November 14, 2023 | SONO for Artists

Invite SONO

To invite SONO Music as a user (part of the artist team) with an admin role to major DSPs like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, you’ll need to follow specific procedures for each platform. These platforms have artist management tools that allow artists and their teams to manage their profiles, view analytics, and more. Below is a guide for each of these major platforms:

Spotify for Artists

1.Access Spotify for Artists: If you haven’t already, sign up for Spotify for Artists. If SONO Music already has access, they can log in.
2.Invite Team Members: Go to the ‘Team’ section in the Spotify for Artists dashboard.
3.Add a New Member: Click on ‘Invite Team Member,’ enter the email address (ar@sonomusic.co), select the role as ‘Admin,’ and send the invite.

Apple Music for Artists

1.Sign Up or Log In: Access Apple Music for Artists. If you’re new, you’ll need to request access by claiming your artist profile.
2.Invite Team Members: Once in, go to the ‘Manage’ tab and select ‘People.’
3.Add New People: Click ‘+’ to add a new person, enter the required details including the email address (ar@sonomusic.co), and assign the role as ‘Admin’ or any other appropriate role.
4.Send the Invitation: Review and send the invite.

YouTube Studio

1.Access YouTube Studio: Log in to the YouTube account associated with SONO Music’s artist channel.
2.Open Permissions: Click on ‘Settings,’ then ‘Permissions.’
3.Invite a User: Click ‘INVITE’ and enter the email address (ar@sonomusic.co). Assign the role as ‘Manager’ or ‘Editor,’ which allows for admin-like permissions.
4.Confirm: Click ‘DONE’ to send the invitation.

Other DSPs (Tidal, Amazon Music for Artists, Deezer, Pandora etc.):

For other DSPs, the process might vary, but generally, you will:

1.Access the Artist’s Dashboard: This could be through a specific artist management portal or the main user account settings, depending on the DSP.
2.Look for Team Management Options: This might be labeled differently (e.g., Team, Members, Permissions).
3.Invite New Members: Enter the email address (ar@sonomusic.co) and select the appropriate admin or equivalent role.

General Tips:

• Double-Check Email Addresses: Make sure the email address (ar@sonomusic.co) is correct before sending invites.
• Communicate with Team Members: let SONO Music Group know that they should expect invitations from various platforms.
• Follow Up: If there are any issues or delays in accepting invitations, check in with your team members.

Each platform has its specifics, so it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the help sections of Spotify for Artists, Apple Music for Artists, and YouTube Studio for more detailed instructions or any updates to the process.

Artist Crowdfunding

Get money for your next project from your super fans, friends and family or who believes that your project is valuable.

Request Report & Invoice

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Complete the form for Payout Request.

As we enhance our analytics and revenue pages, please aid the process by completing this form to request your payout. The new analytics and revenue balance page, with daily data updates, will be available shortly.

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Live Performance Report

Report your Live Performances here. This is required to reduce chances of loosing important royalties when performing live.

AR Evaluation

Our AR Team will send you a detailed report outlining strengths and weaknesses of your project along with tips and advice.

Please make sure you released at least 2 singles before submitting your request.

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Verification Request

How do I get a verified profile on Social Media?

The verified badge appears next to a Facebook (IG, Tiktok) Page or account’s name in search and on the profile. It means Facebook has confirmed that an account is the authentic presence of the public figure, celebrity, or global brand it represents.

What are the requirements to apply for a verified badge?

We look at a number of factors when evaluating Facebook accounts to determine if they’re in the public interest and meet the verification criteria.

In addition to following Facebook’s terms of service, your account also needs to be:

Authentic: Your account must represent a real person, registered business or entity.
Unique: Your account must be the unique presence of the person or business it represents. Only one account per person or business may be verified, with exceptions for language-specific accounts. We don’t verify general interest accounts (example: Puppy Memes).
Complete: Your account must be public and have a bio, profile photo and at least one post. Your profile can’t contain “add me” links to other social media services.
Notable: Your account must represent a well-known, often searched person, brand or entity. We review accounts that are featured in multiple news sources, and we don’t consider paid or promotional content as sources for review.

Keep in mind that if you provide false or misleading information during the verification process, we will remove your verified badge and may take additional action to delete your account.

If your account doesn’t meet the criteria for a verified badge, there are other ways to let people know it’s authentic. For example, you can link to it from an official website, Instagram profile or Twitter account.

Request Verification

Pre-Save & Smartlinks

You can find your Pre-Save Links in your email account, they’ll automatically switch to SmartLink once your release is out.

Tip: if you can’t find it, search for emails with “You Pre-Save link for: SONG-TITLE” subject, having support@stage.sonomusic.co as sender.

The links are created automatically after you send us your music, so please be sure to check your email max 2/3 days after your Upload Music Form submission.

NOTE: Be sure to promote Pre-Save and SmartLinks as much as you can to gain more traction on your upcoming release.

Pre-Save and listen to your colleagues’ songs as well! This will help you reach Algorithmic and Editorial playlists, as well as helping us creating an audience that already interacted with your music.

Check your link

Sell your Art

Here you can submit your products for sale, adding them to the SONO Shop.

RM_Stats

Info
Product

Email^*

Creator Name^*

City^*

Country^*

(FROM) Shipping Address

Add the address where the product will be shipped from.

Instagram

Social Media Profiles LINKs^*

Add

Delete

Add one URL per line (e.g. https://instagram.com/yourusername)

Digital Product Type^*

Digital Product Download Link^*

Product Title^*

Product Description^*

Product Details^*

Product Price^*

Quantity^*

Product Images^*

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[give_form id=”3899″]

Create Merchandising

Fill in this form to start creating your own merchandising.

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Sell Merchandising

RM_Stats

Info
Product

Email^*

Artist / Band Name^*

City^*

Country^*

(FROM) Shipping Address

Add the address where the product will be shipped from.

Social Media Profiles LINKs^*

Add

Delete

Add one URL per line (e.g. https://instagram.com/yourusername)

Instagram

Digital Product Type^*

Digital Product Download Link^*

Product Title^*

Product Description^*

Product Details^*

Product Price^*

Quantity^*

Product Images^*

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YouTube Tools

YouTube Video Release

To release your Videoclip through SONO, with the chance to be pitched into various DSPs Video Playlists, please Fill in the Upload Video Form on Forms Page. The services included are:

Amazon
Apple Music/ iTunes
Facebook (and IG) Video
Tidal
VEVO
YouTube
Fizy
Hungama
Mood Media
Nightlife Music
Tencent Music Entertainment
United Media Agency
Xite

If you’re releasing by yourself, please read the following guidelines:

The videoclip might be released at least 1 week after the audio release, in order not to spread your fans onto too many different platforms and to focus attention on your songs first.

Below the caption to add to your music video/lyric video when you upload it on YouTube. Add the missing info with yours.

Listen to “TITLE”, out now: SMARTURLS LINK (SONO will provide it)

Directed by: DIRECTOR

Developed/Edited by: XXXX

OTHER CREDITS

Written by:

Producer

Art Director:

Mastered by:

Follow ARTIST:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ARTIST

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ARTIST

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARTIST

Follow SONO Music Group

Website: https://sonomusic.co

Facebook: https://facebook.com/sonomusicgroup

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sonomusicgroup

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonomusicgroup

Music video by ARTIST performing TITLE. ©℗ 2020 SONO Music Group

IMPORTANT NOTE!

If you’re willing to promote your video with Google ADS, upload your video 3/4 days before release and set up your promo on Google ADS, in order to prevent the Google bot to block your promotion before it would even started, compromising the first interactions and therefore a possible higher ranking on YouTube trends.

Sync

Click&Clear License Agreement

Have you ever thought to be paid for your music to be used as the soundtrack for Performance Sports worldwide?

Well, with SONO you can. Compile the form and we’ll be able to deliver your music to this service.

Apply Now

Social Media

Social Media Made Easier: Content Planning for Musicians

You’ve decided how you want to brand yourself online. You’ve created your band’s social media pages. You’re posting regularly, and still, you’re not seeing results. The solution: content planning.

By putting all of your energy into posting new content without thinking about the big picture, you’re only getting half the job done. Instead, set marketing goals, create content in bulk, and utilize the (often free) social media management tools available online.

You’ll save yourself time, produce more effective marketing, and see the results you want to see for your band.

Before you hit share on one more video of your amazing new song, ask yourself: how is this post helping me achieve my goals?

The first step of social media content planning is determining what your goals are and what your measurements of success will be. Some goals you might have in mind include:

Building an audience: Modern music lovers cite social media platforms like Youtube, Twitter, and Tumblr as their primary sources for new songs. So the goal here would be to try to access broad, new audiences with your material appearing on various platforms.

Promoting concerts and events: Building your e-mail list is a tried and true tactic for event and tour promotion, and with a free membership on sites like Mailchimp, you can easily create and track campaigns.

Choose a primary goal or two, keeping in mind that building and connecting with your audience should always be a priority. Take a look at what’s coming up on your calendar and start content planning with the big picture in mind.

You’re not a social media marketing robot, so not every post has to be “on brand” or “results-driven,” and it’s really better if they’re not. Knowing your goals is an important overarching strategy, but don’t let it stand between you and making a real connection with your fans. Keep a fresh mix of goal-oriented content with personal posts and live updates.

Social media pros don’t capture organic, super-shareable moments. They create them. Not only does content planning result in better posts, it saves you the trouble of having to wait for the Instagram muse to strike.

Rather than creating content as it comes to you, use your time efficiently by:

Maximizing Video & Photoshoots: Next time you shoot a video for Youtube, shoot three. Schedule a day for your bandmates to take as many promotional pictures a possible. Bring changes of clothes and a variety of gear, and go shoot against a few different backdrops. Turn everyday practice into a photoshoot by asking a friend or bandmate to capture “behind the scenes” rehearsal shots. Stage a corner of your songwriting space for a moody Instagram photoshoot.

Content with relevant photos or videos is 94% more likely to be viewed, so start your content planning with your visuals and work backwards.

