At Spotify for Artists, we’re building tools that help artists and their teams promote their music — right where streaming happens. Today, Marquee gets listeners into your new releases right when they open the app and playlist pitching gets your unreleased music in front of Spotify editors to consider for editorial programming.

But artists and their teams want even more flexibility when it comes to surfacing the right music to the right fans at the right time — whether that’s reaching new listeners with a trending song, engaging super listeners with an anniversary album, or targeting previously active listeners with a reminder of your tour.

With a rise in the popularity of catalog music, it’s also increasingly important to revitalize your body of work as a crucial aspect to building and maintaining your fanbase. From 2020 to 2022, the portion of our Global Weekly Top Songs Chart represented by catalog (18+ months) increased by 155%. Promoting new releases also remains critical, but not only during the release moment: On average, 75% of a release’s first-year streams happen after the first month.

That’s why we built Showcase, a new campaign tool that gives artists and their teams even more ways to get your new and catalog music in front of the right listeners, right when it counts. With Showcase, you'll be able to develop fans in ways that have never been possible before — by giving your music its moment on Home.

What is Showcase and how does it work?

Showcase is a sponsored recommendation that helps you share your music — whether it’s your newest release, your deepest catalog cut, or anything in between — at any time to likely listeners across Spotify. It appears as a mobile banner at the top of Spotify’s Home — the most visited place on Spotify, where millions of listeners come to decide what to listen to, resulting in billions of streams each day. Additionally, on average, people who see a Showcase are 6x more likely to stream the promoted release.

What’s more, Showcase gives artists and their teams the option to book multiple campaigns for the same release. For example, the tool allows you to spotlight a single, EP, or album with multiple campaigns to reach different goals, each targeting different markets or listener segments.

Below are a few other examples of how Showcase gives you an opportunity to develop your audience in new and meaningful ways:

• Hyping up your fans with an old favorite to build excitement for an upcoming release
• Putting a seasonal hit in front of new listeners during a holiday moment
• Re-engaging listeners you haven't reached in a while with a new release

No matter what your goal is, Showcase is the tool to help build your audience at the moments that best support your music and your career.

When is the best moment to spotlight my music?

With Showcase, you can promote your music at any time, so it’s never too late to give your release its moment on Home. Plus you can add a headline to give listeners helpful context to the music you’re promoting. Here are a few examples of headlines and how you could use them:

Releasing music soon

Tap into the pre-release hype by promoting existing music with this headline. This can help prime your audience while letting them know to look out for your new music.

New music

Use this headline to make a splash when you’re dropping new music. You can also use Marquee alongside Showcase for a new release, or you can use either tool on its own.

Recently released

Once the launch moment has died down, use this headline to extend your promotional cycle and keep your latest music top of mind for potential fans.

On tour

Want to build excitement for a new tour and help drum up interest in the tickets on your artist profile and Now Playing view? You can use this option to engage listeners before they see you live.

Release anniversary

Use this headline to celebrate a milestone anniversary for one of your timeless releases and give listeners a reason to dive back in.

Getting buzz

It’s exciting to see your music trending, and this option allows you to seize the moment and build off the momentum to bring new listeners to your music.

Seasonal vibes

This is a great way to promote a seasonal song during a holiday or specific time of year. A spooky song, a festive favorite, or a new love song primed for Valentine’s Day — they all fall under “Seasonal vibes.”

What’s important is that you have the freedom to choose the headline (and the moment) that matters most for your music.

Who can I reach with Showcase?

Showcase lets you reach listeners in over 30 markets, helping you develop a global fanbase. By default, campaigns reach listeners who are most likely to stream your release — including those who have streamed you before and people who are new to your music. You can also choose to target specific segments of your audience based on real streaming behaviors:

Active audience

These are valuable listeners who have intentionally streamed your music in the past 28 days from active sources like your artist profile, album and release pages, and their own library and playlists. Within the active audience there are three segments:

• Super listeners: Your most dedicated active listeners in the last 28 days. They’re also the most likely to keep streaming your music.

• Moderate listeners: Active listeners who intentionally streamed your music many times in the past 28 days, and could still develop into super listeners.

• Light listeners: Active listeners who intentionally streamed your music once or a couple times in the past 28 days, and could develop into moderate listeners.

Previously active audience

Listeners who used to be in your active audience but haven’t intentionally streamed your music in at least 28 days. They may still stream your music from programmed sources.

Programmed audience

Listeners who only streamed your music from programmed sources like editorial playlists, Discover Weekly, Radio, Autoplay, or playlists by other listeners at least once in the last 2 years.

Potential audience

Listeners who aren't currently in your total audience. Based on their listening habits, they may stream your promoted release.

How does Showcase reporting work?

Twenty-four hours after your campaign starts, you’ll be able to access detailed reporting so you can see how your campaign drove engagement with the release you’re promoting, as well as with the rest of your catalog.

We already talked about how people who see a Showcase are six times more likely to stream the promoted release, but the effects can be seen even beyond that initial listen. Our reporting metrics measure how your campaigns are growing your audience and developing deeper fans over time. Whether your marketing goals include audience engagement, reactivation, or growth, Showcase reports measure the success of those goals by tracking how campaigns grew your amplified, reactivated, and new active listeners.

Below is a breakdown of each metric:

• Amplified listeners: Listeners from your active audience who intentionally streamed your promoted release for the first time after seeing your campaign.

• Reactivated listeners: Listeners who rejoined your active audience after intentionally streaming your promoted release.

• New active listeners: Listeners who joined your active audience for the first time by intentionally streaming your promoted release – including new listeners who hadn’t streamed your music anywhere in the past two years.

Lastly, Showcase reporting can help you understand how listeners may intend to stream you in the long run by highlighting metrics live saves, playlist adds, and intent rate. Our research shows that saves and playlist adds correlate with a 2.5x increase in streaming of an artist six months later.

How do I set a campaign budget?

Budgets for Showcase campaigns start at $100 when booked via Spotify for Artists and run until you either spend your budget or 14 days after your campaign starts, whichever comes first. Since Showcase is priced on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis starting at a $0.40 CPC, we only spend your budget when people actually click on the Showcase.

In order to maximize the value of your spend, Showcase filters out people who have already intentionally streamed the promoted release in the past 21 days. During the campaign, you’ll only reach people who haven’t actively listened yet.

How do I run a Showcase campaign?

To be eligible to book a Showcase, artists must have at least 1,000 streams over the past 28 days in at least one of the available target markets, and the artist team’s billing country must be based in one of the markets where Showcase is available to purchase.

If you meet these requirements, ask an admin on your team to follow these easy steps to book your campaign.

1. Log in to your Spotify for Artists dashboard on desktop and head to the Campaigns tab.
2. Locate the Showcase tab.
3. Select an eligible release.
4. Follow the instructions to set up your campaign, and you’re on your way!

Over the next few months, we'll continue to expand access to more artists around the world. We're excited to share more updates so you can bring your own personalized strategy to the releases you want, when you want, and you can give your music its moment on Home, with Showcase.