We stopped chasing playlists… and built our own to millions of streams.
Everyone kept saying: “Just get on playlists.”
So I did the Fiverr grind. Paid for placements. Begged curators.
Yeah, some streams came in.
But half of them were botted. Retention was trash. And the next month? Gone.
That’s when I realized: owning the playlist is the only growth hack that scales.
Running ads was working… but scaling playlists felt impossible.
I could run Meta ads. I knew how to target Tier 1. But it felt like death by a thousand cuts.
- Every playlist campaign meant a new ad set, new creative.
- I was guessing which track in the playlist converted.
- Retention was a mystery — some playlists got saves, others just flopped.
- And the worst? Wasted budget on traffic that didn’t stick around.
It was growth… but it wasn’t sustainable growth.
$200 spent. 1k clicks. 200 followers. But only 50 stuck. That’s not growth.
Every curator knows the pain: you can buy traffic, but you can’t see who actually sticks.
You’re stuck guessing on follower quality.
- Smartlinks gave me clicks but no retention data.
- Fiverr placements gave me botted followers.
- Ads Manager gave me CTR and CPC… but nothing about who became a super listener.
Without attribution, scaling playlists is basically gambling.
You might win for a week, but you’ll lose long-term.
Finally… a tool that showed me which ads actually built my playlist.
I didn’t need another “how to run ads” tutorial.
I needed to know if my campaigns were bringing real playlist followers who stuck around.
That’s when I found SoundLink.
Instead of just tracking clicks, it showed me:
- Who followed the playlist
- Who came back and streamed again
- What tier gave me the best ROI
It was like flipping on the lights in a room I had been working blind in for years.
Not another smartlink. Not another botted list. Real attribution for playlists.
I had already tried everything:
- Fiverr placements → botted, playlists deleted.
- Smartlinks → vanity clicks, no retention data.
- DIY Ads Manager → endless micro-campaigns, spreadsheets everywhere.
SoundLink cut through all of it.
No more guessing retention — it shows repeat listeners.
No more spreadsheets — campaigns + attribution in one dashboard.
No more wasting budget — every dollar tied to playlist follower growth.
For the first time, scaling playlists felt like running a real business.
$500 in ads → 1,434 playlist followers. 11% save rate. Discover Weekly triggered.
The first campaign I tested with SoundLink was small. $70 budget.
Result? Followers that stuck. Streams that repeated. Save rate up.
Then I scaled.
$500 ad spend → 1,434 new playlist followers
Save rate climbed to 11%
Tracks from my playlist hit Release Radar + Discover Weekly organically
No bots. No fake traffic. Just a system I could repeat.
For the first time, I wasn’t just running campaigns.
I was building an asset.
I stopped begging for placements. Now I own the system.
For years, I chased playlists. Paid for placements. Got burned by bots.
Even when ads worked, it was chaos, spreadsheets everywhere, no clear ROI.
Now, I don’t have to chase. I build.
I build playlists that grow on autopilot. I see which ads drive real followers. I know who comes back, who saves, who becomes a super listener.
And the best part? These playlists are mine.
They’re assets. I control them, I scale them, I monetize them.
I stopped hustling for scraps and started running a real growth engine in music.
Ready to build playlists you own — not chase ones you don’t?
Launch Your First Playlist Campaign → From $10/dayIf you’re tired of:
- Fiverr placements that disappear overnight
- Smartlinks that only show clicks
- Guessing which campaigns actually build your audience
👉 Then it’s time to try SoundLink.
With SoundLink, you’ll finally know:
- Cost per playlist follower
- Retention rate (repeat listeners)
- Save % that triggers algorithms
- The real ROI of every campaign
No hype. No bots. Just a system that scales.
Launch your first SoundLink playlist campaign today for $10/day and start building an asset you own.
All your questions answered:
Soundlink is the music marketing platform built for artists and labels who want real results — not just clicks.
Whether you’re just starting out or already pulling millions of streams, Soundlink gives you the tools to launch campaigns that actually show what matters:
- ✔️ How many fans streamed your music
- ✔️ Who followed you
- ✔️ What songs/playlists are converting
- ✔️ And how to scale what’s working
With full Spotify attribution built in, Soundlink connects your ads directly to listener behavior — so you finally know where your marketing budget is going.