Writing Multiple Captions: For each photo, video, or link you want to share, write two or three captions. Even if you’re only adjusting your wording slightly, you’ll extend the use of your content. You can also compare the engagement across posts to see which copy was more successful with your audience.

Recycling Content: Don’t be afraid to reuse, it’s why the hive mind gave us #ICUMI. Keep in mind that some platforms, like Twitter and Pinterest, are better suited for re-posts than others.

There are plenty of social media planning tools, post schedulers, and content management sites, but the best free resources, in my opinion, are Hootsuite, Buffer and Later

With Hootsuite, you can schedule content for major platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and most recently, Instagram. There are also free analytics tools to track how your content is performing.

Buffer’s browser extension allows you to share and schedule what you come across while surfing. Buffer will schedule content for Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others.

You can’t plan everything, so be sure to read and respond to comments daily, share content with your followers and go off book every now and then. If you’re stuck, check out “Proven Content Ideas for the Musician’s Social Media Calendar” to help spark some inspiration!

Artist Branding

When it comes to building a memorable brand, it’s all about consistency.

When you’re shopping for your favorite cereal or coffee at the grocery store, you want to be able to spot it from a mile away.

The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same logo, fonts, colors, and images.

Once we see them enough, they become instantly recognizable, bringing us a clear sense of reliability and security.

Developing a consistent brand starts with creating a brand style guide. These branding rule books help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, community managers, and even product packaging departments all stay on the same page, and present a unified vision of the brand to the public.

We’ve compiled a list of some awesome brand style guides to use as inspiration for your next branding project or website redesign. Check them out below.

What are brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines, also known as a brand style guide, govern the composition, design, and general look-and-feel of a company’s branding. Brand guidelines can dictate the content of a logo, blog, website, advertisement, and similar marketing collateral.

Picture the most recognizable brands you can think of. Chances are, you’ve learned to recognize them because of the consistency across the messaging — written or visual — these brands broadcast. The same brand colors are reflected across them. The language sounds familiar. It’s all very organized and, while not rigid, it’s cohesive.

Here are a few types of guidelines you’d find in a brand style guide and which parts of a brand they can influence.

How to Create a Brand Style Guide

Mission Statement

By reputation, you might think a mission statement is in its own category of importance to a business. And it is. But your business’s mission statement is also compass for your brand style guide. A mission statement ensures every piece of content you create for your brand is working toward the same goal — and, ideally, strives to solve the same problem for your customer.

Your mission statement can guide your:

Blog content.
Paid/sponsored content
Ad copy.
Visual media.
Slogan or tagline.

Buyer Persona

By definition, a buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. It can include details related to your customer’s age, gender, job title, and professional challenges. For this reason, your buyer persona should also appear in your brand style guide. Your buyer persona is your target audience, and therefore stipulates for whom your brand publishes content.

Your buyer persona can guide your:

Blog content.
Ad copy.
Visual media.

Color Palette

A color palette is a group of colors a company uses to design its brand, and it guides every piece of visual content the brand creates. Your color palette can be as simple or as elaborate as you want, so long as your brand doesn’t deviate from the colors you choose to include.

Color palettes that feature multiple colors often dedicate specific colors to specific types of marketing content. While the first two colors of your color palette might govern your logo, for example, the next two colors might support your website and blog design. Another two or three colors might be the basis for all your printed branding material.

No matter what colors you use for your color palette, make sure you identify their HEX or RGB color codes. These codes consist of numbers and letters to help you recall the exact shade, brightness, contrast, and hue you want associated with your brand, so your colors don’t gradually drift in appearance as you create new content. You can find color codes using most photo-editing or design software that comes standard on your computer. Learn more about finding and committing to color codes in this blog post.

Your color palette can guide your:

Logo.
Website design.
Printed advertisings.
Event collateral.

Editorial Style Guide

Nowadays, an editorial style guide is the bread and butter of an authoritative brand. This component of your brand style guide can have strong implications for your PR team, as well as the people who write articles, scripts, blog posts, and website copy for your company.

An editorial style guide’s main job is to commit to an editorial stylebook (such as Associated Press or Chicago), how to phrase certain products, topics the brand can and cannot write about, and even other companies the brand can and cannot mention. However, a brand’s editorial style guide can also go into much deeper detail about your buyer persona: what they like to read about, where they read it, their general reading level, etc.

Your editorial style guide can guide your:

Blog content.
Video scripts.
Website copy.
Landing page copy.
Public relations talking points.
A knowledge base supported by your customer service team.
Paid/sponsored content.

Typography

Typography is another visual element of your brand style guide, but it isn’t just the font you use in your company logo. Typographic guidelines can support your blog design — which font you publish articles in — the links and copy on your website, and even a tagline to go with your company logo.

As you can see, the purpose of the brand style guide is to form and maintain all of the various elements of a company that, when combined, spell out the entire brand as it’s recognized.

Intrigued? Check out 21 of the best ones we could find.

Style Guide Examples

Medium
Wolf Circus Jewelry
Ollo
Skype
Barre & Soul
Spotify
Jamie Oliver
Herban Kitchen
Urban Outfitters
Love to Ride
Barbican
I Love New York
Cisco
University of the Arts Helsinki
NJORD
Espacio Cultural
Alienware
Netflix
Scrimshaw Coffee
NASA
New York City Transit Authority

Page owners can create an online event, set a price, promote the event, collect payment and host the event, all in one place.

The new product launch is available in 20 countries:

Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Hungary
India
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States

Check Your Eligibility

To check your Page’s eligibility for monetisation, go to creator studio > monetization > policy issues. Facebook will also not be taking a cut of your livestream earnings for at least the next year.

To set up paid online events, your Page and content will need to be in compliance with:

Creator Studio

What is Creator Studio?

Creator Studio brings together all the tools you need to effectively post, monetise, track performance, interact with fans, and take actions across multiple Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts in one single place – simplifying the process of building and managing your video business.

Creator Studio also notifies you when you become eligible for new features and monetisation opportunities.

Access to Creator Studio

Access Creator Studio for Desktop: facebook.com/creatorstudio
Download the Creator Studio app: fb.me/creatorstudioapp

Streamline Publishing Across Pages

Publish, schedule & manage content across multiple Facebook pages & IG accounts
Create & manage video playlists across your Facebook pages and bulk upload videos to a single Facebook page.

Track Video & Monetisation Performance

Onboard eligible pages to new monetisation products, review monetisation insights, see your monetised videos, manage block lists and view payment-related statements.
Easily access your monetisation eligibility status and best practices.
View video performance insights and estimated earnings metrics aggregated for all of your pages.
Track your total followers, understand your returning viewers, see how long people are watching your videos and get distribution metrics for your content.

Simplify Engagement in One Place

Inbox makes it easy to manage correspondence in Messenger as well as comments and direct messages in Facebook & Instagram.

Manage Facebook Page Content On The Go

With the Creator Studio app, you can edit and delete Facebook posts, publish drafts, get actionable insights, respond to messages and comments and see important notifications.

Instagram Tips

Creating AR Effects

AR Effects on Instagram and Facebook are an increasingly important part of your artists’ marketing campaigns. To make the submission and approval process as smooth as possible for you, we’ve created a ‘Cheat Sheet’ for you to follow as you build these Effects.

Before You Submit Your Effect

Does Your Effect Have a Name and an Icon?
Does It Meet Spark AR Guidelines & Policies?
Did You Choose A Category For Your Effect?
Do you have a preview video of your Effect?
Does the Effect meet the frame rate guidelines and file size limits?
If your Effect is a mask, does it obscure facial expressions? (It shouldn’t!)
Did You Do A Final Check of Best Practices to Make Sure Your Effect Is Approved?

The Approval Process For Spark AR Effects

Effects submitted to both Facebook and Instagram are reviewed to make sure they follow:

Spark AR Review Policies
Spark AR and Frame Studio Terms
Facebook Community Standards (if submitting for FB)
Instagram Community Guidelines (if submitting for IG)

If your effect is approved, you will be notified on Facebook and in the Spark AR Hub.

If your effect is rejected, you will be notified and given the reason in the Spark AR Hub. You can edit your effect and submit again.

AR Effect Do’s & Don’ts

Submission

DON’T: Submit your Effect one day before you need it live, and then email your Facebook/Instagram contact requesting an expedited review.

DO: Want your effect to be ready by a certain date? Be sure to submit it for review at least TEN (10) Days prior to your desired date.

Text

If your Effect includes text:

DON’T: Place static text in the screen that does not respond to movements or sound

DO: Make sure your text either responds to movements through the use of face tracking OR is integrated and integral to the design of the Effect; e.g. it’s a timestamp on a camcorder simulation.

Logos

Want to put a Logo in your Effect?

DON’T: Make it static so that it does not respond to movements or sound

DO: Make sure the logo either responds to movements through the use of face tracking OR is integrated and integral to the design of the Effect

Availability

Want your Effect to go live on a specific date and time?

DON’T: Skip the “Location & Schedule” section of the upload process in Spark AR Hub

DO: Control the publication date and time of your effect and the length of time it’s available by adding scheduling details during the upload process.

Masks

Does your Effect include a face mask?

DON’T: Recreate a human face as the mask.

DO: Create an animated face or a caricature of a face as your Effect.

Video Tips

Premium Music Video

Introduction

Facebook uniquely enables people to connect with each other and engage with music videos in the same place that they watch them.
Fans will be notified when artists they follow release a new music video. People will also be able to discover videos based on what their friends are watching and by browsing our new music video destination on Facebook Watch.
Music videos provide a new way for fans to interact with their favourite artists on Facebook, see more of their content, and foster a deeper connection both with artists and likeminded fans. People can now watch and engage with music videos without ever leaving the Facebook platform.

