If you've been following our blog for musicians, we have been proponents of the artist.tools service for quite some time.
Even during the beta stages, we saw the potential for this database. Present day, artist.tools offers far more features to aid independent artists in the music promotion process, in addition to their comprehensive and detailed playlist data.
artist.tools provides data for over 75,000 Spotify playlists and over 30,000 playlist curators. This includes historical data, bot detection, monthly listener estimates, keyword rankings, and even curator contact information.
Plus, artists can view their own statistics in terms of follower growth, playlist presence, and popularity score, among others.
Today, we'll dive into what artist.tools is, and do a full breakdown of their service.
Let's jump right in!
Table of Contents:
Why try artist.tools?
In the realm of music marketing, making well-informed decisions is pivotal for an artist's success and reach.
Nowadays, radio airplay is no longer the determining factor of music marketing success. Rather, successful music marketing campaigns utilize social media platforms and popular Spotify playlists.
To navigate the playlist landscape effectively, artists need reliable insights and tools to guide their marketing strategies. This is precisely where artist.tools emerges as a game-changer.
Accurate Insights for Strategic Decision-Making
At the core of artist.tools lies the ability to provide accurate and insightful data, a fundamental necessity for any marketing endeavor. Understanding your audience, their preferences, and where your music stands in the Spotify ecosystem is paramount.
With artist.tools, playlist research is easy and effective.
The platform not only gives you a clear view of any Spotify playlist's performance but also offers crucial insights into the audience demographics, the engagement levels, and the keyword trends for the playlist.
Let's examine what a typical artist.tools playlist data screen will look like.
As you can see, there is a lot of powerful metrics at your disposal. So let's break it down one by one.
For example, check out how very own pop music playlist ranks for various key playlist metrics.
As a quick breakdown at the top of the page, artist.tools will provide the following key datapoints for each playlist on their system:
Authentic/Botted
Curator Contact Info
Playlist Listener Estimates (this is awesome...)
Playlist Followers & Follower Growth per day
# of Tracks & Genre of Music
This summary of information, available at a quick glance, allows every artist to quickly determine whether a certain playlist is worth pursuing or not.
Right below this summary, it will show a more detailed breakdown key playlist data such as playlist follower historical data and the daily follower growth.
Then, one of my personal favorite features when it comes to playlist research, is the keyword feature.
Here, you can search where a playlist ranks in a given country based on a Spotify search. For example, I can see here that this playlist has been improving when an US-based Spotify user searches for "2000 throwbacks".
The results are saved for each playlist you use, that way, you can check to see at a later date if the search ranking on Spotify has improved or declined over time.
You can obviously use this information to accurately promote your music. For example, if you make rap music, you can use a keyword like "chill rap" to see where a playlist ranks and tends to get its listeners from.
Shielding Against Botted Playlist Scams
In the world of Spotify playlists, not all are created equal. Unfortunately, it is more common nowadays for playlists to employ fraudulent practices, often through bots, to inflate their follower count and create a false sense of popularity.
This not only misleads artists but can potentially harm their brand and reach.
How, you may ask?
Risks of botting include a reduction in algorithmic playlist, exclusion from editorial placements, and there's even a risk of having your music be removed from Spotify altogether if lots of streams are coming from a botted source.
Unfortunately, I've see this happen plenty of times.
Therefore, identifying and avoiding these botted playlists is crucial to maintain authenticity and protect your music's reputation.
In this screenshot, you can see artist.tools clearly labeling the playlist as botted, with data points showcasing suspicious fluctuations in follower count.
Essentially, artist.tools acts as a guardian, equipped with a robust system that flags suspicious and botted playlists.
Plus, if you get added to a botted playlist, artist.tools will notify you, allowing you to disassociate from them swiftly.
By avoiding botted playlist scams, you can ensure your music is associated with genuine engagement, preserving your credibility and enabling honest growth.
Linking your own Artist Profiles
Another really great feature on artist.tools is the ability to add your own artist profile to the site.
Under the "saved artists" tab, you can view data on your music career and streaming numbers related to Spotify.
