ArtistLink started as an extension of the Topspin Media platform, so that non-Topspin users could add content to the MTV Artists site. It’s well on its way to becoming the control panel for the music industry.
I encourage any artist with a release on Spotify to sign up for ArtistLink.
All essential functionality is free. As of this writing, ArtistLink is basically four services rolled up into one. I’ll go over each, starting with the coolest.
If you take a look at my Spotify profile on the desktop app or web player, you’ll see I’m selling stuff! Right there on Spotify! For free! Spotify doesn’t take a cut.
Even better, I’m selling from my own site!
You can add up to three promotions, directing each to the URL of your choice. For now, they only appear on the desktop app and web player - not the mobile apps.
As awesome as this all sounds (to me at least), my ArtistLink promotions boast a whopping 2 clicks. One obvious reason: why would any Spotify user want to buy my albums when they can listen to them on Spotify for free? Too bad I’m all out of t-shirts.
Another factor is the wording of the button. If it said “view offer” or something less committal, it might get more clicks. A “buy” button is so… final. People probably assume their order will be processed using the credit card on file with Spotify, without even knowing the price!
As an aside, you can also hook up Spotify with Next Big Sound to view your plays data. For instructions and other Spotify best practices, check out Spotify for Artists.
Same idea, different subscription service. The big differences promoting on Beats Music versus Spotify are:
- You can only run one promotion at a time, as opposed to three on Spotify.
- Currently, offers only appear on the Android app.
Since I’ve got an iPhone, I’ve never actually seen my promotions in the wild. They’ve amassed an underwhelming 2 clicks, just like on Spotify.
The way I see it, we might as well get in on the ground floor with Beats Music while they’re young and hungry. They promise to be the most artist-focused of the music subscription services, and since they just bought Topspin (including ArtistLink), there are virtually no barriers between artist and listener.
Promo Exchange is similar to CoPromote (formerly Headliner.fm), except instead of trading social media posts with other artists, you trade banner ads - like this one, which should swap out for another if you refresh the page (if you don’t see anything, you’ve probably got AdBlock running):
For every three impressions of others’ ads on my site, I earn two impressions of my ads on their sites. You’re allowed to embed up to three promo widgets per page. The widgets are available in six sizes. You earn the same number of impressions regardless of the size of the widget, so you might as well embed three of the smallest ones, since credits are based on impressions rather than clicks.
Speaking of clicks, I didn’t get many (16, to be exact):
ArtistLink’s stated average click through ratio is 1.9%, so clearly I’m doing something wrong. I’ve never had much luck with banner ads! Unless you’re a well-known artist with a new release or tour, which I am not, I’ve found them to be useless.
You may be wondering: if artists get two credits for every three impressions, what is that third impression for? For paying customers, of course!
You can advertise your Promo Exchange, Spotify, and Beats Music campaigns on the same network at exorbitant prices. Here’s the cheapest package:
Keep in mind, you’re paying for impressions, not clicks. At my CTR, the $99.99 package generates 69 clicks at $1.45 a pop!
Last and definitely least, you can create a profile on MTV Artists. Here’s mine.
It’s racked up 0 views over the past 7 days, and 13 over the past… ever. My songs have been downloaded 3 times, total.
Adding insult to injury, the interface is such a chore! Song, video, and photo uploads disappear at random. Adding cover art rarely works. Albums I mark as private appear as free downloads. My latest releases don’t show up on my discography even though I added them myself, presumably because they aren’t on Echo Nest. Anyone know how to submit to Echo Nest?
For $10/month, you can upgrade to a premium account, to trade songs for email addresses and sell merchandise via widgets anywhere on the web. I’ll stick with Bandcamp, thank you.
One last gripe: I’ve had 9 placements on MTV shows, but you wouldn’t know that from my MTV Artists profile. Wouldn’t it make sense for the show episode pages to link to the artist pages, and the artist pages back to the show episode pages? Yes, it would.
It’s not all dark skies and dead puppies though:
There are several opportunities you may as well opt in to, like getting your video played on MTV, VH1, or CMT. Of course, that means you’ll have to set up your MTV Artists profile for their consideration. You’ll be cursing like a sailor in no time!
TL;DR: You can sell your merch on Spotify!
What’s been your experience with ArtistLink? Let me know in the comments!
Brian Hazard is a recording artist with twenty years of experience promoting his ten Color Theory albums. His Passive Promotion blog emphasizes “set it and forget it” methods of music promotion. Brian is also the head mastering engineer and owner of Resonance Mastering in Huntington Beach, California.