PLEASE NOTE: You’ll need to submit your video on Upload Video form in Forms

Actions required of Artist’s Teams

Identify who on your team has admin access
- Anyone with an Admin role on an artist’s Page can edit posts/PMVs, create ads, and view insights for that Page. Only the Admin Page role will give you the full functionality needed to manage PMVs.
- A current Admin on the artist’s Page will need to grant you access and assign you a Page role via your personal Facebook account. Here are the steps they should follow:

1. 1. Navigate to the artist Page and click Page Settings in the bottom-left corner.
  2. Click Page Roles in the left-hand column.
  3. Type a name or email address in the text box and select the correct profile.
  4. Click Editor to select the “Admin” role from the dropdown menu.
  5. Click Add and enter your password to confirm.

Opt in to PMVs on your roster’s Pages

Facebook will need approval to publish PMVs to an artist’s Page. Once approved, the artist’s full music video catalog will be published to the Music Videos section within the Videos tab on their Page. You must be a Page Admin to grant approval. If you or anyone else on your team has an Admin role on an artist’s Page, you’ll have the ability to edit PMV post text as well as other metadata.
Catalog videos will not be published to the artist’s Page timeline, but new posts will be automatically generated on their Page timeline for new releases.
Once an artist’s videos have been delivered to Facebook, anyone with an Admin role on the artist’s Page will be prompted to opt in to publishing PMVs on their Page. Page Admins will receive an email, a banner on the artist’s Page (visible only to you), and a profile notification that will all direct you to the PMV opt-in flow in Page Settings.
If you and/or your artist(s) take no action, their PMVs will live on a separate official music Page titled “[Artist Name] Official Music,” which will be created by Facebook. However these will not achieve the same level of reach to your audience as they aren’t distributed to your Page’s followers.

How To Opt In

If you’re an Admin on an artist’s Page, once the artist’s videos have been delivered via the supply chain or via manual upload (when available), you’ll receive the following communication from Facebook prompting you to opt in:

An email sent to the email address associated with your Facebook account
A pop-up banner on the artist’s Page
A profile notification
Click on any of the prompts to be directed to the Music Videos section of the artist’s Page Settings. You can also navigate to this section directly.
Once you land on the Music Videos section of the artist’s Page Settings, simply click the blue button titled “Add Music Videos to My Page” to opt in.
After clicking the “Add Music Videos to My Page” button, make sure you tick the box next to the “Automatically share all new music videos to your Page’s timeline” setting.

GIPHY

In order to have your personalised GIF Sticker to add to your Instagram stories please follow GIPHY guidelines below.

If you are a musician or recording artist, please apply for a brand channel here.

GIPHY Artist accounts are intended for artists who would like to create and distribute visual artwork via GIPHY. Once you’ve connected your GIPHY account, you’ll be able to see our application form! Here’s what you need to know before submitting your application. Please read carefully, applications are limited to one per GIPHY account.

Elevate Your GIF Game With GIPHY and Spotify’s New Music Feature

After searching GIPHY, an online database that contains billions of GIFs, stickers, and more, you’ve found it. You’ve spotted the perfect GIF. Now, it’s time to share it in your group chat so your friends can get a feel for your reaction—no words necessary.

No matter how you pronounce it, GIFs are the ultimate visual metaphor. And now, thanks to a partnership with Spotify and GIPHY, music can be part of the equation. We’re teaming up with GIPHY to enable new Spotify-linked artist GIFs. When users click the GIF on the verified GIPHY artists’ pages, they’ll be taken directly to the featured artist’s Spotify page for a listening session.

Artists Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Post Malone, Nicki Minaj, The Kid LAROI, and Conan Gray have already kicked off the integration, with more to come.

Users around the globe can find the feature on verified GIPHY artist pages and they can be experienced through both GIPHY’s web and mobile platform. Here’s how it works:

Search for artists’ GIFs on their official GIPHY channel via GIPHY.com or GIPHY’s mobile apps
Once on the artist’s official GIPHY channel, click on the GIF you’d like to use
Tap the “Listen on Spotify” button on any participating GIF
Users will be taken directly to the artist’s Spotify page, where they can listen and discover even more music from artists they love

Ready to give it a try? Check out Doja Cat’s, The Weeknd’s, Post Malone’s, Nicki Minaj’s, The Kid LAROI’s, and Conan Gray’s verified GIPHY pages to see the integration in action.

Social Media Graphic Design

If you need graphics for your social media, Spotify, Youtube covers you can purchase them here or make them yourself.

Plan your social media design strategy

The first step in social media design is to create your strategy (or review your existing one). Design should act as an enhancement to your content, facilitating the messages you want to get across, so it’s essential to first create a solid messaging strategy in order to perform well.

Evaluate the audiences for your current channels. You may already have already conducted target audience research for your overall brand strategy, but the audience for each social media channel will represent a specific segment or cross-section of your larger audience. In order to create the most effective social media design, understand who is currently following your content and what they are looking for. Make sure this is backed by target market research—conduct interviews, surveys, use the platform’s analytics to find demographic information, notate the feedback or comments your followers leave. Next, create user personas for your existing audiences in addition to new audiences you want to reach. Personas are important because it’s much easier to design content for a person than for facts and figures.
Choose the best platforms to reach your audiences. Social media is necessary for businesses, but that doesn’t mean every social media platform is necessary for every business. For example, recipes perform notoriously well on Pinterest, so while it makes sense for a food brand to invest heavily in that platform, it won’t be as important for, say, a home security brand. Research your many options for social media platforms, and decide on a few based on what is popular within your industry and with your audience. Assuming that you should only use the most popular platforms may lead you to miss out on social media apps with niche audiences that might be perfect for your brand.
Evaluate the types of content that perform best on those platforms. Narrowing the scope of your audience and social media channels will allow you to focus on the kinds of content to create and eventually how that content should be designed. Some of the types of content you can create will be set by the platform (Instagram favors imagery and video, Twitter favors short messages and clips). Each platform should have a how-it-works page that will explain the media constraints. Other types of content will be based on common user trends: although people have the ability to create videos and written messages on Facebook, many users use the platform to share article links. Spend some time reviewing user activity, paying close attention to your competitors, to get an idea of how to best use each channel.

List, brief and schedule your design assets

Make sure you catalogue all of the design assets you need for every platform and screen size.

Now that you have a better idea of your audience and the channels you’ll be using, you can start mapping out a design pipeline with a series of briefs. This, along with a content calendar, will help keep you organized through the design process. Make sure to document the following:

Upcoming content plans
The goal of the content
Intended audience
Competitor content examples
Design medium (photograph, video, illustration, animated gif)
Caption or text copy
Design references

Keep a reference of the content sizes and dimensions for each social media platform

A reference of social media content sizes and dimensions is must-have for any designer. This allows you to quickly size your canvases and to adapt designs across different platforms. Social media sizes tend to change now and again, so be sure to update this list regularly.

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Logo

You need a logo to stand out.

You can purchase it here or do it yourself.

Design your Logo

Start With Your Story
Brainstorm Words That Describe Your Brand
Sketch Ideas Based on These Words
Test Your Top Sketches With Your Buyer Persona
Refine Your Chosen Sketch
Develop Your Logo’s Layout on a Free Design Platform
Pick Versatile Color Options
Choose a Font
Ensure Scalability

How to Design a Business, Company, or Personal Logo

Designing a logo that embodies your brand can help you grow better, but doing it right is just as important. Here’s how to design the perfect logo, step-by-step.

1. Start With Your Story

Companies are created to make money — it’s not the most poetic statement, but it’s the one you need to start with. And in order to make a profitable business, you need to be able to sell yourself just as well as your product. Marketers today tend to agree that buyers connect much more strongly to stories than they do to the basic facts of your product. What does this mean to you? There needs to be some story in your logo.

Before you even think about what this logo will look like, take some time asking yourself what the story behind your company is. When we look at Coca-Cola, we don’t see a brown, carbonated beverage — we see polar bears and thick, white script letters.

Step outside of what your company does and convey why you do it. That “why” is the root of your story, and it should come through in the color, shape, and typeface of your logo. If your logo were the title of a movie, what would it look like?

2. Brainstorm Words That Describe Your Brand

Now that you have your story, it’s time to take your logo draft from story to setting. Open Thesaurus.com and enter a term that best describes your product into the search bar.

For example, if you’re in the clothing industry, you might simply type in “clothing.” You’d be surprised by how descriptive the synonyms are that appear. You can even click these results to start new searches and dig deeper as you zero in on the words that best capture your brand.

Find five to 10 words that describe not only what you do, but the why from the previous step. Each of these words can fit like pieces in a puzzle and help guide you to refining a concept.

3. Sketch Ideas Based on These Words

Armed with your why and a few keywords for direction, grab a pencil and paper and start sketching every idea that comes into your head. Allow each new concept to evolve on its own. Don’t get frustrated if the first few aren’t right — keep refining, using previous sketches to influence the outcome of new ones. You might focus these sketches on a shape, the name of your brand, or both.

As you’re sketching the concepts for your logo, keep these tips in mind:

Keep the shape simple. If you can sketch the most symbolic components in seven seconds or less, you’re in good shape. You should absolutely avoid any popular clip-art artwork or generic symbols like a globe, star, or similar icons that people too easily identify from other places. These are easily forgotten at first glance. The more creative you are at this stage, the better your final logo. Your logo is what your consumers will remember the most. Be honest in this artwork.
Colors can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. You need to include color with your logo, but be selective on which colors you use. Be mindful of current color trends already being used today and in your target market. As a general rule, don’t choose more than three colors. Choose a color or group of colors that will make you stand out from your competition. But please, for the love of marketing, don’t use the whole rainbow!

4. Test Your Top Sketches With Your Buyer Persona

Once you’ve got a handful of different sketches on paper, take a step back and pick the top three concepts. Don’t think too hard about this — consider the designs your eyes keep going back to, and select them to show to others.

Share these drafts with your friends, family members, and a colleague you trust. If possible, bring these sketches to someone who best fits your buyer persona — or your ideal customer profile. This gives you the most productive opinion on your artwork because it can indicate how customers will receive your brand — not just the people close to you.

Be prepared for honest feedback and don’t take any negative comments personally. These criticisms will only make your final logo better. Use their feedback to select one final concept to develop into a design.

5. Refine Your Chosen Sketch

Congratulations, you’re well on your way to having an awesome logo! Once you’ve identified a sketch to run with, it’s time to refine it and perfect the story you started with in Step 1.

