Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy

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Spotify Waterfall Release Strategy

Spotify waterfall release is a feature offered by Spotify that allows artists and labels to stagger the release of their music over time. In a traditional album release, all the songs would be released at the same time. With a waterfall release, artists can choose to release each track of their album at different times with previous tracks, creating a “waterfall” effect of new content over a period of weeks or months.

According to a blog post by Spotify, the purpose of the waterfall release is to help artists build momentum for their album release and engage with fans over a longer period of time. With this feature, artists can release a single or a few songs in advance of the album, allowing fans to get a taste of what’s to come and creating excitement for the full release.

Tips for a Successful Waterfall Release

When doing a waterfall release strategy, there are a few things you should do to make it as successful as possible. The first thing you should do is craft a release schedule. You should consider marketing assets, the order in which the records are released, and advertising campaigns for each.

Make sure to tap into Spotify tools to make the most of each release. You can create a unique Canvas for each song on Spotify and create a Clip based on your new track.

For Label Engine users, follow these steps if you are interested in doing a waterfall release on Spotify:

  1. Submit your first track off of your album/ep. We’ll call this track A.
  2. When ready to distribute the second release, use the ‘Copy Release’ function. 
  3. Search for your first track of the release (A).
  4. Select track A. Since you are copying the track, the metadata, wav file, and the ISRC will also be copied over.
  5. Upload your new track with the newly copied release. We’ll call this track B.
  6. Now when track B is released, it will be packaged as B+A
  7. When ready to distribute the rest of the ep/album, repeat the steps listed above, copying the previous tracks. We will call the remaining tracks C.
  8. When C is released, it will be packaged together as C+B+A.

If you have any questions about doing a Spotify Waterfall Release, feel free to reach out to a team member or email support@label-engine.com.