How musicians can make the most of Spotify Wrapped, including a lesson from Marielle Kraft

Spotify Wrapped 2022 has launched with personalized year-end reviews sent to 456 million Spotify users and hundreds of thousands of artists. Here are some tips on how to make the most of this cultural phenomenon.

Independent singer-songwriter Marielle Kraft created a particularly ingenious campaign around her 2022 Spotify Wrapped.

Kraft sent a link to a Google form to anyone who reached on her social channels saying that she was on their list of top artists or songs for the year.

Fans were asked to fill out where they’ll be seeing Kraft on tour in 2023 (or fill out an “other” field if they don’t live in an area she’ll be touring), and she’ll mail them a handwritten thank-you note.

Labor intensive for sure, but also a “free” gift that her top fans will never forget.

Spotify has turned Wrapped into a cultural moment that every artist should participate in.

Fortunately for artists a bit less inventive than Kraft, Spotify has created Wrapped assets specifically for use by artists.

Log into your Spotify for Artists account to view your Artist Wrapped microsite and “share cards” available in 36 languages. You’ll find:

• A variety of “share cards” or sharable images, including the most shared lyric, top-selling merch, and most viewed Canvas, alongside last year’s categories which include total hours streamed, increases in followers and listeners, and more. Share them widely with your fans on social media.
• If you recently updated your profile and assets (and if not, update them now anyway), you will also see:
  • “Your Artist Messages” – a dedicated Wrapped video feed, personalized to each listener. All artists were invited to upload a short message via Spotify for Artists, and more than 40,000 did it, thanking top fans for a great year, teasing what they’re working on, and more.
  • Merch & Ticketing – for the first time, personalized merch and ticket offerings were integrated directly into the Wrapped Hub and promoted to top fans via email and other on-platform channels. Some artists, including Jack Harlow, Elton John, and NIKI, are offering Wrapped exclusive merch that will be promoted to their top fans starting tomorrow.

Apple Music and many other streaming services are releasing year-end recaps too. So now is a great time to refresh your profile and presence everywhere.

Bandsintown For Artists users have until December 10th to update their profile before their High Notes personalized review of live music in 2022 goes out to 74 million users.

MORE:

• Meet Marie Rönn and the team behind this year’s Spotify Wrapped
• 5 things EVERY MUSICIAN should do now to get ready for Spotify Wrapped
• Update your Bandsintown profile now to hit 2022 ‘High Notes’ with fans

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.