Dropping new music is all about making the right listeners aware of your latest release at the right time. Artists and their teams use everything from billboards and digital banners to ads on social media in the hopes of turning the folks who see those ads into listeners and, ultimately, fans. But ad campaigns like these can be imprecise in their targeting, inconsistent in their results, and unclear when it comes to their impact on listening. Sure, buying an ad on a social media platform can increase your music’s visibility, but with every step a potential listener has to take to get from that platform to Spotify comes the risk of losing them to the process.

Artists and their teams wanted new and better ways to engage and develop audiences for their new releases on Spotify, so we developed Marquee to be a powerful promotional tool that serves both the artist and the listener. Marquee, unlike other paid marketing tools, allows artists to target listeners based on their listening history rather than broad demographics or interests. It also reaches listeners right when they're deciding what to listen to rather than when they're scrolling a feed. Finally, Marquee’s reporting measures the impact on music listening and fan engagement.

Got questions about Marquee? We’ve got answers for you.

What exactly is Marquee? How does it work?

If you’re a Spotify user, you’ve probably seen a notification recommending new music appear when you open the mobile app — that’s Marquee. This campaign tool grabs listeners’ attention and guides them from the app’s Home screen, directly to your new album, EP, or single. To be specific, Marquee is a full-screen, sponsored recommendation of your new release to Spotify Free and Premium listeners. Campaigns booked and managed in Spotify for Artists reach listeners who are most likely to stream your promoted release after seeing your Marquee — including both new and existing listeners. Marquee raises awareness about your new release and deepens your connection with an audience who is primed to become more highly engaged listeners and big fans.

Why should I use Marquee (and not some other digital marketing tool)?

Marquee is the best way to get the right listeners to focus on your new music on Spotify, because it reaches them at the right time.

With Marquee, you can target listeners based on the way they engage with your music. If you have the audience to support it, you can also target audience segments. For example, use Marquee to target your Spotify for Artists active audience (including light listeners, moderate listeners, and super listeners) or your previously active audience. Plus, when you book and manage campaigns in Spotify for Artists, you can target your programmed or potential audience.

And, speaking of the right time, unlike other digital music marketing tools where you reach people when browsing websites or social media feeds, Marquee allows you to promote your music to Free and Premium Spotify listeners the moment they open the app while they’re choosing what to stream. It’s minimally intrusive, helpful to the interested listener, and virtually frictionless.

How do the budgets work?

Budgets for Marquee campaigns start at $100 when booked via Spotify for Artists, and campaigns run until you spend your budget or 10 days after your campaign starts, whichever comes first. Since Marquee is priced on a cost-per-click basis, we spend your budget only when people actually click on the Marquee.

Also, to maximize the value of your spend, Marquee filters out people who have already intentionally streamed from the new release. During the campaign, you’ll only reach people who haven’t actively listened yet.

When is the best time to start a Marquee campaign?

Marquees can start at any time within the first three weeks of your release. Choose a start date that best aligns with your campaign goals. If you want the greatest and quickest impact, start the campaign on release day and coordinate your promotional efforts. You will likely see higher engagement (e.g., conversion rate, streams per listener). If you want a delayed boost, start your campaign after release day. Since we remove people who’ve already actively streamed the release from your campaign targeting, you’ll only reach people who haven’t listened yet.

What results can I expect?

After your Marquee ends, Spotify will report to you how people who saw the campaign engaged with your promoted release, including listens, saves, or playlist adds. Marquee can inspire longer-term engagement: Listeners who see a Marquee are more than 2x as likely to save a track or add it to their personal playlists for future listening than if they hadn’t seen the Marquee. And, their engagement isn’t limited to the new release — Marquee builds a halo effect for your entire body of work. People who see a Marquee and stream the promoted release are 3x more likely to stream the artist’s other releases. As you're evaluating results, remember that Marquee helps you reach the right listeners and make them even more engaged. That means you’ll drive depth of results versus breadth.

OK, I’m sold. How do I run a Marquee campaign?

If you’re an artist, manager, or label based in one of the markets where Marquee is available to purchase, you will now see the Campaigns tab in your Spotify for Artists dashboard on desktop, where you can use Marquee to promote eligible new releases. To create Marquee campaigns in Spotify for Artists, artists must meet the eligibility requirements. If your team is based in a market where Marquee is available to purchase but you don't see the Campaigns tab, ensure your billing country matches your market.

If you’ve ticked these requirements off, ask an admin on your team to follow these easy steps to book your campaign up to 18 days after your release date.

1. Log in to artists.spotify.com on desktop.
2. Click the three dots in the top left.
3. Select “Your teams”, then the team you want to set a billing country for (if you’re on multiple teams).
4. Go to “Billing.”
5. Under “Billing information,” add an email, billing country, and payment card based in one of the markets where Marquee is available to purchase.
6. If you have an eligible release, within 24 hours you'll start to see a new “Campaigns” tab where you can create a Marquee directly from your Spotify for Artists dashboard. If you don't have an eligible release, you won't get fast access to the "Campaigns" tab; we’ll add you over the coming months.

Campaigns can target audiences in over 40 markets, including Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. See the complete Marquee targeting list here. We're excited to share more updates as we continue to improve Marquee.

If you want to learn more about how using Marquee has helped artists’ promo campaigns, check out our case studies with girl in red, Jackboy, Mt. Joy, Kaskade, and Lecrae.