How to get 1,000 streams on Spotify
Reaching your first 1,000 streams on Spotify might feel small compared to viral hits, but it’s a significant milestone.
First, at 1,000 streams, your track becomes eligible for monetization, meaning you can start earning revenue through royalties Spotify owes you.
Second, crossing 1,000 streams puts you ahead of 87% of tracks available on streaming platforms. According to data from Luminate, of the 202 million separate ISRCs (i.e. music uploads) on streaming services in 2024, 175.5 million tracks received 1,000 or fewer plays.
Lastly, the road to 1,000 streams is crucial for learning how to market yourself — it’s a right of passage for indie musicians. At this stage, you’re earning each fan one by one and building foundational skills that will carry your career forward. It’s hard work, but you’ll cherish the connections and experiences you gain.
Engage your inner-circle (1-10 streams)
The first 10 streams are all about engaging your closest circle. Early traction sends positive signals to Spotify’s algorithm and helps build momentum on release day. It’s essential for your algorithmic success that your song sees at least a handful of streams on release day. It demonstrates the seeds of an active fanbase and proves you’ve taken the initiative to promote yourself.
Reach out directly to friends, family, and collaborators. People are far more likely to listen and share when you ask directly and show your excitement.
Key actions:
- Personally text your inner circle with the song link.
- Ask friends and family to add your track to playlists, share it, or send it to someone else
- If you’re in a group, have every member promote it. If you’re solo, lean on your collaborators to do the same.
Use your social media (10-100 streams)
Once you’ve contacted your core group, it’s time to promote your release on social media. You want as many eyes and ears on your release as possible — and that means showing up across channels and in-person.
Key actions:
- Announce the release on all your social media pages in a variety of formats: directly share the song from Spotify to social posts, include it as a backing track on a post, and/or place a link to stream the song. Every post you make about the song should have a direct link to Spotify.
- In the wake of the release, share behind-the-scenes content, visualizers, or live clips to enrich the announcement and give your release more depth
- Engage with every comment and repost across channels to build rapport with fans
- Create a playlist featuring your track plus influences and local artists and tag them to encourage them to share with their fanbases
- Pitch your song to the local press, college radio, and zines to be considered for features and plays
Experiment with socials and network (100-500 streams)
Now that you’ve hit 100 streams, continue to experiment on socials and double down on content types that resonate with your audience.
This is also when you start taking your music into the real world: playing shows, making local connections, and gaining in-person exposure opportunity. If you don’t have the audience to headline your own show, reach out to artists in your area with whom you can share a bill as a supporting act.
Key actions:
- Organize and start promoting a celebratory release show with a bill of 2-3 local artists
- Post more often on the social media platform where you’re seeing the most engagement with new content that pushes people to listen to your track (live recordings, alternative versions, behind the scenes clips, interviews, and more)
- Share any press or playlist wins from your release
- Pitch your song to playlists, but avoid fraudulent ones by following playlist best practices
- Engage with niche communities on Reddit, Discord, or forums where you can share and discuss new music. (r/indieheads is a great starting point on Reddit).
- Print simple business cards or QR code stickers linking to your song
Get strategic on socials and play live (500-750 streams)
At around the 500 stream mark, the biggest challenge is keeping the conversation going. Your song might be a few weeks old and you’re building momentum, but in some cases, you’ll need to reignite interest and create new talking points.
Lean into consistent posting with varied content types — not just promotion. Tap into lifestyle, behind-the-scenes, and local show content, giving your fans opportunities for deeper engagement.
Key actions:
- Post 3-5x a week on your main social media platform using a mix of content styles (stories, short-form videos, carousel posts, etc.)
- Share a “1-month update” or milestone recap that gives people a reason to re-listen to your track. Use the song as the backing track to the post
- Post an alternative version of your latest release with a link to stream the original track
- Promote any upcoming shows and tag the other bands and encourage them to repost
- If you haven’t landed press, follow up with outlets and share a bit of what you’ve been up to
- Repost your release playlist and explain why each song was chosen
- Share a preview of what’s next in your artist journey: new songs, collaborations, music video development, etc.
Build your fanbase (750-1,000 streams)
From 750 to 1,000 streams is about two things: repeat listens and expanding your community reach. By now, you should have a core group of people who genuinely enjoy your music — now’s the time to cement them as a fanbase, driving repeat listens, and encouraging them to advocate for you.
Think about it: if you already have 500-750 listens, all you need to do is get half of your current listeners to stream your song once more.
Think creatively about how to engage and retain your fans. Use your release show to build real-life connections and start to think of your artistry as the gateway to a community.
A release show is also a great time to explore co-promotion opportunities with other local creatives or businesses to reach new ears organically such as a collaborative merch run, campaign, or affinity promotion.
Key actions:
- Encourage fans to create and share their own playlists that include your track
- Run a giveaway for people who repost the song to their socials (merch, tickets, or a personally recorded song performance)
- Collect emails at your shows and print business cards to have handy for spontaneous networking
- Follow up once more with press and curators to feature or review your track
- Partner with local brands for creative collabs (e.g., merch runs, product tie-ins) around an event like a release show
Conclusion
This blog provides a playbook for how you can promote a song once it’s out. It’s especially useful for artists making a debut who might not have a fanbase readily anticipating new music. Keep a running log of your accomplishments to reference when pitching playlists, agents, promoters, and press.
As you plan your next release, consult our release strategy guide for step-by-step instructions to engage your fanbase and build hype into a release so you can hit the ground running on release day.
Every release follows a natural rhythm: building anticipation, hitting that big moment, riding the momentum, trying new things, and looking back. Understanding this cycle can help you shape a smarter, more sustainable music career.