Spotify (and Apple Music) are primarily designed for "normal" releases featuring a maximum of 3 "Headline Artists". On Spotify, these Headline Artists...
Can each pitch their music to Spotify's curators in Spotify for Artists.
Each have the new release nicely featured on their own Spotify artist profile.
But when your release features more than 3 artists, your music is unfortunately buried: not all the tracks can be pitched to Spotify's curators, and your release gets dumped at the bottom of the artist's profile in the "Appears On..." section.
The solution? Streaming Singles -- a powerful Proton exclusive tool that helps electronic music labels save time & boost earnings. Here's how!
After scheduling a new release with multiple artists, Proton labels can now easily select individual tracks to get their own separate "Streaming Single" release.
Streaming Singles get setup automagically, without needing to re-upload WAVs, cover art, metadata, or anything else. Just schedule the release date!
Even better, Streaming Singles are hidden from DJ platforms by default, so they won't clutter shops like Beatport. Streaming Singles can also help you recoup costs from the original release, without any extra configuration.
Streaming Singles can be pitched to Spotify's curators and get prominently featured on every artist's profile, unlocking the true potential of your big releases with more than 3 artists. The step-by-step guide below will help you get started!
PRO TIP: Streaming Singles work best for releases that contain more than 3 artists, such as Various Artist compilations, Singles/EPs with multiple remixers, or Artist Albums with multiple collabs or featured artists.
Step By Step Guide
Step 1 - Prepare your full release with all the original tracks together. This part is key: Streaming Singles only work when the full release is already finished first! This requires planning & getting the release date ready a few weeks in advance. You can do it. It's worth it!
Step 2 - If your original release has costs & expenses that you want to automatically recoup from Streaming Singles, enter those expenses as either Track Expenses or Artist Advances. That's because Streaming Singles do not recoup Release Expenses, which are unique to the original release.
Step 3 - Schedule your finished release with all the original tracks 2-3 weeks in advance. This will give you enough time to schedule the Streaming Singles before the main release date of the original release.
Step 4 - After scheduling the original release with all the tracks included, open the release inside Proton and look for the new Setup Streaming Singles button under the tracklist, like this:
Step 5 - Select the tracks you want to release as Streaming Singles, then click "Let's Go!", like this --
Step 6 - After clicking "Let's Go", you'll be taken back to the release landing page for your label. Look for the new Streaming Singles created in the "In Development" section.
Step 7 - You can now open each Streaming Single and schedule them for a release date, without needing to do anything else!
IMPORTANT PRO TIP - Release Dates for Streaming Singles
To make sure each single can be pitched to Spotify's curators, you MUST schedule the Streaming Singles ON or BEFORE the release date of the original release. Any track already released on Spotify cannot be pitched.
If you have enough time, we recommend scheduling the Streaming Singles on their own days. This gives you and the artists more bandwidth on social media to promote your releases, maximizing potential exposure. However, it's also fine to release all the Streaming Singles on the date of the original release.