Direct music streaming platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music, can also be used as a way of marketing. This method is a bit more complicated, and it seems most beneficial to have professionals take care of this avenue since there is not much room for creativity besides maybe the pictures that are on the streaming platforms.

Tompkins et al. examined several indie-folk artists to understand what data points related to music streaming, geographic location of fans, and opportunities to grow audiences to consider when determining marketing strategies and success (Tompkins et al. 2021). Going through these data points is complicated in nature, it seems as if this is a perfect place for the record label to take control and lean on its resources to help the artist navigate this area, especially when it comes to trends like playlisting.

Playlisting is when an artist will pay a playlist to add their songs for promotion. On top of playlisting, artists on Spotify can promote their songs by being the cover picture on a curated playlist. According to Tompkins et al., there is an increase in playlisting on Spotify, as well as release strategy alternatives, showing that there are other, more non-traditional marketing venues to help promote an artist’s music once it has been released (Tompkins et al. 2021) (Durk 2022).