify music artists.

Final Thoughts 

As an emerging music artist on Spotify, you might have to focus on your craft more than the promotional approaches, but it is equally important to gain more streams for your music. The best thing you can do is to proceed with a strategic approach that combines both the DIY approach and professional campaigns to make sure you can maximize the results effectively while minimizing your budget. It is definitely not easy, and hustle is hard, but once you embark on the journey, it is a smoothly paved way ahead.