Set it and forget it—no subscriptions, no hidden fees.
You choose your daily budget. That’s all.
Campaign fee? A 20% platform fee is taken from your total campaign budget
Example:
$10/day Ă— 10 days = You pay $100
$80 in ads, $20 in service fees.
We recommend running campaigns for at least 14 days.
Why? Platforms like Meta (Facebook/Instagram) need time to optimize — typically around 72 hours — and ideally gather at least 50 conversions to accurately identify and reach your ideal audience. Shorter campaigns often end before the platform’s learning phase is complete, leading to weaker performance and higher costs per result.
For best outcomes, plan your campaigns with:
- âś… A minimum 14-day duration
- âś… Patience for optimization during the first few days
We recommend launching at least 3 song or playlist campaigns. Not every song or playlist will connect equally with new fans — it’s about finding the right combination of song/playlist and a Soundlink ad campaign that delivers results.
Many great old songs never reached the right audience to begin with. Soundlink helps fix that by placing your music in front of real potential new fans and showing you which song or playlist is converting best.
This insight lets you double down on what’s working, without wasting budget guessing.
We track new followers that can be attributed to a running campaign.
For track campaigns we count new followers for the first artist of the track.
For playlist campaigns we count new followers for the playlist.
This is due to Soundlink’s Auto-Follow functionality. When fans engage with a campaign (e.g. an advertisement of a playlist or promoted song), they are automatically prompted to follow the first listed primary artist and/or playlist associated with the campaign.
This action occurs immediately after authentication with Spotify, even before the fan streams the track, leading to a higher follower count than Super Streams or actual plays.
This feature is designed to help artists and curators grow long-term audience retention by converting casual listeners into loyal followers.
Soundlink is optimized to drive real full streams — not just clicks or short listens. This means Soundlink bridges the connection between META ads and Spotify to help you reach your ideal new fan: someone who listens to 100% of your song.
It’s not just about getting 5-second plays or clicks to Spotify; we focus on finding listeners who engage fully, signaling to META that we want more people like them.
While we might be able to deliver 100 clicks from META to Spotify, many of those people may only listen briefly. Our priority is not just volume but quality — ensuring that streams come from people who truly engage, leading to more meaningful playlist placements and genuine artist followers.
To maximize performance for our clients and drive sustainable long-term Spotify growth, we split the daily advertising budget across three key tiers (40%, 35%, 25%):
- High Tier (40%): United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium
Core premium markets with higher acquisition costs but strong long-term value. These regions drive global visibility, listener credibility, and significant algorithmic impact within Spotify’s most competitive environments. - Mid Tier (35%): Mexico, Argentina, Spain
Low-cost, high-volume markets with strong music culture and engagement. Spanish-language creatives and captions deliver efficient conversions and excellent cost-per-listener (CPL), making this tier a key growth engine for expanding reach sustainably. - Low Tier (25%): Brazil, Philippines, South Africa, and broader Asia
Extremely efficient for scaling listener volume and driving algorithmic momentum at very low cost. These regions help feed Spotify’s recommendation engine and accelerate exposure across premium global markets.
By driving new fans to Spotify across premium, mid-level, and high-volume regions, campaigns create an algorithmic snowball effect. Engagement from cost-efficient tiers like Latin America and Asia often fuels visibility and listener growth in top-tier markets such as the US and UK, resulting in sustainable, compounding global performance.
We recommend promoting a playlist of your songs or catalogue rather than focusing on a single song. Here’s why:
- âś… Build Playlist Followers
When you promote and create your own playlist, you’re growing an audience around an asset you control — one you can continuously update with new releases. - ✅ Increase Fan Engagement
A playlist gives listeners more opportunities to connect with your music. With multiple songs in one place, fans are more likely to find a track they love. - âś… Optimize Visual Appeal
Make sure your playlist has visually appealing artwork — ideally with the genre name included in the image or text overlay, so it’s instantly clear what the playlist offers. - ✅ Name it Clearly
Name your playlist using specific genre terms that define your music. This helps potential followers quickly understand what they’re signing up for. - ✅ Pack It With Songs
The more tracks you include, the better. Some fans will play the playlist in the background for hours, increasing your total streams and exposure.