Why use Soundlink with your own Meta ads
Full attribution of your streaming results. See which creatives and markets bring in the most listeners, based on new listeners, streams per listener and more.
Optimize for listeners, not landing page clicks. Soundlink sends a conversion event to Meta for each new listener, so Meta learns to find people who actually listen.
Full control of your Meta setup. Use your own Instagram and Facebook accounts, ad account, creatives, targeting and budget.
How this differs from standard Paid Growth campaigns
The difference is where your ads run.
With a standard Paid Growth campaign, ads run on Soundlink's Meta ad account and we handle the creatives, targeting and optimization for you.
With Self-Serve, ads run on your own Meta ad account. You manage the creatives, targeting and budget yourself, and use Soundlinks to track the listeners you bring in.
If you'd rather not manage ads yourself, standard Paid Growth is still the simpler option.
Plans
Launch — $500/month, includes 5,000 new listeners tracked
Starter — $2,000/month, includes 25,000 new listeners tracked
Both plans include unlimited Soundlinks.
If you need more listeners than your plan includes, you can buy extra listeners at any time (see below), or contact us about higher volume.
How listeners are counted
Each listener is only counted once per Soundlink, however many times they come back. Someone who clicks your link and listens several times over a week counts as one new listener for that Soundlink.
Before you start
You'll need:
An active Self-Serve plan on Soundlink
A Meta Business account with an ad account
A dataset (pixel) in Meta Events Manager
Setup takes about 15 minutes of work, plus a 15–30 minute wait for Meta to receive your test event.
Soundlink walks you through every step below in one guided flow. You can leave at any point and pick up where you stopped.
Step 1: Start a new Soundlink
In your Soundlink dashboard, open the Paid Growth tab and click + Soundlink.
Search for the track or playlist you want to promote, or paste its Spotify link.
Choose which artist gets the followers, and turn Auto follow on or off (available for tracks only).
Click Continue.
Step 2: Add your Meta Dataset ID
Soundlink sends listener events to a dataset (pixel) in your Meta Events Manager.
Click Open Datasets, or go to Meta Events Manager.
Under Data sources, pick the dataset you use for your ads and open the Settings tab.
Copy the Dataset ID (also called Pixel ID) and paste it into Dataset ID in Soundlink.
Click Continue.
If you've already set up a dataset in Soundlink, you can pick it from the list instead.
No dataset yet? In Events Manager, click Connect data, choose Web, name your pixel (for example your artist or label name) and click Next. You can leave the website empty. When Meta asks how to add the pixel code, close the window: Soundlink adds the pixel to your Soundlinks, so you don't need to install anything.
Step 3: Add your Conversion API access token
Meta needs an access token to accept events from Soundlink's servers (Conversions API).
Click Open dataset settings to go to the same dataset's Settings tab.
Under Set up direct integration, choose Set up without Dataset Quality API, then click Generate access token.
Copy the token right away and paste it into Access token in Soundlink. Meta only shows it once.
Click Continue. Soundlink saves your pixel at this point, so you can come back later and it will still be there.
Generate access token greyed out? Your dataset needs to be in a business portfolio, and you need Full control of it. Check this in Business settings → Data sources → Datasets and pixels.
Step 4: Send a test event to Meta
Click Send test event.
When Soundlink shows that Meta received it, give it 15–30 minutes to show up in Events Manager.
You can also send a test event later: open your Soundlink from the Paid Growth tab, click Ads network, then Send test event.
Step 5: Confirm the Soundlink Stream event in Meta
Meta asks you to confirm new custom events before you can use them in campaigns.
In Meta Events Manager, select the dataset you used for the test event and open Settings.
Scroll to Data controls and click Review.
Select Soundlink Stream and click Next.
Choose Confirm the custom event, then click Confirm.
It can take a few hours after you confirm Soundlink Stream before you can select it as a conversion event in Ads Manager. If you don’t see Soundlink Stream in Events Manager yet, wait a few more minutes and check again.
Step 6: Create your Soundlink and set up your Meta campaign
In Soundlink:
Choose the event your ads will optimize for (Soundlink Stream is recommended), give the Soundlink a name, and click Create your soundlink.
Copy your Soundlink URL from the Your soundlink is ready screen. You can also copy it later: open the Soundlink and click the copy icon next to Soundlink url.
💡 After you confirm Soundlink Stream in Events Manager, it can take a few hours before you can select it as a conversion event in Ads Manager. If you don’t see it in the list yet, try again later.
Then, in Meta Ads Manager:
Campaign level: create a new campaign with the Sales objective.
