How to publish on Spotify For Free-You’re an emerging artist or podcaster and you’re looking to get your content onto Spotify – one of the world’s leading streaming services, helping to get music and podcasts to millions of people. However, you have noticed that reaching these shores is not easy and that payments are often required to be able to reach this goal. So you wondered if there are any free ways to bring your content to Spotify and, after careful research, you’ve come to my website. That’s the way it is, am I right? Well, then I’d say you’ve come to the right place!
In today’s tutorial, in fact, I will explain how to publish on Spotify . In case you were wondering: yes, I rolled up my sleeves and tested firsthand the most valid methods to bring songs and podcasts to the well-known streaming platform for free. I’ll tell you right away: not only is it feasible to succeed in what many consider to be a feat, but it’s also simpler than expected; you just need to take a few precautions. Obviously, during the guide there will also be a way to mention the classic paid services, but the focus will be on the free methods.
How to publish on Spotify For Free
Courage: why are you still standing there in front of the screen? Are you going to take your first steps on Spotify? I would say yes, since you’ve come this far, you’re reading this tutorial with interest and you seem particularly motivated in wanting to achieve your goal. Come on then, all you have to do is take some free time and follow the instructions below, which will lead you directly to publishing your content on Spotify. Having said that, there’s nothing left for me to do but wish you a good read and good luck in your future music or podcasting career!
Before going into the details of the procedure on how to publish on Spotify , I think you might be interested in learning more about what content is present on the streaming platform.
Well, essentially there are two types of productions on Spotify: songs (both singles and albums) and podcasts (which we could define as “online radio stations”). The streaming platform involved is quite important for the dissemination of this content, given that it has over 200 million active users every month (2019 data).
Landing on Spotify can therefore be of fundamental importance for the success of your music or podcast. For this reason, more and more people are approaching this platform, expanding the competition. It will therefore be up to you to be able to find the right way to emerge in this myriad of content, but you will see that with the right commitment, you will be able to obtain great satisfaction.
In any case, my goal today is to explain how to get your content on Spotify: there are various methods to do this, which vary depending on whether we are talking about songs or podcasts. In general, there is a rather simple way to land on Spotify: just contact one of the many paid distribution services available online and, if money is not a problem for you, you will be able to do everything in a short time (here find recommended distributors for songs, while here are directions for podcasts).
The amount required by these services is generally not high (eg DistroKid requires 20 dollars a year to be able to upload albums and songs in an unlimited way). However, some services may forbid access to independent artists, allowing distribution only through, for example, a record label. In short, I invite you to carefully read the descriptions of the services and the various indications provided directly by Spotify.
In any case, some people don’t want to shell out money to bring their content to Spotify and are therefore willing to roll up their sleeves a bit and do the necessary operations themselves. If you are also such a user, below are the simplest solutions I’ve found to publish songs and podcasts on Spotify for free .
How to publish songs on Spotify
In the case of music tracks, the best free service I’ve found is called RouteNote . I want to clarify right away that, obviously, the timing and support are not exactly at the level of paid services, but it is still a valid solution for bringing your music to Spotify. Also, I take RouteNote as an example but actually the procedure to follow is very similar for other distribution services as well.
Having said that, let’s get down to business. The first thing you need to do is connect to its official RouteNote website and press the Sign Up button at the top right. At this point, you can sign up for the service by logging in with a Google , Facebook , Twitter or SoundCloud account or you can complete the classic email registration form . In the latter case, the fields to complete are: Username , Email , Password and Password Confirmation . Also remember to check the box I’m not a robot and press the buttonJoin RouteNote , to complete the registration.
See also How to move playlists between music streaming services
If you signed up via email address , you need to check your email box (also take a look at the Spam/Junk folder ) and press the Confirm Email Address button in the confirmation email that RouteNote sent you.
Now, go back to the main page of the service website and press the Log in button that peeps out at the top right. Enter your username and password , check the box I am not a robot and press the Enter button . Once this is done, place the mouse cursor over the writing Distribution , which you can see at the top left, and select the Create New Release option , to start entering data relating to your music.
In the page that appears on the screen, type the UPC/EAN code (unique identifier of a song, if you don’t have one, leave the blank space and the service will take care of generating it for you) and the title of the song/album (Release Title) . I advise you to think carefully about the latter, since in any case it is an important detail that is worth dwelling on for a while. Once you have made your decision, press the Create Release button to continue.
