Every week an artist asks me the same thing: how do I get more Spotify listeners? They have a song out, the play count sits at 84, and they want a button to press. I run Red Mile Records in Calgary's Beltline, and I have tracked, mixed, and helped release music for artists like Matthew Douglas, JRDN, and Jhrted. So I will give you the version I give them, not the version that sells a course.
There is no button. There is a system, and the system works in a specific order. Skip a step and you waste the release. Follow it and your monthly listeners climb and stay up. This playbook walks through that order, from the song itself to the playlists to the day-one push, with the honest warnings most blogs leave out because they are selling you the shortcut.
Why most artists stall under 1,000 monthly listeners
Two habits keep artists stuck. The first is uploading and hoping. You send the track to your distributor, it lands on Spotify, you post one story, and you wait. Spotify has no reason to push a song nobody is saving, so nothing happens. The second habit is worse: paying for streams. You buy 50,000 plays, the number spikes, and within a week Spotify strips the fake plays and your profile carries a flag that suppresses your real reach. I have watched artists undo a year of honest growth in a weekend doing this. Do not buy streams. Ever.
The artists who break past a thousand, then ten thousand, treat each release as a campaign with a runway, not a coin flip. That starts before anyone hears a note.
Step 1: Release a song people actually finish
This is the part nobody wants to hear, so I will say it plainly. Spotify's algorithm runs on listener behaviour, and the two signals that matter most are saves and completion. If listeners skip your track in the first fifteen seconds, the algorithm reads that as a verdict and stops showing it to anyone. A weak intro, a vocal buried under the beat, a master that sounds quiet and dull next to the song before it on a playlist: those are skip triggers, and they cap your reach no matter how good your marketing is.
This is why I push artists on the recording before we ever talk about promotion. Our vocal chain at Red Mile runs a Neumann U87 Ai or TLM 103 into a Neve 1073LB and an Avalon 737SP, then a Universal Audio Apollo X6, and the booth is treated to keep the voice tight and forward. None of that is bragging. It is the difference between a vocal that sits on top of the mix and one that gets lost, and a lost vocal gets skipped. If you want the long version, read why professional mixing and mastering is non-negotiable for Spotify success, and book proper mixing and mastering in Calgary before you release. Get the song right first. The rest of this only works if listeners stay in the track.
Step 2: Set up Spotify for Artists properly
Claim your profile through Spotify for Artists. This is free, and it unlocks the only legitimate pitching tool there is. Once you are in, fix the basics most artists ignore: a sharp profile photo, a real bio with your city and your sound in the first sentence, an Artist's Pick on your best release, and a Canvas (the looping vertical video) on your key tracks. Canvas raises save and share rates, and saves are the currency here. Verify the profile so the blue check shows. None of this gets you listeners on its own. It is the floor you build on.
Step 3: Pitch every single to editorial playlists
Editorial playlists are the ones Spotify's human curators run, and a single placement can move you from dozens of listeners to thousands. You pitch through Spotify for Artists, and timing is strict. Submit the track at least seven days before release. I aim for three to four weeks. Pitch the song while it is still unreleased, fill in genre, mood, instrumentation, and the story behind it, and be honest about the description because curators read it.
Pitch every single, even when you get passed over. The act of pitching also schedules the song into your followers' Release Radar, so you lose nothing by submitting and you gain a shot at editorial every time.
Step 4: Earn the algorithmic playlists
Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and your artist Radio are the engines of long-term growth, and you cannot pitch your way in. You earn them with behaviour in the first week. Release Radar is the easier one: it shows your new song to people who already follow you, so every follower you add makes your next release land harder. Grow followers and you feed Release Radar automatically.
Discover Weekly is the prize. Spotify hands it to tracks that real listeners save, add to their own playlists, and play to the end during the launch window. That means your job on release day is simple to say and hard to do: get a real audience to save the song and listen all the way through, fast. Which brings us to the runway.
Step 5: Build momentum before release day
The week before release decides the month after it. Set up a pre-save campaign so fans save the track before it drops, which front-loads the saves Spotify is watching for. Tease the song on the platforms where your people already are, and point everything at one link. The goal is a spike of genuine saves and full plays in the first 24 to 72 hours, because that early signal is what tips you into the algorithmic playlists.
