You have new fans out there in the 180+ countries where Spotify is available – you just haven’t met them yet. Even if you’re primarily focused on your home market, your music’s genre, style, or story could be just the thing a listener is searching for kilometers, countries, or continents away. On average, global listeners stream artists from 14 different countries every month. Here’s a rundown of some top tactics you can tackle to identify, grow, and serve them.

Playlisting

There are billions of discoveries happening every month on Spotify, and two-thirds of these new artist discoveries happen outside an artist’s home country. Many come from playlists, both editorial and personalized. For our thousands of editorial playlists, using the Spotify for Artists playlist pitch tool will get your new music considered by the whole global editorial playlist team. If you get specific about your location, select up to three genres, and share background in the pitch about the story behind the song, it’ll help the right editor discover your track. Plus, pitching to playlists ensures that your track will reach your followers' Release Radar playlist automatically.

Let’s Get Visual

Engaging fans with a short, looping visual with Canvas shares your artistic vision – and gets you noticed beyond your location or language. Our data shows that when listeners see a Canvas, they are 145% more likely to share the track on average, which can translate to your track reaching farther across the globe. Plus, when someone anywhere on the planet shares your song on Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, or Snapchat, your Canvas will automatically loop in the background.

Explore Canvas: Overview, Top Tips, Guidelines, How To

Know Your Numbers

Two important facets of your Spotify for Artists dashboard are the Audience and Music sections, where you’ll find detailed analytics about who is listening to your music, how much, and where — plus, how they discovered you. In the Releases section under the Music tab, for example, you can click in to any one of your releases to filter data on how many streams, listeners, streams per listener, and saves a release has over a period of time for any specific market. With so many fans embracing a wide range of sounds far away from a given genre’s geographic origins, your audience is likely to be in unexpected locations. For example, Over 95% of K-Pop, Latin Hip-hop, and French Shoegaze listens happen outside of their home country. In fact, the ten cities that stream the most new content are spread over five continents! Understanding these stats can help you figure out what tracks to focus on, who to collaborate with, how to market yourself, and even where to tour. Looking at the Top Cities data in the Audience tab can give you ideas about which stops to book and even how to pitch yourself to promoters in those markets.

Read More: Using Data for Digital Campaigns

Take It Live

The live music industry is bouncing back, and fans are ready to see their favorite artists – and discover new ones. That’s why we created the in-app Live Events Feed, so listeners can discover concerts in their local area, with recommendations personalized to them. Thanks to partnerships with leading ticketers, Spotify has most of the world’s concerts listed on-platform in our major markets. That means your international fans are now more likely than ever to find your local tour dates right where they listen.

Learn More: Planning Your Tour | Live Events Feed

Set Your Target

Marquee, our sponsored recommendation tool, helps you promote your latest release by putting your music in front of the right listeners at the right time – and in the right place. Campaigns can target audiences in more than a dozen countries — including seven of the ten biggest streaming markets in the world. Plus, a campaign can even have a halo effect on your entire catalog: Listeners are three times more likely to stream from your older releases after listening to the promoted Marquee release. Use your Spotify for Artists audience data mentioned above to determine your top markets, and then target your Marquee from among the dozen-plus markets where it is available.

Read more about using Marquee to strengthen your international rollout strategy.

Create a Virtual Merch Table

Did you know that our integration with Shopify gives artists the opportunity to not only grow your revenue, but also connect to global fans on a tangible level? No matter where you're based, you can sell merch on your profile that will be available to your listeners. That means you’ll be able to offer items geared to different markets, so fans can shop while they stream. Plus, it’s another way to share your creative aesthetic beyond borders and language.

Sell Merch on Spotify: How To, Read More

Collab Around the World

Have you made music with someone based in another part of the world? If not, here’s one reason to try it if you’re prioritizing global listeners: More than 80% of streams on international collaborations come from outside the main artist’s country. Start by making that intercontinental collaboration easier with Soundtrap Capture, our free recording tool that lets you work together in real time from afar and record high-quality audio whenever and wherever works for you. When you release new collabs, they’ll also reach the Release Radar and What’s New feeds for each artist’s followers.