Perfect, now begins the most substantial phase towards the arrival of your music on Spotify. This is in fact the moment in which RouteNote will show you its editor , i.e. the page where you can configure your work properly. Things are starting to get serious: I remind you that you are carrying out an official publication , therefore respect the copyright and follow all the rules in force , in order not to run into problems. RouteNote also has an internal rule that is defined as “2 strikes” : it takes two infringements of the rules to see your profile permanently closed. In short, be very careful with the data you enter and publish only songs that are entirely the result of your ingenuity.
Having made this due “premise”, let’s get down to business: at the bottom left you will find all the items to complete, necessary to publish your song correctly. The first tab is the Album Details , where you will need to complete the fields Language , Album/Single/EP Title (title of the song/album), Album version (version of the album), Artist Name (name of the artist, you can also select roles and add other collaborating artists via the Add Artist button ), Primary Genre , Secondary Genre, if any, Composition Copyright(name to associate with composition copyright), Sound Recording Copyright (name to associate with recording copyright), Record Label Name (record label name), Originally Released (original release date), Pre Order Date (start date of preorders, optional) and Sales Start Date (optional). Don’t forget to indicate if it’s a compilation album and to signal the possible presence of explicit content (Explicit content).
If you have no idea how to complete the copyright fields and you are not on the roster of a record label , RouteNote suggests entering your stage name directly . My advice is to choose an original stage name that hasn’t already been used on Spotify (just do a quick search on the platform to figure it out). In fact, in some cases homonymy problems could arise which would slow down the process and could cause some inconvenience. Therefore, I invite you to make your choice wisely. Once all the necessary changes have been implemented, just press the Save and Continue button, located at the bottom right.
Now, switch to the Add audio tab , type the name of the song (Track name) and press the Choose file button , to choose tracks to load. You can upload up to 15 songs and there are some requirements to meet. First, it is important to use 320kbps/44.1khz MP3 or 44.1khz FLAC . In fact, RouteNote only supports high quality songs and therefore no other formats are accepted. I also remind you that your music will have to go through a review phase and I therefore advise you to iTry as hard as you can to make the song live up to it, but I’m sure you’ve already thought about this aspect.
In any case, if you want to add more songs, you can do it by pressing the Add Track button on the right. Before pressing the Save and Continue button , to confirm, I suggest you take a look at the song names and check the associated files , making sure everything is correct.
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At this point, pages will appear on the screen where you will have to enter all the details of each single track . In particular, you must complete the fields Track Name (name of the track), Title Version (it is used to distinguish different versions of the same album, e.g. Live, Club Remix, Radio Edit), Track Number (number of the track), Artist Name (artists present in the song, you can add who collaborated using the Add Artist button ) and ISRC Codes (if you don’t have particular needs, leave the one generated by the system). Also remember to complete the settings relating to whether there is explicit contenti (Explicit Content) and the language of the song (Audio Language) and to press first on the Save and Continue button and then on the I’m Finished button .
Now it’s time to choose the artwork of your publication, i.e. the cover of your song/album. Then go to the Add Artwork tab and drag the image file you want to use inside, clearly following the instructions provided by RouteNote. The main requirements require a resolution of at least 3000 x 3000 pixels , a weight of less than 25MB , the presence, preferably, of colors and the use of the .jpg extension .
The service also indicates that a good cover must be relevant to the content it is intended to represent and must be professionally produced . There are also several rules relating to strictly prohibited practices , such as including your website on the cover, for example. I therefore invite you to carefully consult the indications made available by RouteNote and to follow them in detail. Once the cover has been loaded, press the Save and Continue button .
Then switch to the Manage Stores tab and check out the digital stores where RouteNote allows you to publish your music. Among the platforms, Spotify is clearly not lacking . So tick the box under the logo of the well-known streaming service and choose whether to publish your work on other platforms as well .
Then, scroll down the page and, in the Territories field , type ” italy ” (or enter the countries in which you want to publish, depending on your needs), select the most relevant result from the list that appears on the screen and press Save and Continue .
Great, now everything is ready for publication. Before proceeding, maybe go back and check that everything is set up correctly: an extra check never hurts. If you are convinced that your work is ready, check the terms and conditions box and press the Distribute Free item , in order to send your songs to the RouteNote team for routine checks .
