A-Z Guide to Updating Your Artist Profiles on all Platforms

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A strong digital profile is the single most effective way to get your music heard by as many people as possible globally. The internet has made it easy for artists to develop direct relationships with their fans worldwide, however, not all musicians use their online presence to their full advantage.

You never know who could be looking at your profile, whether that be editorial or playlist teams, music publicists, labels or booking agents. A strong online presence can only advantage you, and the more up to date information you have out there, the better chance you have of getting a breakthrough.

Even if you have only released one or two singles, having something is better than having nothing at all. Most musicians will have a Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud account, but signing up to less-known services as well can increase your reach.

Keen to start? Here’s how you do it, for streaming services from A-Z!

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ANGHAMI

Anghami is one of the key streaming platforms in the middle east. Sign up at dash.anghami.com to set up your artist profile. From there, you can see your stats and update your profile. From the artist dashboard, you can easily manage your channels, organise catalogues, publish your latest releases and send live updates to fans. Check out your stats in the analytics tab for information on the age, gender and location of your listeners, as well as your top songs and fans. There's a way to upload your music videos directly via the app too. There's also a mobile app for artists you can download if you prefer using mobile vs the desktop version.

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AMAZON MUSIC

Amazon Music has recently launched a mobile app and desktop website for artists to track the success of their tracks on the platform and recieve insights on their Fan and SuperFan audience segments. You can also find out how many people are asking for your music using their Alexa devices! The app is available globally and on both Andriod and iOS operating systems so go on, download it and claim your artist profile.

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APPLE MUSIC

To claim your Apple Music Artist Profile register at artists.apple.com, so you can gain insights into your listeners, like where in the world your fans are based, as well as playlist stats. The site can also tell you how many times your track has been Shazamed, and how many people are listening to your music over time. You can only claim your Apple Music for Artists profile once your first release has gone live on the platform.

There's also an 'Apple for Artists' app you can download with cool features like shareable milestone graphics. You can also create artist-curated playlists via the app and share them. This is a great tool for driving more traffic to your profile.

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BOOMPLAY

Boomplay is one of the biggest streaming services in Africa. The best way to claim your artist profile and access 'Boomplay for Artists' is to download the Boomplay app and sign up for an account (it's free to sign up). Once you're in, go to your profile and select the option 'I'm an Artist' Every verified artist can communicate with fans, customize their new personal home page, and analyze their performance on it. The platform has a real 'social media' vibe to it so it's a great one to be on and engage with.

DEEZER

Deezer has over 100 million subscribers and have launched their Deezer Backstage app Deezer For Creators app (for Artists, their teams and podcasters).

The app offers analytics; promotional tools and charts. You can request access to see your analytics and once you're in the below things are what you can add to your profile to jazz it up.

• You can add a 'highlight' via the app. This highlights an album or playlist at the top of your artist page. (Similar to Spotify Artist Pick)
• You can post updates up to 64 characters long
• 1 squared artist profile image 800x800 in jpeg or png
• Artist biography in 100-200 words that explains what your music is all about
• Facebook, Twitter and official website links

GENIUS

Genius is a place where fans and artists can share their stories behind the music. It’s where Spotify and Apple Music gets this information from when you listen through the app. Want to be a part of it?

Get your music verified at genius.com. Once approved, you can share your lyrics, hidden meanings and stories behind your music, and even reach out to fans who have started collecting the information on the site on your behalf.

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JIOSAAVN

Indian music streaming service with 160 million subscribers as at October 2021, JioSaavn have opened up their analytics to artists via a revamped ArtistOne.

Providing artists with analytics on streams, listeners, playlists, rank, livestreams and more. There are even tips from the editors with advice on using these stats to their best effect. Register for your artist access here: https://artists.jiosaavn.com/

Some things you can do via Jio Saavn One include:

- Uploading Jio Saavn 'shorties' - similar to Spotify Canvas videos
- You can build and feature two types of artist playlists. They control the artwork for these. First one is 'Artist Hits' which is a playlist you curate of your own catalogue. Second one is called 'Made By' which is a playlist of your fav tracks.

NETEASE

Netease is the biggest platform in China for Western music.

