How To Pre-Save on Spotify
Independent musicians are always looking for new ways to keep their audience engaged.
Spotify pre saves continue to be a great way for artists to do this. While there hasn’t been an option for listeners to pre-save releases directly through the Spotify app (until recently!), Third-party apps and distributors have given artists the option to create pre save links they can share with their audience. When listeners pre save an artist’s release it is automatically added to their liked songs on release day.
In this article we go over how you can create a presave link through a third party, Spotify’s new in-house presave option and if pre-saves lead to more streams.
What is a Spotify Presave?
A Spotify pre save is a feature that lets fans save an upcoming song or album to their Spotify library before it’s released. Once the music becomes available, it appears in the user’s library automatically. In theory, this helps artists generate early engagement and ensures that their music reaches their audience immediately.
How to Presave Songs on Spotify
Schedule Your track for release
Before you can create a pre-save campaign, you'll need to submit your track for distribution using your preferred distributor. If you don’t have a distributor yet, click here for our updated list of the best music distributors.
Many distributors offer Presave services free for their artists.
If you use Distrokid as your distributor, you can set up pre-saves through Distrokid's free Hyperfollow service.
If you use CDBaby, you can use Show.co for free presaves and other marketing tools.
You can also use sites like Feature.fm to create presaves but you may have to pay a fee.
Using Spotify’s In-House “Countdown” Presave Feature
Spotify has recently introduced an in-house presave feature called “countdown”. While this has the opportunity to be a game changer for pre-saves, it is currently available to all eligible artists.
Why Artists Want Their Songs Presaved and Why Some Listeners Are Hesitant
Listeners presaving a song on Spotify can offer multiple benefits for artists but it is important to be aware of its shortcomings.
Building Spotify Data: High presave numbers signal to Spotify’s algorithm that a song/artist is in demand, and their listeners are engaged and excited about their new release. While this doesn’t increase that specific song’s chances of being featured in popular playlists, it does build positive data on Spotify in regard to a track’s save rate which could increase chances of future releases getting added to editorial playlists.
Maximizing First-Day Streams: Presaves can ensure a strong start by guaranteeing the song will be in listener libraries on release day. While this can help maximize first-day streams you want to employ other promotional methods to make sure listeners are reminded since there’s no notification. Pre-saves are great for your save rate but if your fan forgets about the release and doesn’t listen to music from their saved library often, it will have no impact on your stream count.
Enhancing Visibility and Hype: One of the best things about Presaves is that they build anticipation for your track once shared on social media. In a world of constant distractions and endless content, the more ways you have to promote your track the higher the chance of people engaging with it.
Collecting Valuable Data: Artists can gather data about their fanbase, such as email addresses and locations from certain presave sites. This is because these third-party sites require listeners to share their data with them to pre-save the track. Some listeners have expressed hesitation in sharing their data with random websites they’ve never heard of so make sure you do your research and use reputable platforms to create your Presave link or you may be gambling on your audience’s trust.
Conclusions
Creating a Presave option for your audience is a great part of any marketing plan. Not the most important but a simple way to increase your track’s success on Spotify. Once Spotify's Countdown feature becomes more widely available it will be the safest and most seamless way for listeners to presave your music. Check out this article for more tips about promoting your music on Spotify.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does presaving a song do? Presaving a song ensures it appears in your Spotify library upon release, helping artists boost initial streams and engagement.
- What does presave mean? Presave means saving an upcoming song or album to your library before its release.
- How to presave an album on Spotify? Follow the same steps as presaving a song, using the presave link provided by the artist.
- Does presaving cost money? No, presaving on Spotify is free for fans. There may be a fee involved for artists depending on their distributor.
- How to find presaves on Spotify? After release, check your library or the Release Radar playlist to find presaved songs.
Looking to Promote Your Music?
Use our Spotify Playlist Submissions or TikTok Promotion services.