The platform has probably already warned you about this, but I remind you that by publishing for free you will collect 85% of the royalties , while if you want 100% of the royalties you will have to pay 10 dollars for a single , 20 dollars for an EP or 45 dollars for an album . For more information on this and to stay updated on possible changes regarding the figures mentioned, I suggest you take a look at the official RouteNote site (in English).
Now that you’ve successfully submitted your music to the reviewers, let’s talk a little about release timing . Well, it could take several weeks before we get a response from the platform. As you can imagine, there are many requests in this regard and there are several aspects to take into consideration. In any case, an artist should never worry about releasing her singles as fast as possible, since quality doesn’t depend on that .
After submitting your music to RouteNote, I recommend logging into the service from time to time , always bringing the right patience required in these cases. In fact, you may not receive any confirmation email regarding the publication. To understand if your song/album has been approved , you simply have to hover the mouse cursor over the item Distribution located at the top left of the RouteNote main page and press Discography . Another valid method is clearly to search for your music on Spotify and see if it has been loaded.
Great, now you have all the information you need to get your songs onto Spotify for free . How do you say? Would you also like to have a verified artist profile ? Well, in that case I suggest you consult my guide on how to request your own artist account, where you will find all the details you are looking for.
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How to publish a podcast on Spotify
If, on the other hand, you need to publish a podcast on Spotify , the procedure you need to follow is different from that required for songs.
I assume you’ve already recorded your podcast : if not, I suggest you first take a look at my tutorial on how to create a free podcast, where you can find all the necessary advice on recording.
Moving on to the methods to publish a podcast on Spotify for free, if you want to go manually , what you have to do is simply create an RSS feed related to your broadcast and send it directly to the platform for approval .
In practical terms, the main requirement is to have your own website where you can publish the podcast (perhaps by uploading it in MP3 format ). For example, on WordPress, just install one of the many plug-ins suitable for the purpose, such as PowerPress, access the relative management page , enter all the relevant details (e.g. title , category , any presence of explicit content and artwork ), opt for self-hosting(in some cases your website may not support this option, but I can’t be more precise with my instructions, since each hosting service has its own characteristics), upload the podcast file and publish it , following the instructions that appear on screen.
Finally, in the case of the aforementioned plug-in, just go to the PowerPress > Settings > Destinations path and copy the RSS feed (if everything has been done correctly, the latter can already be sent to Spotify). I also recommend that you go to PowerPress > Settings > Apple and complete the iTunes Email field with your email address , remembering to press the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page. This information is in fact of fundamental importance to comply with the requirements of Spotify and other podcast services.
In case you don’t have such a service, capable of directly generating the RSS feed, I suggest you connect to Feedburner, a free portal managed by Google, and log in with your Google account .
In the page that appears on the screen, paste the URL of the podcast in the Burn a feed right this instant field , check the I am a podcaster box and press the Next button . If you want, you can also associate a name and address with your feed by completing the Feed Title and Feed Address fields . At this point, click on the Next button and copy the obtained RSS feed URL .
Now all you have to do is send the feed to Spotify. So connect to the Spotify for Podcasters website, press the Login button , enter your Email address or username and Password and press the Login button . If you don’t have a Spotify account, you can create one by selecting the item Sign up for Spotify and following the instructions that appear on the screen.
Once logged in to Spotify for Podcasters , select the Add your podcast option and press Get started . Then paste the RSS URL of your podcast into the Link to RSS feed field and press the Next button .
After that, press the Send a code button : Spotify will send you an 8-digit code to the email address you have associated. Then copy the verification code contained in the e-mail message (one hour valid) and paste it in the Verification code field , then press the Next button to continue.
At this point, you need to enter all the relevant information about your podcast: then choose the country where you made the podcast using the Where your podcast is made? option. and select the relevant language using the Select language item . Subsequently, check the box relating to the method with which you uploaded the podcast, specify the category of the latter, using the Select category option , and press the Next button .
Great, now you just have to press the Submit button and your podcast will be sent to Spotify for routine checks . Now, simply wait for a response from the platform.
For more information on the subject and for other free and non-free solutions that might be right for you, I suggest you consult my tutorial on how to upload podcasts to Spotify.