Do Music NFTs Lead to More Spotify Streams?
Some early signs say yes…
Gm music fans,
There’s a trend emerging and I’m curious how strong it is.
Artists are dropping tracks in Web3 first, then leveraging the hype and funds into bigger streams on Spotify.
There are four ways I’ve noticed this happening:
Using NFT proceeds to directly boost Spotify streams.
Organic boost in streams from Web3 drop hype.
Web3 exclusives —> Spotify playlist selection.
Presave on Spotify to collect NFT.
Let’s jump into each one.
1. Using NFT proceeds to boost Spotify streams
Back in October, producer Green Ring dropped his track “Clouded” - his first drop on Sound.xyz.
It raised 1.25 ETH.
He then used those funds to invest in his traditional Web2 rollout.
Pitching playlists and curators on Submithub.
Buying adverts on Instagram Reels driving fans to Spotify.
Simple, but massively effective.
A couple months later, the track hit 100k streams - the first time Green Ring had reached that milestone.
And it’s a direct case of how music NFTs can be used to leverage more streams in Web2.
Rather than relying on a record label to fund the marketing, Green Ring raised money from collectors and did it himself. And he didn’t have to sign over any rights to make it happen.
I started to wonder if there was a pattern forming here…
2. Creating hype in Web3 to trigger organic Web2 streams.
Lyrah is one artist that noticed an organic boost in Spotify plays after dropping on Sound.xyz.
Dropping in Web3 arguably creates a '“moment” for an artist or a song that can help drive more streaming activity.
3. The power of Web3 exclusive?
More and more artists are dropping in Web3 first, then appearing on big Spotify playlists for the Web2 release.
In October, Annika Rose dropped her track Bruises on Sound.xyz.
Later in the week it appeared on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist.
The same thing happened to Alaina Castillo.
Admittedly, it’s impossible to know whether there’s a direct link here.
Correlation does not equal causation.
But it’s an interesting shift. Artists are increasingly dropping in Web3 first before releasing on streaming services like Spotify.
And there are more….
Heno just hit 1 million streams on Neybors — a track that debuted on Sound.xyz.
He airdropped a ‘thank you’ NFT to his collectors for kickstarting the wave.
Web3 ——> Web2 ——> Web3
Xcelencia also dropped tracks exclusively in Web3 before getting on the Spotify’s New Music Friday Latin playlist, later hitting 40 million streams and rewarding collectors with commemorative NFTs.
There’s potential for a circular loop here.
NFT sales ----> Bigger streams on Spotify -----> Bigger audience for NFTs.
4. Pre-save for free NFT
This is the most direct way that NFTs can increase Spotify plays.
You ‘presave’ a song on Spotify ---> get a free NFT or allowlist spot.
This model is also showing early signs of success…
For context, ‘presaving’ a song automatically adds it to a fan’s library on Spotify.
It gives it extra algorithmic juice in the first week of release.
Theoretically it should boost streaming numbers.
For example, Kids of the Apocalypse ran a ‘pre-save’ campaign for a drop in October.
Pre-save the track ---> Get on the allowlist for the NFT drop.
It generated hundreds of pre-saves which helped push the track to 26k streams in the first weeks.
Another platform, Showtime, has built its entire business on this model.
Artists can offer free NFTs in exchange for saving or pre-saving tracks on Spotify.
Still early…
Obviously these examples are all small numbers in context of Spotify’s 1 billion + daily streams…
But I’m most interested in how NFTs can be the foundation for independent artists.
And those first 100k ---> 1 million streams are the hardest and most important.
If NFTs can help independent artists get there - even in a small way - then it unlocks a potential new model of building the early fan base.
Any other examples?
Have any other artists in Web3 felt this? Hit reply - I would love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading!
If you found this useful, please forward it along or share in your group chats. See you next week.
Disclaimer: we own NFTs from several artists mentioned in this article including Green Ring, Annika Rose, Heno and Xcelencia.