It’s an extremely social platform and provides quite a few tools to engage with fans. Fanconnect is the best way to update your profile and make announcements on the platform. You can access fanconnect here.

MUSIXMATCH

You know when people have lyrics that come up on insta stories? That info is pulled from Musixmatch which is why it’s super important to have your lyrics up to date on here.

Please see instructions below on how to add lyrics for new releases and to add lyrics to existing tracks with Musixmatch.

Sign up on Musixmatch.com and then Get Verified on Musixmatch

New Releases:

1. Submit lyrics / timestamp details via Musixmatch’s Verified Artist link after the track is released
2. For Priority tracks: If, upon release, you’re still not able to find the track in Musixmatch’s catalog (by searching the catalog on their website) by EOD CET time on Saturday after release day, please notify Musixmatch. Verified artists can send an email to: artists@musixmatch.com for priority tracks to be added to Musixmatch’s catalogue with the link to the new release on Spotify and/or Apple Music.
3. For Priority tracks: If you find the lyrics in Musixmatch’s catalog (by searching the catalog on their website), but the lyrics are not appearing within the Lyrics sticker on instagram, please reach out to Facebook via the form. They will investigate and resolve.        

Existing Tracks (aka not new releases):

1. Please first search Musixmatch catalog to determine if the track is available.
2. If you’re not able to find track lyrics in Musixmatch’s catalog, login via Verified Artist and submit the lyrics.

PANDORA

Pandora offers a unique feature in their artist profiling system where you can record your own voice messages and have them displayed alongside your tracks. It's a pretty popular service in America so if you stream well there on other platforms it could be worth making sure you're engaging with this one too. This adds a nice personal touch that could be useful for promoting your latest release or upcoming shows in a creative way. Sign up at http://amp.pandora.com to get started!

You can set a featured track and upload voice messages which is pretty cool.

SPOTIFY

The big cheese! Register for your artist profile at artists.spotify.com and await verification. If it is your first time releasing music, you will need to first hit up the GYRO team to get your artist URI. Once your profile’s been approved, get ready to set it up! You need to include a biography, a photo and a cover photo. It’s especially important to include the photos on Spotify because sometimes the service sends emails to your fans to let them know about upcoming tours and releases, but they only do this for artists who have uploaded photos. Spotify also has another handy feature when you write or edit your bio - it allows you to tag artists/playlists/songs/albums as direct links. Always link to your social media platforms from Spotify too.

Some other things to look at to share your music include:

Spotify Codes - https://www.spotifycodes.com/
To get the URI to create your 'Spotify Code' you'll need to hover over the 'share' button on Spotify (on a desktop) and hit the Ctrl or Alt key on a PC or Ctrl or Option key for Mac..

Spotify Promo Cards - https://promocards.byspotify.com/
This includes helpful graphics you can share on socials.

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TIDAL

Tidal has recently launched their own TIDAL for Artists program, so you can claim and customise your artist profile directly!
Simply create an account HERE, search for the your artist profile and select the correct content which belongs to you, then submit a verification request.

Alongside the For Artists platform, TIDAL has introduced TIDAL Collabs to discover and connect with other artists, and the TIDAL Rising program to level the playing field for emerging artists.

YOUTUBE MUSIC

YouTube is the largest music streaming platform in the world. It offers useful stats like views by city and play counts.

New Releases end up on a 'Topic' channel, which is automatically generated by YouTube.

To get your tracks moved from the generic 'Topic' channel to your personal channel, you need to apply for an 'Official Artist Channel'.
To be eligible for an OAC, you will need to have at least one officially distributed release, and relevant content on your personal channel (e.g music video, performances, visualiser). Find out more about Official Artist Channels here.

If you are eligible, email us at support@gyrostream.com and we will be able to submit your application.
This is ONLY available to artists who distribute their music with GYROstream. We cannot request updates to accounts distributed by other aggregators.

Please be aware we can't guarantee you'll be accepted to their program.

Once you have your official artist channel, you can update your profile image, bio and other information. This information also syncs to the YouTube music app. We also suggest that you be a part of the YouTube Partner Program, which you can read more about here.  

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