Ad set level: under Conversions, choose your dataset and select Soundlink Stream as the conversion event.
Ad level: paste your Soundlink URL into Website URL under Destination.
Don’t see Soundlink Stream as a conversion event in Ads Manager? It can take a few hours after you confirm it in Events Manager. Try again later.
Step 7: Set your placements (important)
Soundlink only works properly on certain placements, so this step makes a big difference to your results.
Use Instagram and Facebook placements only. Turn off Messenger, Audience Network, Threads and WhatsApp.
Turn off Allow limited spending to excluded placements.
Under Devices and operating systems, choose Mobile only.
Desktop technically works, but people who aren't logged in to Spotify on desktop hit an extra login step, which hurts conversion a lot. Mobile-only is the way to go.
What your listeners see
When someone taps your ad, they land on a Soundlink conversion page showing your artwork, the track or playlist name, and a Continue with Spotify button.
If they continue and haven't used Soundlink before, Spotify asks them to authorize Soundlink once. After that, they go straight to your music in the Spotify app.
They can also tap Skip to go straight to Spotify without authorizing. In that case we can't track their streams, but fewer than 2% of people choose Skip.
Events Soundlink sends to your pixel
Soundlink LP Click — the listener taps Continue with Spotify on the conversion page.
Soundlink Auth — the listener authorizes with Spotify and follows the artist or playlist. This won't fire if Auto-follow is off and they don't follow.
Soundlink Follower — the listener follows the artist or playlist, whether or not Auto-follow is on.
Soundlink Stream — the listener's first attributed stream. Sent server-side only.
Buying extra listeners
If you’re getting close to your plan’s limit, you can top up new listeners without changing plans. Extra listeners cost $0.08 each.
You can check your usage anytime in the New listeners bar at the bottom of the sidebar.
Click your name in the bottom-left corner of your dashboard and choose Settings.
Under Billing, click Subscription.
In the Usage section, under New listeners on Soundlinks, click Buy extra listeners.
Choose how many extra listeners you want. The minimum is 1,000, and you can adjust in steps of 100. The total updates as you change the amount.
Click Continue to payment and complete checkout. You can pay by card or any other method shown at checkout, and choose which currency to pay in.
FAQs
Which conversion event should I optimize for?
Soundlink Stream for most campaigns, especially longer-running ones. It consistently gives the best results. Soundlink Auth can help short campaigns with small daily budgets get out of Meta's learning phase faster.
When does Soundlink Stream fire?
When a listener completes their first full attributed track after authorizing, and only once per listener. Think of it as a "new listener" event, not a per-stream event. For track campaigns it's the first full play of that track; for playlist campaigns, the first full play of any track in the playlist.
How long after the ad click does Soundlink Stream reach Meta?
Usually within 2–24 hours of the stream, so a 7-day click attribution window is plenty. In the first 24–48 hours of a new campaign, cost per Soundlink Stream will look very high. That's normal, so wait at least 24 hours before judging performance.
Why does Soundlink Auth show zero results in Meta even though events are arriving?
Soundlink Auth is sent as a custom event and isn't added as a custom conversion automatically. If you're optimizing for Soundlink Stream, add Soundlink Auth as a custom column in Ads Manager to see it. We're happy to walk you through it.
Does Auto-follow affect Soundlink Stream?
No. Soundlink Stream fires the same way whether Auto-follow is on or off.
What data do you send through the Conversions API?
IP address, user agent, browser ID (fbp), click ID (fbc), and hashed country and city. We don't send external_id. Soundlink Stream is fully server-side with a unique event ID for deduplication. The browser pixel only fires for the page view and the Continue with Spotify click.
Can I use Soundlinks outside of Meta ads?
Yes. Soundlinks work anywhere you can share a URL, like Instagram or Facebook posts and emails.
Do I still pay a platform fee on my ad spend?
No. With Self-Serve, your ad spend goes directly through your own Meta ad account. You pay Soundlink for the plan, which covers listener tracking.
Can I still run standard Paid Growth campaigns?
Yes. Self-Serve is an additional option, not a replacement.
Need help setting it up?
Message us via the chat bubble in your dashboard or email hello@getsoundlink.com, and we'll walk you through it.
Can I see cost per listener in Soundlink?
Not yet. Your ads run on your own Meta ad account, so Soundlink doesn’t currently receive your ad spend data. You can see your spend and cost per Soundlink Stream in Meta Ads Manager, and your listener and stream results in Soundlink.
Do extra listeners carry over to the next billing period?
No. Extra listeners expire at your next plan renewal. Any you haven’t used by then don’t roll over.