To begin refining your logo, look back at the terms you identified when you first used Thesaurus.com in Step 2. Now look at your chosen sketch and ask yourself: Which terms does this sketch not yet capture? Use them to develop your sketch further, and add back the traits you liked best about the designs you didn’t end up choosing for refinement.

6. Develop Your Logo’s Layout on a Free Design Platform

Now, it’s time to get technical and turn your paper drawing into a usable digital format. To bring this design to life, you have many free design platforms available to recreate your sketch in digital format. Here are a few free solutions:

The platforms above can help you put your sketched logo in digital format, but bringing your concept to life for a business audience requires a bit of technical direction. One of the most important things to get right is the layout. Make sure all of your text and shapes are perfectly spaced and the logo itself is aligned with its surroundings.

Your logo doesn’t have to be symmetrical, but it should be aligned in different contexts. Chances are, you will encounter situations when your logo sits against different vertical and horizontal borders, and it should appear even with these surroundings no matter how you might repurpose your logo and where you might publish it.

7. Pick Versatile Color Options

Your logo’s color scheme might look great against the color of the canvas on which you designed it, but eventually, your logo will be placed on backgrounds whose colors you didn’t start with.

Let’s revisit our Coca-Cola example from Step 1. As you can see below, the company’s logo can work across any colored can it sells.

Always be sure to have logo color variations for both dark and light backgrounds. That might mean only having to change the color of your font. Or, in some cases, you might have to change the color of your entire logo.

Create one of each option to make sure you’re prepared when ordering promotional products that will display your logo. T-shirts, stickers, notepads, and coffee mugs are just a few of the many items for which you’ll have different color variations of your logo.

8. Choose a Font

This is the time to combine text with imagery. If you’re chosen sketch is primarily a shape or symbol, rather than text, begin to factor in the written name of your company. Consider the typeface this text will carry if your company name ever stands on its own without the symbol.

Believe it or not, your font choice can say a lot about your business. You can choose a font that’s either serif (with stems on each letter) or sans serif (no stems) — also known as classic or modern, respectively.

Stay away from generic fonts that come standard on every word processor. Some examples of generic fonts are Times New Roman, Lucida Handwriting, and Comic Sans. These fonts will only work against you and your company by making you less memorable.

9. Ensure Scalability

Logos are meant to represent your company on multiple platforms — in print, on your website, on each of your social media business pages, and across the internet as your business grows. You want a logo that can be blown up super large for a billboard, but also scaled down for screening onto the side of a pen.

Every part of your logo should be legible, regardless of the logo’s size.

Whew — still with us? We know this might seem a little overwhelming, but take it slow and don’t rush yourself. It’s better to follow the process through to completion and end with a remarkable brand than to start over a few months later due to a design error or change of heart.

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Song/Album Artwork

If you need a cover artwork you can purchase one here or do it yourself.

How to Make Your Own Album Cover in 3 Steps

The recording is done. You’ve mixed every song. And you’re done mastering. Perfect!

Time to distribute your music right?

Hang on… There’s still one more important step! And it’s just as creative as the rest of your workflow: Your song, album or mixtape cover art.

It makes sense—you spend enough time honing your music and probably don’t have time to become a Photoshop wiz too.

We put together this quick guide on how to create your album/song cover online for free — including where to find free photos, album cover templates and how to use online photo editors to make it your own.

1. Start with free images

The first step is finding royalty free images to work with. Just like audio samples, your album artwork has to be copyright cleared to use.

Many free image resources provide royalty free photos that you can download, edit, remix, chop up and mix to make album artwork that’s all your own.

Here’s some royalty free image resources:

Canva

Canva goes way beyond a simple stock photo resource (but it’s that too). It’s also a full featured editing suite to edit your images, add text, change fonts and basically do all the stuff you need to do before you release.

Their free online album cover maker will get you started on the right foot when it comes to adding visuals to your release.

Use any of the photos or layout templates for free, anytime. Just signup with your email for access (more than worth it for what they offer).

Free Images

Just like the URL says, Free Images is a giant site of over 600,000 (you guessed it) free images.

Browse by collection or keywords to find the perfect image.

Note: Some of the images included are from the paid service iStock, but a lot of the search results are free to use and cleared to go without paying any fees.

Free Photos

Free Photos bundles photos from several other free photo resources all in one place to make browsing and finding the right image quick and simple.

Like every other resource on this list, the images on Free Photos are 100% royalty-free for personal or commercial use.

Take the time to find the right visual and tweak it to make it your own.

Stocksnap

Stocksnap provides another extensive database of high-quality images all covered under the CC0 license.

Which means they’re all good to go for your album art.

Find all kinds of album art inspiration via search, tags, or categories, edit them to fit your vision and you’re ready to go.

Pxhere

Pxhere is another CC0 stock photo gallery great for finding starting points for your album art.

Search by tag or keyword, or if you’re really stuck use the helpful random tool to generate some ideas to get you started.

2. Edit your image to make it your own

Your album art is the visual representation of your music on all streaming platforms and stores, so you need to take time to make it unique.

Your album art needs to represent you and your music. Don’t just settle for the first raw image you find.

Every image from each of these resources isn’t just free to download, they’re free to edit too… So edit them!

You don’t have to be a top notch designer either.

Here’s some online image editing tools:

Use them to collage several images together, change the colors, add some layers and overlay your album title and artist name with a font you like.

It’s completely up to you.

Every image from each of these resources isn’t just free to download, they’re free to edit too… So edit them!

Your album art needs to represent you and your music. Don’t just settle for the first raw image you find.

Take the time to find the right visual and tweak it to make it your own.

3. Album cover size and specifications

To distribute your music to Spotify, Apple Music and ever other major streaming platform, your album art has to fit some criteria.

Follow these guidelines and you’ll be good to go when it comes time to release:

Album cover size:

Minimum 3000 x 3000 pixels
A square
Minimum 72 DPI
JPG or PNG format

Album cover specs:

No blurriness or pixelation
No URLs, hashtags or handles
No pornographic images
No references to brands

Use the image editing tools I mentioned above and your album art will be all set when it comes time to release your music.

The finishing touch

Your album art matters.

These tools and tips will give you everything you need to make something meaningful and appealing in no time flat.

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Vevo

Submit your VEVO video via the Upload Video Form in FORMS (at least 2 weeks prior to release date).

You need at least 3 songs released with SONO in order to be eligible for a VEVO channel.

SONO Music VEVO

HD video spec:

Compression Type: H.264
File Format: .mov or .mp4
Dimensions: 1920×1080. Note: 16:9 and 4:3 are preferred aspect ratios. Providing alternate aspect ratios risks letterboxing, scaling and stretching of content to fit target aspect rations.
Frame Rate: Minimum 29.97 fps (preferred) or higher.
Bit Rate: We recommend that you restrict your video bitrate to a minimum of 24mb/s. This will help you cut down on file size, lengthy encoding, exporting and file transfer times. Bit Rate should not exceed 50mb/s.
File must be de-Interlaced (Please, no interlacing)
Multi-pass encoding is recommended, but not required.
Please export all encodes using Compressor or Quicktime. We cannot support editing program artifacts such as “edit lists” or “zero offsets” embedded in the files.
Do not send anamorphic content. All content display and pixel aspect ratios should be the same.
Do not include front or end slates (displaying metadata), title or end cards, bars and tones, etc.

Audio

Format: AAC
Channels: Stereo (L R)
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz
Bit Rate: 320 kbps CBR

4K video spec:

Compression Type: H.264
File Format: .mov or .mp4
Dimensions: 3840×2160. Note: 16:9 and 4:3 are preferred aspect ratios. Providing alternate aspect ratios risks letterboxing, scaling and stretching of content to fit target aspect rations.
Frame Rate: Minimum 29.97 fps (preferred) or higher.
Bit Rate: We recommend that you restrict your video bitrate to a minimum of 24mb/s. This will help you cut down on file size, lengthy encoding, exporting and file transfer times. Bit Rate should not exceed 50mb/s.
File must be de-Interlaced (Please, No Interlacing)
Multi-pass encoding is recommended, but not required.
Please export all encodes using Compressor or Quicktime. We cannot support editing program artifacts such as “edit lists” or “zero offsets” embedded in the files.
Do not send anamorphic content. All content display and pixel aspect ratios should be the same.
Do not include front or end slates (displaying metadata), title or end cards, bars and tones, etc.

Audio

Format: AAC
Channels: Stereo (L R)
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz or 48 kHz
Bit Rate: 320 kbps CBR

Press

How to write a music press release

MAKE IT EASY FOR THE RECIPIENT

This overshadows just about every other point I’m going to make.

It’s important to understand that music bloggers could receive hundreds (or more) emails and press releases in a single day. So get to the point quickly, make sure all the essential info is easy to read, recognise and reach with one or two clicks.

If they’re interested in your news, some busy music bloggers may simply copy and paste chunks of your press release into a new post without even contacting you, so keep this in mind too when you come to write it.

GRAB THEIR ATTENTION WITH THE SUBJECT LINE

An exciting, interesting, irresistible subject line can be the difference between your email getting opened or ignored.

Generally, Awesome Band Releases New Single is not a compelling subject line. But you can make it interesting by adapting your pitch.

Are you heading out on tour? Supporting a well-known band? Does your track tackle a thought-provoking issue? Do you have an interesting music video? Have you collaborated with any well-known artists or producers? Make your subject line memorable enough to grab the receiver’s attention and compel them to read it.

Make sure your email stands out in a crowded inbox.

DON’T SEND ATTACHMENTS

Downloading attachments from someone you don’t know is risky, so in many cases, your email might simply be deleted if any files are attached.

Rather than attaching it, copy your press release into the body of the email and include links to your tracks on a well-known streaming platform (Soundcloud, YouTube, Spotify).

If your music isn’t officially out yet, don’t attach an MP3 file. Instead, create a private Soundcloud link or unlisted YouTube video so you can share it with a select number of people in advance of your release date.

