A First Listen lets you reward loyal fans with exclusive early access to an upcoming release, while using the same Post to bring new fans into your world. By gating your audio or video content behind a sign-up, existing fans get immediate access and new visitors are prompted to join - word of mouth does the rest.
⚪ Note: This article covers the First Listen setup specifically. For a full walkthrough of creating and publishing a Post, see Create and Publish Posts.
Create a Post
Create a new Post or open an existing draft. Navigate to Message > Posts and click + New Post.
Add an audio or video block
Click the + icon to add a new block.
Select Audio or Video from the Media blocks.
Upload your first listen content and configure the block appearance and caption.
Configure gating
The block containing your first listen content must be gated so that fans sign in or join your world to access it.
In the Edit tab, open the section containing your audio or video block.
Set section gating to Signed in.
In the Web tab, set Web access to Everyone so the Post itself is publicly accessible via the Post link.
With this setup, signed-out visitors see a prompt to join your world, and existing fans are prompted to log in if they aren't already. All other sections of the Post can remain public.
For more information on gating, see How to gate content on Posts.
🟢 Top tip: You can optionally gate additional sections behind a sign-up to deepen engagement - but your first listen block being gated should be prioritized. This is the Inside Out Model in action: core fans get exclusive access and new fans are encouraged to join.
Share your Post
Once published, share your Post link on socials to drive new traffic and bring new fans in. Fans can also share the Post directly by clicking Share Post in the top right of any Post page.
