General Advertising Guidance

Advertising Music Content

• Why run ads?
  • There are many reasons for an artist or record label to run advertisements, like:
    1. Driving streams
    2. Selling music, merch, or tickets
    3. Growing engagement with current or potential fans
    4. Increasing awareness of an artist or release.
  • Typically, the more interactions you have with a well-suited listener (like those identified in our Smart Audiences), the more likely they are to take actions like streaming your music or making purchases from you. With that said, when planning and creating your ads you need to have a clear understanding of what you're trying to accomplish in order to maximize their effectiveness. Consider what the most beneficial goal would be for your ad(s) at that moment in time, given where you are in the artist or release life cycle, the budget available to you, and the type of content you're currently focused on promoting. 
• Basic Advertising/Marketing Principles
  • We recommend thinking about the people you're trying to reach with your ads/marketing based on where they are in their relationship with you. This is often represented in the form of a segmented funnel, broken down to people's level of awareness, interest, or affinity for your artist or content. You want to do this because it almost always takes multiple touch points with a given person before they're willing to take the actions you request of them (like converting through an ad), so it's important to develop and nurture those fan relationships over time and through various touch-points.  
  • Your ads should be created with the above understanding in mind, particularly when it comes to the ad objectives, platforms, assets, and targeting used. For example, it's highly unlikely you'll get someone who has never heard of your artist to buy merch from them. Alternatively, there is likely limited value in running ads with the goal of raising artist awareness with an audience of existing fans. Do your best to meet people where they are in their fandom journey by appropriately matching your ad goals, targeting, messaging, and creative content for a given outcome.
• Common music ad types and their value
  1. Driving Streams: One of the most functional ad types to consider are those with the goal of driving streams. These ads can be run on various ad platforms, but they typically prompt the user to click through to a landing page where they choose their preferred streaming service. These ads should use very specific targeting based on streaming behavior, and they should be optimized for conversions. They can be a great way to push added listeners to your new releases, as well as give a boost to catalog content that is showing signs of growth. 
  2. Selling music, merch, or tickets: These ads typically cost the most to achieve the desired outcome (the purchase), but they also have a much higher direct return on your ad spend compared to other ad types. They should use very specific targeting, including retargeting audiences when possible, as conversions for these usually come from fans with whom you have already developed a strong relationship. 
  3. Increasing engagement (and awareness): These ads tend to have a lower cost, but their main value is to increase engagement with fans and potential fans to make them more likely to stream and purchase from you in the future. Most ad agencies will be focused on awareness ads as they don't have the data access or expertise to properly create most music ads, especially those designed to drive streams. 
• Best Practices per placement (Facebook & Instagram)
  • Facebook & Instagram Feed Ad Assets
    • Videos perform better than images.
    • We recommend video assets that have a 4:5 aspect ratio, and they should be at least 500 pixels wide. See specs here.
    • Make sure to capture the viewer's attention and include a clear call to action text overlay in the first few seconds of the video. See some examples here.
    • The content can be promotional in nature. Repurposing sections of existing assets like music videos works well, and animated graphics or visualizers are also acceptable.
  • Facebook & Instagram Stories Ad Assets
    • Videos perform better than images.
    • Use 9:16 vertical video assets that are at least 500px wide. See specs here.
    • Videos should be less than 15 seconds.
    • Make sure to immediately capture the viewer's attention, and include a clear call to action text overlay in the first few seconds of the video. See some examples here.
    • The content can be promotional in nature. Repurposing sections of existing assets like music videos works well, and animated graphics or visualizers are also acceptable.
  • Facebook & Instagram Reels Ad Assets
    • Videos perform better than images.
    • Use 9:16 vertical video assets that are at least 500 x 888 pixels. See specs here.
    • Videos should be between 15 and 90 seconds.
    • Make sure to capture the viewer's attention and include a clear call to action in the first few seconds of the video. See some examples here.
    • The content should feel very native and organic in the Reels format. It can be produced and professional looking, but do NOT use animated graphics or visualizers.