You can create a private Soundcloud link by selecting ‘private’ on the Basic Info tab of the platform’s track uploader. The orange padlock indicates that the track is private.

Alternatively, it’s easy to set up an unlisted YouTube video. Just select ‘unlisted’ when uploading your vid.

INCLUDE LINKS TO YOUR WEBSITE, PRESS SHOTS & SOCIALS

Remember, it’s all about making it easy for the person receiving your press release. Did I mention that?

So, make sure to include direct links to your social media pages, website and a folder of press shots. That way, bloggers don’t need to spend their time searching for you online to tag you in posts or find a decent picture of you for their featured image. It’s worth setting up a Dropbox or Google Drive link with all of your essential assets – pictures, logos and a longer artist bio.

ADD A PERSONAL TOUCH

This isn’t a universal rule, but sometimes adding a brief, personal message to the email above your press release is a nice way to engage and build a potential relationship with the recipient. It doesn’t need to be an essay, just a quick hello, perhaps including their name and the title of their blog to show you’re genuinely aware of who you’re emailing.

MUSIC PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE

Personal touch (Optional)

Hi [Blogger Name], I think this/my band would fit great on [Site Name]. Hope you get chance to check them/us out.

Heading, Image & Music

Awesome Band announces Cool Band support slot and debut release.

**Main Press Shot**

Listen here // Watch here // Get tickets

Paragraph 1 – The pitch

This is where you should get the main point across, elaborate on your heading and let the reader know the specifics.

Paragraph 2 – Important info

Here’s your chance to add a little more colour and show why your music should be featured. Explain your new release, tour or other news in more detail and let the reader know why this is worth their time.

Paragraph 3 – Artist bio

Let the reader know a little more about you with a brief bio and overview of your music, history, influences, style etc.

Paragraph 4 – Endorsements / quotes

“This is the best band ever” Joe Blogs, Music Mag

“I really love this band, honest” Jane Journo, Another Music Mag

You could also include a direct quote from yourself or the artist here about the music, upcoming tour or any other focus of the press release.

Sign off – Contact details / Website, press kit & social links

Please contact awesomeband@gmail.com for interviews, guest list and further info.

Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Press Kit

TikTok Tips

Optimise your artist profile

For campaigns where you are looking to grow your audience via TikTok, the first recommendation is to set-up a profile for the artist and start posting video content to the platform on a regular basis.

Establish Yourself

Create your profile with a recognisable handle and image and link your account to Twitter & YouTube.

Define Your Strategy

Engage with the platform as a user and embed yourself within the community. Find your main creative focus before you start engaging with influencers.

Create A Regular Schedule

Stay at the top of the feed with regular videos.

Use the correct hashtags and take part in as many challenges as you can to grow your following.

Engage With Your Audience

Watch, react and engage with users’ content to build a deeper connection & get your profile in front of more people.

Collaborate with other creators/users using the duet feature.

Switch to a PRO Account

What is a PRO account?

Pro accounts are accessible to all users and can be enabled directly on each profile via the TikTok App. Enabling this provides access to analytics for all of your posts via the settings page.

Similar to Instagram Creator accounts, the TikTok analytics dashboard can show you insights into your overall audience and performance of your content.

In order to convert your TikTok profile to a Pro account, follow these steps.

1. Open App, go to “Me”

2. Click the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner (this brings you to settings).

3. Click “Manage My Account”

4. Navigate to the bottom of the screen and select “Switch to Pro Account.”

5. Follow all the prompts to complete the process…

Useful Information

The analytics will start recording the data after you’ve switched to a PRO account and won’t display any historic data
You’ll need to wait up to 7 days for your account to generate enough data to start displaying insights
Tip: publish as much TikTok content as possible during this period so you can get deeper insights

3 main categories of analytics

Profile overview
shows how well your profile is performing overall
includes total video views, profile views & follower count
Tip: use the profile overview data to interpret a funnel of users, starting with people who begin to consume your content through to those who become engaged followers. This allows you to estimate your conversion rate from your total videos views to users who visit your profile and the conversion rate of those who actually followed your profile. This will help you prepare an effective content strategy.
Content insights
total views of each video from the past 7 days
reveals which of your videos have been trending on the For You page and total number of views those videos have accrued throughout the process
Tap on the post thumbnail to open it’s unique dashboard for analytics per post for total likes/comments/shares, play time, video views, average watch time, traffic source types and audience territories.
Tip: compare the territory engagement for individual posts to your overall audience territories in the followers tab. If different forms of content resonate with new audiences from different locations, double down on creating similar content in those territories.
Follower insights
A top-line view of your audience demographics
gender split and % breakdown of your audience by location

Best practices corner

The Basics

Consistent username across all platforms
Short and relevant description. Make sure it’s obvious to users that you’re an artist
Connect to your Instagram & YouTube channel
Get a Pro Account
The ideal runtime for a video is 10-17 seconds.

What’s Important

Consistency
Authenticity
Community integration
Personality, people don’t want a sales pitch

Content Strategy

Native content
Not overly-produced (but good lighting is a must!)
Incorporate trending sounds, memes, challenges, hashtags
Duet and react to UGC and comments
Collaborate with others on the platform
Grow your artists profile with a combination of influencer collabs, ads and your consistent & creative content strategy

Use your music and the songs you love to create engaging and original videos. Think about all the aspects of your work, from shooting behind the scenes to events, shows and recording sessions.

Users love authentic and personal videos so share a moment of your life and what you’re passionate about.

Your personality and creativity is what keeps users coming back to your content. A sense of humour can help showcase your unique perspective. Tiktok has an incredible, diverse community that

reinterpret and embrace trends and challenges. Give users the flexibility to repackage your content through their own unique lens.

Every video has an opportunity to go viral on TikTok, without having to worry about posting schedules or cadences. One amazing video per day beats multiple average attempts.

You never know which types of content will resonate with your audience, so be sure to experiment. We encourage a mix of original concepts, trends, challenges, and incorporating popular sounds.

True success comes from actively using the platform and understanding the community. Be sure to use the app as an individual, and build from there.

Participate in trending and upcoming hashtags and campaigns. Find them on the Discover page, in newsletters for TikTok Creators and official TikTok accounts: @tiktok, @tiktok_UK, @tiktok_(your country)

Encourage viewers to watch more. Mention that you’re on TikTok on other platforms (IG, YT etc). Share your TikTok videos on other

platforms. React to and engage with comments from followers.

Collaborate and Co-create. Follow and collaborate with other popular creators and artists and expand your network.

Vertical & Mobile First. All videos should be shot or edited for vertical viewing on mobile to embrace the full-screen and authentic experience.

Organic Before Paid. Establish your profile and content strategy before reaching out to us to organise a TikTok influencer campaign.

Access: Amazon Music for Artists

Start here: https://artists.amazonmusic.com/

Amazon Music for Artists is available on both web and mobile.

Once the app is open, you will be directed to sign-in using an Amazon retail account.

If you do not have an Amazon retail account, you will need to create one in order to continue going through the sign-up and artist claim flow.

To claim an artist:
– Search and select any artist
– Press Claim This Artist
– Fill out the requested application fields. Amazon also provide the option for anyone to connect with their artist’s social media accounts for faster verification
– The more information you are able to provide, the easier it will be to verify your relationship to the artist you are claiming

Adding a team-member:
– Anyone with either Owner or Admin access can add another person to their team by navigating to Settings in the upper right hand of the app from any artist page
– From there, select “Manage Team Members” and click on “Add Team Member”
– You’ll be promoted to enter the invitee’s information including name, email, and assign level of app access (Admin or Viewer)

More information on the app and available stats: https://artists.amazonmusic.com/the-app

Update Artist Image + Banner

Start here: https://artists.amazonmusic.com/

Step by step:

If accessing Amazon Music for Artists on iOS/Android:
– Select the artist you want to manage
– Tap the Profile icon in the bottom right hand corner
– Under Profile & Tools, customize both your Profile Photo and Background Image using their respective edit buttons
– Choose image
– Resize your image to look your best
– Tap Save

If accessing Amazon Music for Artists via web browser:
– Select the artist you want to manage
– Click Profile & Tools under Artist Tools in the left side bar
– Under Profile Details, customize both your Profile Photo and Background Image using the editing tools
– Choose Image
– Resize your image to look your best
– Click Save

Twitch x Amazon Music

Start here: https://artists.amazonmusic.com/

To link your Twitch channel, login to Amazon Music for Artists followed by:
– Click on Profile & Tools within your artist account
– Select Connect your Twitch Channel
– Sign-in using your Twitch credentials to authorize Twitch livestreams in the Amazon Music streaming app
– If you do not have a Twitch account, click About and Get Started with Twitch
– Please note it may take up to 3 hours to connect your channel.

Amazon Music's Service Tiers

Amazon Music’s service is broken down into several tiers. These are broken down below:

1. Amazon Music Unlimited
– A paid service similar to Apple Music or Spotify Premium. Amazon Music Unlimited offers on-demand access to 70 million songs, ad-free. This premium service includes offline listening with unlimited skips, popular new releases, and an even wider variety of hand-curated playlists and stations. Eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers may upgrade to Amazon Music HD for no extra cost.

2. Amazon Music HD
– Amazon Music HD offers 70 million lossless, uncompressed CD-quality tracks and over 7 million Ultra HD tracks.
– HD tracks have a bit depth of 16-bits and a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. HD tracks support bitrates up to double that of MP3 (48kbps to 320kbps), meaning HD includes music that are “CD Quality”.
– Ultra HD (or UHD) tracks have a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate of 44.1 or higher, up to 192 kHz. UHD represents the highest quality sound available, and supports bitrates that can go more than ten times higher than MP3 files.
– This service is currently available in US, UK, DE, JP, CA, ES, FR, AT.

3. Prime Music
– More than 2 million songs (curated by Amazon Music’s editorial team) are available as part of a Prime membership at no additional cost, including thousands of stations and top playlists.

