Case study
A Spotify single with a release date and a small budget
Kai had a track, a Friday release, and enough budget for one thing. The question was whether it went on the release or on the artist profile. Release week is when Spotify decides what a track is, so plays went on the track, saves went on the track, and the artist profile waited until the track had given it something to stand on.
Published
0 to 12,400
plays in the first ten days
Kai Otieno
Kai Otieno · Independent producer, first single · Nairobi
The situation
A first single from an unknown profile starts at zero on every counter. Spotify's own systems read play counts and save rates in the first week to decide whether a track goes onto algorithmic playlists at all. A track that opens quietly stays quiet.
Followers on the artist profile are the wrong first purchase for a one-track artist: they change a number nobody is looking at yet. Plays and saves change the numbers Spotify is looking at.
The goal
Open release week with plays and a save rate that put the track in front of Spotify's playlisting, then give the profile a follower count once there was a reason to visit it.
What was ordered
| Service | Quantity | When | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify Plays | 8,000 | Day 1 to 7 | Paced across the week, heavier on the first three days. Plays are the counter Spotify reads first. |
| Spotify Saves | 600 | Day 1 to 7 | A save rate around seven percent of plays is where tracks that get playlisted usually sit. Six hundred over eight thousand plays lands there. |
| Spotify Followers | 400 | Day 8 to 10 | Last. By then the track was pulling listeners to the profile, and a follower count that matched the plays made the visit worth it. |
Plays per day, ordered and organic
How it went
- 1
Friday
Release, plays and saves begin
Order placed the morning of release with the track link. Plays paced heavier across the first weekend, saves alongside.
- 2
Day 4
Discover Weekly placements
The track started showing in listeners' Discover Weekly, visible in Spotify for Artists as an algorithmic playlist source.
- 3
Day 7
Release Radar
Release Radar placements for followers of similar artists. Organic plays passed ordered plays for the first time on day seven.
- 4
Day 8 to 10
Profile followers
Four hundred followers on the artist profile, arriving over three days, now that the track was sending listeners there.
Before and after
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plays, first ten days | 0 | 12,400 | 8,000 ordered, 4,400 organic |
| Save rate | n/a | 7.1% | in the playlisting band |
| Algorithmic playlist reach | 0 | 3,100 listeners | Discover Weekly, Release Radar |
| Artist followers | 0 | 560 | 400 ordered, 160 organic |
What to take from it
- 1Release week is when a track is judged. Spend there, not on the profile.
- 2Saves matter as a rate, not a count. Order them in proportion to plays.
- 3Followers on the profile come last, once the track gives people a reason to visit it.
“Discover Weekly on a first single. I had read that was impossible without a label.”
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