Thanks to this personalized data, independent artists can immediately realize when their music ends up in shady locations. You can see your highest performing Spotify playlists alongside potentially botted and/or playlists that are confirmed to be fake.
This type of information isn't even available on Spotify for Artists, and allows artists full insight into the nature of playlists supporting their music.
How to Use artist.tools
Ok, so now that we've gone over the key features, let's show you how to use the platform from A-Z.
When doing playlist research, you can either do searches directly on artist.tools, or search on Spotify and then use artist.tools to quality check each playlist.
We'll quickly show you each approach.
1. The artist.tools Playlist Search Engine
Personally, this is how I like to do it, and what I recommend to independent artists.
On artist.tools, simply search with keywords you would use to describe your own music. For example, below I searched for "drill rap", and 288 playlists on Spotify we're quickly pulled related to that input.
Best of all, artist.tools automatically filters out "crap playlists" that are likely botted or have few listeners.
From here, you can choose playlists to message. Plus, you can use the artist.tools pitch templates to easily copy-paste a pitch template pre-filled with the curator's name, playlist title, and top artists.
2. The Traditional Spotify Playlists Search
Or, if you prefer finding playlists on Spotify, that works too.
Instead of adding keywords to the artist.tools search bar, you can paste a link to any Spotify playlist.
Problem is, if it’s the first time a playlist has been searched for, there won’t be any historical data. (as shown below)
However, no need to fear, you can simply check again after seven days to see how the playlist has either grown or shrunk in size.
Either way you choose to use artist.tools, both methods presented will allow you to ensure the playlists you select to promote your music are authentic and growing.
artist.tools VS Competitors
We have spent this whole time discussing the features of artist.tools, but are there any better alternatives?
Ultimately, we would say no.
But when it comes to playlist data, Chartmetric, Playlist Supply, and Playlist Map do offer similar features.
In terms of quality metrics, artist.tools crushes the competition with detailed information and estimates for each Spotify playlist. Additionally, keyword data and bot tracking are currently exclusive to artist.tools.
In terms of pricing, artist.tools is $15/month while PlaylistSupply is $20/month and Chartmetric is $140/month.
The only cheaper alternative, Playlist Map, is priced at $10/month. However, on this tier Playlist Map users have a limited number of credits each month, so can only see the contact information of up to twenty playlist curators.
artist.tools and Playlist Map are also the only two services of the bunch to offer a free tier as well, to allow artists to test out the service.
Personally, I think artist.tools is leaps and bounds better than Playlist Map in terms of both UI and features, so for the extra $3.50 a month (with our discount code), I think the decision is a no-brainer.
Final Thoughts
To wrap this article up, let's answer the question... how crucial is artist.tools to the success of one's music career?
With a major emphasis on playlisting in music promotion, I think the answer is undoubtably... crucial.
artist.tools allows musicians to quality check and rank various playlists in terms of their listener base, keyword rankings, and overall effectiveness.
Plus, the bot tracker is vital to the negative consequences that comes from inauthentic streams.
I have been recommending artist.tools to independent artists for over a year, and will continue to do so. It is a vital piece of my music marketing efforts, and I know plenty of artists who would echo the same sentiment.
Plus, the founder Aaron is very welcoming and kind. He encourages artists to share any issues and/or feedback in order to continually improve the overall platform.
So all in all, I would recommend artist.tools for any artist looking to improve their music marketing skills with an easy-to-use service.
In Conclusion: Elevate Your Music Marketing with artist.tools
In conclusion, artist.tools stands as a platform for artists seeking accurate data, transparent insights, and streamlined communication in the expansive realm of Spotify playlist marketing.
By leveraging the platform's capabilities, artists can make informed marketing decisions, shield against misleading practices, and foster authentic growth in their musical journey.
Have you utilized artist.tools in your marketing strategy, or do you employ similar tools for your music promotion? Share your experiences and insights in the comments below, your story might just inspire and guide fellow artists in navigating the intricate world of music marketing!
Otherwise, until next Wednesday, artists!