4. Amazon Music Free
– Amazon Music also offers an ad-supported tier of 2 million songs, providing free streaming to anyone using the Amazon Music app on iOS, Android, Fire TV and Amazon Music on the web in the US, UK, and Germany.
– This is effectively the same catalog that comes with Prime, only it includes advertising and doesn’t require a membership.

Update Artist Image, Banner, Image Gallery

Images you are able to edit:

Avatar image: Your image in search results and the Spotify mobile app.
Header image: The cover image at the top of your profile in the Spotify desktop app.
Image gallery: Images in the About section of your profile.

For best results Spotify recommends:
– .jpeg or .png Image format
– A minimum of 2660px x 1140px size
– File size below 20MB
– Artist’s face in the middle of the image for circle cropping
– No text, branding or advertising.
– No promoting your social media links or releases.

Avatar Image:
– Go to Profile
– Click the pencil icon in the top-right
– Under Avatar image, click UPDATE

Note: Search images normally take 24 – 72 hours to update.

Header Image:
– Log in to artists.spotify.com
– Go to Profile
– Click the pencil icon in the top-right
– Under Header image, click UPDATE

Image Gallery:
Add, remove, or reorder images in your image gallery. You can add up to 125 images.

Web browser
– Go to Profile
– Click ABOUT
– Click the pencil icon next to Image gallery

App
– Tap the profile icon in the bottom-right
– Scroll down to About
– Tap EDIT next to About

Access: Spotify for Artists

Start here: artists.spotify.com

Spotify for Artists lets you:
– See your audience stats
– Promote your music
– Manage your artist profile

When an artist profile is claimed, a blue verification check mark will appear next to the artist name on Spotify.

Claiming before your first release goes live?
Ask your SONO contact for your artist link or URI. It’ll start spotify.com/artist or spotify:artist.

When you claim your artist profile, paste your artist link or URI in the “What profile are you claiming?” page.

Artist Pick

Artist Pick lives at the top of your artist profile.

Use Artist Pick to showcase:
– Any song, album, or playlist
– Your concerts
– Podcast shows or individual episodes

You can personalize your Pick with an image and short message.

Note: You can’t add a podcast as your Artist Pick in the Spotify for Artists mobile app.

Tip: When possible, your Artist Pick shouldn’t be your artist’s latest release, instead try posting an Artist Playlist featuring the latest release at the top of the playlist

Remember:
– An Artist Pick shows for up to 14 days
– After 14 days, your Pick disappears (but you can update it any time)
– If Artist Pick shows a tour, it displays until the day after the last show

Step by step:
– Log in to Spotify for Artists
– Go to Profile
– Select + under Artist Pick

Tip: If you can’t find what you’re looking for, paste a link from the Spotify app.

Artist Playlists

Artist Playlists are a great way to showcase your artist’s personality and tastes during any given campaign. It’s also a great way to feature a latest release (see Artist Pick section).

You can feature any playlist on an artist profile including an official Spotify playlist your music’s been added to.

Step by step:
– Make the playlist in your personal account using the Spotify app
– Add playlists to your profile

Add playlists to your profile:

Web browser:
– Go to Profile
– Click the pencil icon next to Artist Playlists
– Search for the playlist or paste a Spotify link

App:
– Tap the profile icon in the bottom-right
– Next to Artist Playlists tap EDIT
– Tap + Add Playlist
– Search for the playlist or paste a Spotify link

Note: Spotify currently does not verify (see: blue check mark) user accounts

Note: The playlist will show your personal account and link to it. You can add a display name on your account to match your artist name.

Release Radar

Release Radar is a playlist of new releases that updates every Friday. It’s an excellent source for early streams, especially if the Artist has a significant Follower count.

Listeners get new music from:
– Artists they follow
– Artists they listen to
– Other artists dictated by Spotify’s algorithm

Your followers get songs from your new release in their Release Radar.

Please note:
– Spotify will not include a song in a listener’s Release Radar if they’ve already listened to it (but another song from the release may get included)
– Only songs where you’re a main or featured artist (not remixer) are included
– Song’s by Various Artists are not eligible for Release Radar
– Re-releases of songs already on Spotify are not included
– Each listener only gets one song per artist per week
– Spotify will include a song for up to 4 weeks if a listener hasn’t heard it

Merch

When it comes to showing merch on an artist profile, Spotify has partnered with Merchbar to facilitate this.

To show merch on your artist profile, you need to list it on Merchbar.

If your team or merch company already has a partnership with Merchbar, ask them to make your merchandise available.

You can list up to 3 products from Merchbar on a Spotify artist page. If you have more than 3 products on Merchbar, your artist profile shows the top 3 products based on fan interactions, purchases, and product availability.

How to join Merchbar: https://help.merchbar.com/hc/en-us/signin?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fhelp.merchbar.com%2Fhc%2Fen-us%2Fsections%2F360007841693-Merchbar-for-Artists-Merch-Companies#how-to-sign-up

Artist Fundraising Pick

Add an Artist Fundraising Pick to your profile to raise funds from fans on Spotify. Fundraise for yourself, your crew and team, or causes and organizations you support.

Note: Spotify does not take a cut from any money raised.

Adding a Fundraising Pick:
– Log in to artists.spotify.com
– Go to Profile
– Under Artist Fundraising Pick, click + Get support directly from fans
– Fill in the Fundraising Pick submission form and click AGREE AND SUBMIT

Editing or removing a Fundraising Pick:
– Log in to artists.spotify.com
– Go to Profile
– Click the pencil icon next to Artist Fundraising Pick

Artist Fundraising Pick best practices: https://artists.spotify.com/blog/best-practices-for-the-artist-fundraising-pick

Note: A fundraising link must be through an approved partner.

Fundraising link partners: https://artists.spotify.com/help/article/getting-a-fundraising-link?category=artist-profile

Concert Listing

To show your concerts on Spotify, they need to be listed on one of Spotify’s ticketing partner sites:
– Ticketmaster
– Songkick
– Resident Advisor
– Eventbrite
– AXS
– StageIt
– NoCap
– Mandolin
– nugs.net
– Eplus (Japan only)

Note: use the Artist Pick function to create visibility gigs and tours!

For Virtual Events: only virtual events listed on Ticketmaster, Songkick, StageIt, NoCap, Mandolin, and nugs.net.

All concert listings need to include:
– At least 1 artist name
– Start time
– Venue name
– Event name

Spotify will also list festivals. Make sure your artist is linked to the festival on the ticketing partner site. Events with fewer than 6 artists show the artist names as the event title instead of the festival name. Multi-day festivals show the first day as the event date (e.g. a festival running Friday to Sunday shows as a Friday event).

Access: Apple Music For Artists

Start here: https://artists.apple.com/

Artists can claim their Apple Music for Artist profile page to upload and change the profile photos associated with the artist page for Apple Music and iTunes as well as gained access to a variety of stats across Apple Music and Shazam.

How to claim an artist page in the iOS app:
– Sign in to the Apple Music for Artists app with your Apple ID
– Download the Apple Music for Artists app, or create an Apple ID if you have not already
– Tap Request Artist Access, and copy and paste your iTunes Store artist page link to search. To find the link to your artist page, input your artist name in the search field
– Select one of your albums to ensure you are claiming the correct page
– Choose your role, then fill out the requested application fields
– For faster verification, sign in to your social media accounts. The more information you provide, the easier it will be to verify your relationship to the artist

How to claim your artist page on the web:
– Sign up for Apple Music for Artists and create an Apple ID if you have not already
– Click Request Artist Access, and copy and paste your iTunes Store artist page link to search. To find the link to your artist page, input your artist name in the search field
– Select one of your albums to ensure you are claiming the correct page
– Choose your role, then, fill out the requested application fields.
– For faster verification, sign in to your social media accounts. The more information you provide, the easier it will be to verify your relationship to the artist

How to check your application:
– When your artist claim is in review, you will see the status ”Pending” in Apple Music for Artists. You will receive updates regarding your application via email.

Next steps:
Manage access to your page
– It’s up to the Artist’s team to review all additional access requests for your label reps, management, and others who might work on projects with you. Artists and artist managers with Administrator access are responsible for reviewing additional access requests.

If you are a label representative looking to join an artist’s Apple Music for Artists profile, work directly with your artist to review your request. Requests will expire after 30 days if artists or artist managers take no action.

Shazam

Shazam data is incorporating into Apple Music for Artists.

By seeing how listeners discover your music in all parts of the world, you can plan social media activity, promotions, and even live shows to connect with your growing audience.

How to see your Shazam data:
– If you have a song that’s been Shazamed, Apple Music for Artists will incorporate that data throughout your artist profile.
– In the Overview section, you can view key metrics such as Shazam Insights and Top Shazams.
– Trends show detailed demographics about your Shazam listeners. In contrast, Places show which countries or regions Shazam you the most.

Charting on Shazam:
– A Shazam chart will appear in your artist profile when you have a top Shazam track in a country, region, or city. The chart data updates every 24 hours and will display your track’s position and movement on the chart in a given country, region, or city in the last seven days.
– Select a specific song to see every country, region, or city chart that the track appears. To see the Top Charts for your Top Songs, click See All in the Charting on Shazam section of Overview of Your Music.

Trending on Shazam:
– When your music is trending on Shazam, we’ll send you a weekly Trending on Shazam email with your highlights. For more detailed information about this email, review how to control your communications.

When does a Shazam count toward my songs?
– Whenever someone Shazams your songs, you will see it counted as a Shazam in your Apple Music for Artists profile.

Because Shazam listens to a piece of audio from a song to recognize it, there may be times when that piece of audio happens to be identical to one from a different version of the same song. For example, an original version of a song and a remix version of that same song, often include audio pieces that are the same. In these cases, the Shazam will count toward the version of your song that is determined to be the best match, which is why you may see variations in the number of Shazams across different versions of the same tracks.

Apple will process the Shazam data shown in Apple Music for Artists and the Shazam app on different systems and schedules. For this reason, you may see a difference in the Shazams shown on the Apple Music for Artists dashboard when compared to the Shazam app.

Update Artist Image

If you have access to your Artist’s Apple Music for Artists profile, you can update the profile image following the steps and criteria below.