This is also where paid promotion earns its place, as long as you spend it correctly. Pay to put the song in front of real humans who might become fans. Run targeted social ads, work with honest curators, build an email and SMS list you actually own. We handle this side for artists through our Calgary music marketing service, and I broke down the paid landscape in detail in how to get Spotify promotion that actually moves the needle. Pay for reach. Never pay for streams.
Step 6: Use independent playlists without getting scammed
Independent and niche playlists help early, before the algorithm has data on you, and they are a legitimate way to get more Spotify listeners. The catch is that the space is full of scams. A real curator built an audience that trusts their taste. A fake one runs a bot network and sells you placements that pump numbers and trigger the same suppression as bought streams.
Use tools like SubmitHub to reach vetted curators, and judge a playlist by its engagement, not its follower count. If a list has 90,000 followers and every song sits at a few hundred plays, walk away. If a placement promises a guaranteed stream count, walk away faster. One flagged campaign can cost you the catalogue.
Step 7: Turn listeners into fans who come back
A listener hears one song once. A fan follows you, saves your releases, and shows up for the next one, which is what compounds your monthly listeners over time. Ask for the follow in your videos and your shows. Keep a release cadence so the algorithm and your audience never forget you exist; a single every four to six weeks beats an album every two years for an independent artist building a base. Reply to comments. Put fans in your Canvas. The artists who grow are the ones who treat 200 real listeners like the start of something instead of a disappointment.
A realistic eight-week release timeline
Here is the order I run with artists, counting down to release day:
- Week 8 to 6: Finish recording, mixing, and mastering. Lock the final master before anything else moves.
- Week 5: Send the track to your distributor with release date set at least four weeks out. Prepare cover art and Canvas.
- Week 4 to 3: Pitch the single through Spotify for Artists. Launch the pre-save campaign.
- Week 2: Tease on social, submit to independent curators through SubmitHub, warm up your email and SMS list.
- Week 1: Daily content, reminders, and the final pre-save push.
- Release day to day 3: Drive saves and full plays hard. Run targeted ads. This window decides your algorithmic reach.
- Week after: Watch your Spotify for Artists data, add the song to your own playlists, and start planning the next single.
How Red Mile Records helps Calgary artists grow on Spotify
Most artists I meet are doing the marketing half and skipping the foundation, or grinding on a song that was never going to hold a listener past the first chorus. We close both gaps under one roof: a recording and mixing and mastering chain built so your track survives the skip test, and a music marketing system that runs the pre-saves, the playlist submissions, and the paid reach the right way. If you are choosing where to record in the first place, start with our guide to the best recording studio in Calgary, then come see the room.
About the author: Matthew Redenbach is the owner and engineer at Red Mile Records, a professional recording studio, podcast studio, and music marketing company at 1865 17 Ave SW in Calgary's Beltline. He has engineered and helped release music for Calgary and national artists including Matthew Douglas, JRDN, and Jhrted.
FAQ: getting more Spotify listeners
How long does it take to get more Spotify listeners?
With a consistent release schedule and editorial pitching on every single, most independent artists see steady monthly listener growth within three to six months. There is no overnight method that is also safe. Buying streams gives you a number for a week and a flagged profile after that.
Do Spotify playlists actually help you get more listeners?
Yes, but the order matters. Editorial and algorithmic playlists like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and your Radio drive the largest, most durable growth, because Spotify only feeds them tracks listeners already save and finish. Independent playlists help early, as long as the curator is real and the placements are not bot-driven.
Should I pay for Spotify promotion?
Pay for reach, never for streams. Legitimate promotion such as pre-save campaigns, paid social to a real audience, and honest playlist submission through tools like SubmitHub is worth it. Services that promise guaranteed streams or listeners use bots, and Spotify removes those plays and can suppress your whole catalogue.
How do I get on Discover Weekly and Release Radar?
Release Radar shows your new song to your existing followers automatically, so growing your follower count feeds it. Discover Weekly is earned through listener behaviour: saves, adds to personal playlists, and full plays in the first week. Pitch through Spotify for Artists at least a week before release, and drive real saves on day one.
Does mixing and mastering affect how many Spotify streams I get?
It does, indirectly but heavily. Spotify rewards completion and saves. A muddy, quiet, or harsh mix gets skipped in the first fifteen seconds, and skips tell the algorithm to stop recommending the track. A clean, competitively loud master keeps listeners in the song, which is what earns the placements.
