A Step-by-Step Guide to Uploading Your Songs on Spotify
As an up-and-coming artist, the urge to share your music with the world may be overwhelming. Your passion burns to have your songs heard by as many people as possible, echoing through loudspeakers everywhere. You've tried uploading your songs to Soundcloud, but the results have been disappointing. Your hunger for streams, recognition, and royalties continues to grow.
It's time to take the next step: unveil your tracks to the world and release your music on other platforms. Platforms like Spotify. Specifically, Spotify.
Why Spotify?
Spotify, with its massive user base of 400 million and active member count of 150 million, is the leading streaming platform in the world. As an emerging artist, it's the ideal place to upload your songs and gain the recognition you richly deserve. The platform is a powerful asset for artists looking to expand their fan base and generate income. With features like 'Spotify for Artists,' you have a wealth of opportunities to build a loyal following and gain valuable insights into the most crucial statistics. To take full advantage of these opportunities and understand the significance of ‘Spotify for Artists’ for any musician, be sure to read our in-depth article on the topic.
As an artist, the urge to share your music on Spotify is likely palpable. Thankfully, despite any misconceptions, the process of uploading your songs to Spotify is not as complicated as it may seem. We're here to guide you through every step, making it a breeze for you to get your music on Spotify in no time. No sugar-coating, no wasting time, let's get straight to it!
Choose a distributor
The first step in uploading original music to Spotify is to start looking for a distributor.
Music platforms such as Spotify do not allow independent artists and labels to directly upload their music for others to stream it. Therefore, you must approach an online music distributor to release music on Spotify or other streaming platforms for you.
Conveniently, Spotify has a list of preferred and recommended providers with whom musicians can partner to deliver music on streaming platforms.
Two popular distributors for independent artists are DistroKid and EmuBands. Both of these distributors allow artists to retain 100% of their profits. For record labels, The Orchard and Believe are two distributors worth considering as they offer worldwide services.
Overall, whether you're an independent artist or a record label trying to get your music on Spotify, these organizations will handle licensing, distribution, and royalties. However, each distributor offers unique perks that may be tailored to your specific needs, so do your due diligence and select the best one for you!Meet the requirements before song submission
Before submitting your music to a distributor, make sure it meets Spotify's technical standards for tracks. Needless to say, you should only submit the highest-quality versions of your songs. Here are a few, more specific requirements to keep in mind:Ensure that your audio files are at least 320 kbps. This is what sets Spotify Premium apart from its competitors and attracts more listeners, as the quality is higher than what is accessible on other platforms.
Ensure your music is properly mixed and mastered.
Provide audio files that are mastered for streaming, rather than for CD, vinyl, or comparable formats.
If possible, submit .WAV or .FLAC audio files rather than .MP3.
Once all these technical requirements are met and your music is up to par, it’s time to submit your song to your chosen distributor.
Provide additional data
When submitting a song to a distributor, aside from your artist and song name, provide essential information such as the music genre, writing credits, and copyright information. Remember to also include the release's artwork as it is a necessary component to represent the spirit of the music!If you're new to releasing tracks, purchase an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) and UPC (Universal Product Code) for your music. ISRC codes are used to identify and catalog individual songs and ensure proper monitoring of royalties, while UPC codes are used to determine the release that contains your audio or video performance.
Learn more about these codes by visiting the provided website:
To obtain ISRC and UPC codes, visit the provided form:
Earnings per stream
Following these steps, you may be wondering how much money you will earn once your songs are uploaded to Spotify.
Essentially, artists receive royalties based on the number of streams their songs receive on platforms like Spotify. The amount paid per stream can vary, but it's generally estimated that Spotify pays artists between $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. Choosing the right distributor and service for releasing your music is crucial, as different options can result in different payouts per stream. For maximum earnings, we suggest searching for distributors and services that offer 100% payouts.
Next steps…
The answers are there, now it is up to you to launch your career as an artist. Music platforms have never looked so good, so make the most of those opportunities that ‘Spotify for Artists’ has to offer and generate those well-deserved streams.
To boost your streams even more, check out our blog post ‘11 tips to push your music on playlists and get more Spotify Streams’ for strategies on growing your following.