If you do not have access to Apple Music for Artists, please contact your FUGA rep who can assist you.

Step by step:
– Open Apple Music for Artists and navigate to the Manage tab
– In the section labeled Artist Image, you can upload a new image
– Once the image is uploaded, you can adjust, crop, and select how it will appear on the service
– When finished, select Submit

Note: Your image won’t appear changed because there is a manual approval process for new changes in place. Changes typically take a few days to process. Once you see “Submitted for Review”, you know the process is underway.

For best results Apple Music recommends:
– .jpeg or .png Image format
– A minimum of 2400px x 2400px
– Aspect Ratio of 1:1
– RGB color space
– 72dpi
– File size below 20MB
– Keeping Artist’s face in the middle of the image for circle cropping
– No text, branding or advertising
– Not promoting social media links or releases

Note: Don’t scale up your artwork if it’s smaller than the required size, this will only distort the image quality.

Note: “Artist Banners” are a feature reserved for “featured artists” only at this time.

Pre-Adds

If you are scheduling an album campaign in the immediate future, please consider a Pre-Add on Apple Music.

Available with just a tap, Apple Music pre-adds allows fans and listeners to add music from an upcoming release to their library or playlists without missing a beat. Pre-adders are notified the moment your album is available, allowing them to stream and share your music immediately.

If you need assistance setting up a Pre-Add, contact SONO support who can work with you to ensure your songs meet the pre-add specifications for Apple Music.

Access: Deezer Creators

Start here: creators.deezer.com

Deezer Creators lets you:
– See your audience & catalogue stats
– Manage your artist profiles

Create your profile by following the steps using the attached guide.

In order to claim an artist profile on Deezer: https://support.deezer.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360018607978-Claiming-an-artist-profile-on-Deezer

New artist / first release profile update?
You can request an initial first change using the Artist Profile Update form under the Forms section.

If you cannot locate your artist profile on the request use the artist ID number displayed in your Deezer URL (example: https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/1234567)

Note: remember to use “support@fuga.com” as your distributor email.

Update Artist Profile

For best results Deezer recommends:
– .jpeg or .png image format
– 1200x1200px minimum
– File size below 9MB
– Artist’s face in the middle of the image for circle cropping
– No text, branding or advertising
– No promoting your social media links or releases

Your Profile Picture is the image that will appear in search results as well as the Deezer mobile app.

To update Profile Image:
– Search for the Artist Profile
– Select “Change Profile Picture”

Status:
Share a “status” directly from your artist page to present a short news update or anecdote. 64 characters maximum, emojis allowed!
Note: Status is displayed on top of Artist profile only on web & desktop app

Bio:
Add your artist bio in more than 30 languages (2000 characters max)

Socials:
Deezer allows you to display your Facebook + Twitter accounts
Update the links using the fields available in the Social section

Artist Playlist

Artist Playlists are a great way to showcase your artist’s personality and tastes during any given campaign. It’s also a great way to feature a recent release

You can feature any playlist on an artist profile including an official Deezer playlist your music has been added to

Step by step:
– Make the playlist in your personal account using Deezer
– Add playlists to your profile

Add playlists to your profile:

Web browser:
– Go to Deezer Creators
– Go to the artist profile
– Click the cross icon next to Highlights
– Search for the playlist name or paste the ID using the numbers at the end of the URL
– Select territory visibility & live date
– Click Create

Note: new releases, during their first 30 days, will be prioritized over any highlighted piece of content

Note: The playlist will show your personal account and link to it. You can add a display name on your account to match your artist name.

Feed-Delivering Content

This is the preferred means of distributing your content on SoundCloud, done in the same way that you would to other DSPs, and ensures that your content is monetized upon delivery and will go live at store turn. This is the simplest & most seamless option.

Important notes about delivering:

Any tracks delivered via SONO will be automatically set to monetize and go live at store turn. SoundCloud also supports timed releases, which can be set-up in SONO Music Upload form
When setting up releases, we recommend adding your artists’ SoundCloud profiles in the Artist IDs section to help map content to the proper profile.
If the content still seems to have not mapped to your artists profile & created a new profile instead (for example, the release is not visible in your artists’ backend tracklist 2-3 days after delivery), a profile merge request can easily be made to transfer the content to the correct profile and fix any mapping issues going forward.

Common Misconceptions:

It is often misunderstood that distributing content via the feed means it will only be available as a 30-second snippet in territories where SoundCloud’s ad-supported tier has not been launched. However, that is only true if the profile is associated with a rightsholder who has restrictive policies in place in those territories. If SONO is the only rightsholder linked to the artist profile, the track will be available in full globally, generating ad-supported revenue.

Editorial Opportunities

To have your content submitted for editorial consideration at DSPs, including SoundCloud, please be sure to submit the Music Upload form within the Forms section.

In addition to its existing network of global playlists, SoundCloud has begun to expand its editorial offerings to include more locally-focused genre playlisting, starting in the UK with plans to add other major markets in the coming months. This is in addition to localized Fresh Pressed (new music) playlists available for US, UK, DE, FR, CA.

Please keep in mind, to be considered for these features, your content must be monetizing using the methods we have laid out in within this resource guide.

Overview

Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that can be used for remixes.

Beatport is a specialized DSP for dance & electronic music ONLY. No other content should be delivered to Beatport.

Best Practices

1. BP EXCLUSIVES

What are the benefits?
→ BP reserve the majority of the most prominent marketing
space on its store for exclusive releases. Including positions
in playlists, such as “Weekend Picks” or “Best of.. “.
→ Exclusive releases are highlighted with a tag and have a
higher price point than non-exclusives.
→ Being the only store to offer a release means it often charts
considerably higher than non-exclusive releases, which may
have sales split across multiple stores. High chart positions
mean prolonged exposure and revenue for your release.
→ Being that Beaport’s main customer base are DJs, sales on
Beatport should be seen as additional promotion alongside
the value of the sale. Chances are, a sale on Beatport means your track making its way into a DJ set or livestream.
→ On average, revenue for exclusive tracks is 5 times higher
than non-exclusives.

How do I set up exclusivity?
→ Exclusivity can be set up via SONO when
delivering your release.
→ Beatport offers the chance for SONO to give us their
releases exclusively, for either 2, 4, 8 weeks. Or lifetime.
→ During that period, the store asks that they are the only
download store with the release. Streaming platforms are ok.

2. PRE-ORDERS

What are the benefits?
→ Pre-orders are a great promotional tool, they can be
shared prior to release and added to smart link URLs.
In addition, be sure to include pre-order links in any
promotional posts in the lead-up to your release. Eg, track
premiers, YouTube, editorial features, etc.
→ They are a great way to give your track or release an extra
boost in the charts, all sales generated within the 28 days
prior to release date will be spread out across the first
week of charting.
→ Top Tip: Pre-orders can also be included in DJ charts (one
of our biggest sales boosters).
→ Top Tip: Including a pre-order link under SoundCloud
snippets is a great way to boost early sales.

How do I set up a Pre-order?
→ Pre-orders can currently be set up to 4 weeks in advance
of the release date.
→ Pre-orders can be arranged by your distributor.
→ A pre-order start date indicates the date at which
customers may begin previewing and pre-purchasing your
tracks; they will be able to download them only after the
release date.
→ Please note, there is currently no way to suppress audio
previews on our pre-orders.

Promote your music

1. ARTIST CHARTS / PLAYLISTS

What are the benefits?

→ Artist charts are a great way to give your new release a boost
on the store, and increase your plays on Beatport LINK: https://link.beatport.com/
→ BP recommends having artists make one for each release
(be sure to include your new release/pre-order in the chart).
→ 10% of monthly track sales come via artist charts.
→ Charts are a great way to extend visibility on the store and
on Beatport LINK, beyond our weekly feature updates. They
can be submitted for featuring on the store via this form: https://btprt.dj/ChartSubmission

How do I make an Artist chart?
→ Artist charts must be made via a customer account
(DJ profile), which can then be linked to your artist profile
by BP’s team.
→ Make sure to also share them out across social platforms.
→ Please note, artist charts must use an artist picture to be
considered for featuring. Charts using release artwork will
not be featured.
→ You can find a guide to making artist / DJ charts here: https://welcome.beatport.com/dj-charts

2. SOCIALS

General Tips
→ Regularly engaging with your fans is key to driving traffic
(e.g, answering comments, re-sharing stories or posts etc.)
→ Do not be afraid to share personal stories and background
information about your releases/label with your followers.
→ Including buy links and/or pre-order links on possible platforms like SoundCloud, YouTube, Instagram etc.
→ Content can be shared across multiple platforms, not
limited to one.
→ If making a new account, choose a simple name. Good practice: Drumcode could be DrumcodeRecs,
DrumcodeRecords or DrumcodeOfficial.

Facebook
→ Post on artist/label page weekly.
→ Share features.
→ Tag @Beatport as well as any other artists or labels involved.
→ Quotes/fun facts about release to raise engagement.
→ Facebook ads – Get familiar with their most up to date business tools, which can be useful for engagement.
→ Top Tip: Avoid words like “Buy” as Facebook reduces the reach of posts with explicit calls to action.

Twitter
→ Tweet regularly about your releases.
→ Tweet any features you receive.
→ Be sure to tag @Beatport as well as any other artists or labels involved.
→ Retweet other labels/artists content, especially when they mention you.
→ Top Tip: Tweetdeck is a great tool for tracking (and pre-scheduling) your tweets, retweets, mentions etc.

Instagram
→ Use release artwork and make a call to action to encourage followers to listen to your release on Beatport.
→ Always tag @Beatport, as well as any other artists or labels involved.
→ Preview tracks with a 15-second teaser video.
→ Always include the link in your bio and be sure to send followers there with something along the lines of “link in bio’”.
→ Use swipe-up posts for new releases, editorial features, etc (if possible).
→ Top Tip: If using stories, organize them into highlights on your homepage.
→ Top Tip: Include relevant hashtags! Check other labels / artists in your genre and find the hashtags they are using, e.g, #electronicmusic, #housemusicallnightlong, etc. (sites like best-hastags.com can search this for you).

Two social media features recommended by Beatport:

Beatport Studio Jams
Guidelines
Pls submit your studio jam here
Platform

Beatport Drop of the Week
Guidelines
Pls submit your Drop Of The Week video here
Platform

Getting Featured

How can I get my releases featured on Beatport?

→ The best way to pitch for features is by keeping SONO up to date with your upcoming releases, we have a dedicated label manager at Beatport with whom we can discuss feature options.

Here are a few tips on what kind of information to include in your pitch:

GOOD:
*3-5 big name DJs supporting your track (please see below in bad for what we do NOT consider good feedback in this regards)
*Links to big name DJs playing your track.
*Magazine and blog premiers.
*Radio coverage.
*A precise marketing plan explaining when and what will be posted where, and any money to be spent is very important.
*If you’re going to post on socials, then social media reach.

BAD:
*DJ feedback that says “downloaded for…..” this for us is not good feedback. For us it means the person listening and downloading the music for said DJs downloaded it, and not that the actual DJ liked the track. For example, Richie Hawtin has a Twitter feed and is showing what tracks that he actually played, this would be good feedback.
*Social media and marketing campaigns listed “as usual”….we need more info than this.
*Sending the full promo campaign sheets, this is too time-consuming for us to read these, we need the good bits from
the promo sheets.

Again, all this will help your feature requests be stronger, but will not guarantee a feature. These are ultimately up to the genre manager.

Curated Feed

Audiomack is a curated service, which means that:

Audiomack will not ingest and make live all products delivered
Audiomack won’t ingest back-catalog unless it’s requested by the DSP or there’s a high demand for the content on the platform
Please do not send any bulk deliveries to the DSP
Audiomack will not accept public domain content

Ingestion Process: Priority Deliveries

In order to get your releases live on Audiomack, SONO will be sharing a weekly priority list with Audiomack each Monday for the release coming up within the next 7 days.

This list will be an essential guide for Audiomack to determine what to ingest.
After the ingestion, SONO will receive a live link from Audiomack. We will be sharing the link with you after receiving them.

The weekly priority list is managed by SONO Marketing Services team. The list will only contain releases that match the following criteria:

Your product will be released within the next 7 days
Your product has been delivered to Audiomack via SONO at least 10 days before the release date
Your product has been submitted to the Marketing Services team at least 10 days before the release date
In general, please submit your priority releases to be promoted to multiple DSPs (Please submit at least 4 weeks before the release date, in order to meet all DSP-editorial deadlines)

Access: Audiomack Artist Accounts

Artists may claim auto-generated Audiomack profiles, allowing them access to the Creator Dashboard, where artists can:

Update their profile, including imagery, bio, social links, etc.
View notifications for playlist adds, milestones, & any content which may be trending on-platform
Respond to fan comments on your music

If there is a profile you would like to claim, please send an email to support@stage.sonomusic.co with the following:

The Audiomack URL of the profile you wish to claim
A valid and unique email address (i.e. a singular email may not be attached to multiple accounts) that the artist would like to use to log into the account

A claim code will then be sent by Audiomack to the email address provided.

Creating AR Effects

AR Effects on Instagram and Facebook are an increasingly important part of your artists’ marketing campaigns. To make the submission and approval process as smooth as possible for you, we’ve created a ‘Cheat Sheet’ for you to follow as you build these Effects.

Before You Submit Your Effect

Does Your Effect Have a Name and an Icon?
Does It Meet Spark AR Guidelines & Policies?
Did You Choose A Category For Your Effect?
Do you have a preview video of your Effect?
Does the Effect meet the frame rate guidelines and file size limits?
If your Effect is a mask, does it obscure facial expressions? (It shouldn’t!)
Did You Do A Final Check of Best Practices to Make Sure Your Effect Is Approved?

The Approval Process For Spark AR Effects

Effects submitted to both Facebook and Instagram are reviewed to make sure they follow:

Spark AR Review Policies
Spark AR and Frame Studio Terms
Facebook Community Standards (if submitting for FB)
Instagram Community Guidelines (if submitting for IG)

If your effect is approved, you will be notified on Facebook and in the Spark AR Hub.

If your effect is rejected, you will be notified and given the reason in the Spark AR Hub. You can edit your effect and submit again.

AR Effect Do’s & Don’ts

Submission

DON’T: Submit your Effect one day before you need it live, and then email your Facebook/Instagram contact requesting an expedited review.

DO: Want your effect to be ready by a certain date? Be sure to submit it for review at least TEN (10) Days prior to your desired date.

Text

If your Effect includes text:

DON’T: Place static text in the screen that does not respond to movements or sound

DO: Make sure your text either responds to movements through the use of face tracking OR is integrated and integral to the design of the Effect; e.g. it’s a timestamp on a camcorder simulation.

Logos

Want to put a Logo in your Effect?

DON’T: Make it static so that it does not respond to movements or sound

DO: Make sure the logo either responds to movements through the use of face tracking OR is integrated and integral to the design of the Effect

Availability

Want your Effect to go live on a specific date and time?

DON’T: Skip the “Location & Schedule” section of the upload process in Spark AR Hub

DO: Control the publication date and time of your effect and the length of time it’s available by adding scheduling details during the upload process.

Masks

Does your Effect include a face mask?

DON’T: Recreate a human face as the mask.

DO: Create an animated face or a caricature of a face as your Effect.

IG Shopping

You must have your products uploaded on the SONO Shop to set up your Instagram Shopping.

Set it up here:

Create Merchandising

What is IG Shopping?

Instagram shopping is a set of features across Instagram that let people shop your photo and videos no matter where they are in the app.

A customisable storefront allowing people to shop directly
Shopping tags allow you to highlight products from your catalog in Stories and in-feed
Product Detail Pages (PDP) showcase all relevant information on an item from the product catalog, including pricing, rich descriptions & media.
PDPs pull in media where the product is tagged on IG so people can see the products being used in different ways
Collections allow you to curate the shopping experience by surfacing products into themes that tell a story in your Profile Shop

What you need before getting started

Review commerce policies & availability
review supported markets
sellers must comply with the Commerce Eligibility Requirements
eCommerce Requirements
Owned eComm site
Set up your Shop
Facebook page to connect your IG account to (you’ll need to be an admin)
Facebook Business Manager
Enables users to manage their business presence
Facebook Commerce Manager
You’ll need to upload product you want to sell through Commerce Manager
Facebook Catalog
You’ll need to upload products you want to sell
Business or Creator profile on IG

Check out our set up guide here.

Commerce Policies & Availability

To onboard to IG Shopping:

You must comply with IG’s policies
Your catalog must contain at least one eligible product available for direct purchase from your domain
Your business must be located in a country where Shopping is supported. To see the full list click here.

What could make my business non-compliant with the new commerce eligibility requirements?

Your domain is already in use by another business
Your IG account doesn’t represent the store or website associated with the domain provided
Your products aren’t compliant with commerce policies
Your IG account is not in an approved market

Types of IG Shopping

Offsite Checkout
Globally available to all supported markets
Checkout on Instagram
US only
select businesses in a closed beta program

eCommerce Requirements

You must have an owned eComm site where you maintain consistency between your products on the site and the products in your IG shop
IG doesn’t support affiliate programs or linking to third party websites.

Set Up Your Shop For Offsite Checkout

Create or update to a business or creator account
To request IG shopping go to settings > business > sign up for shopping
You’ll then be promoted to begin the onboarding flow
Make sure you already have a FB page, business manager & product catalog ready to connect them all to your IG account

Check out our offsite checkout guide here.

Drop Display

IG has a new Drop display that will showcase collections of exclusive product launches, which users can browse and shop in-app. Shoppers can save items to their wishlists and sign up for launch reminders and stock notifications about specific products. IG will curate a select number of collections to appear in Drops each week by choosing from those that are already using the new tool. Labels and artists can also go live to promote a Drop and can include an on-screen countdown sticker and confetti animation when the product launches.

Drop is currently available for users in the US with both android and iOS devices.

Music in Stories

What is music in IG Stories?

Now your fans can add your music to their photos & videos to create a soundtrack to their story

How does it work?

Take a photo or video in the stories camera or upload from gallery then tap on the sticker icon at the top right corner and select the music icon
search for a specific song or browse by mood, genre or what’s popular
Use the scrubber tool to choose the part of the song that best captures the moment you’re sharing
When your fans watch your story, they’ll hear your clip playing over the photo or video and see a sticker with the song title & artist name

IG Stickers

Link Sticker

You can now add a link to your story using a link sticker instead of the previous Swipe Up option.
How it works:
- take or upload a photo or video to add to your story
- navigate to the sticker section
- tape the link sticker and add your link
- place the link sticker on your story and tap it to see other creative options
- after you select an option, share your story
You can also now receive reactions and replies to your link shares from your audience.

Add Yours Sticker

Add Yours creates public threads in Stories.
The sticker prompts users to upload to the public Story and find new people to follow; tapping on the sticker brings up an interface showing everyone who has contributed to the thread, and you can view their Stories.

Chat Sticker

Enables you to create Group chats in Direct, and to answer fans’ questions or simply make your fans’ day by chatting with them.
You can start or end a chat with fans at any time, and also maintain control of your inbox.
How it works:
- Add a chat sticker to your story by selecting it from the sticker tray after taking a photo or video.
- Name your chat. Move, resize and rotate the chat sticker and share to your story.
- You can find people who have requested to join your chat in your story’s viewers list. Accept requests and start chatting. More requests to join will be available in Direct and in your story’s viewers list.
- Once you start your chat, everyone who you’ve approved to join the chat will be added to a thread in Direct. From there, start chatting!

Quiz Sticker

Enables you to ask your fans multiple-choice questions
Easy way to engage with fans, express your creativity, and see how well your followers know you.
It’s also a great way to engage with your fans so they can get to know you better.
How it works:
- Add a quiz sticker to your story from the sticker section after taking a photo or video
- Type your prompt and add up to four possible answers and select the correct answer
- Share it to your story
- You can find your fans’ answers in your story viewers list

Countdown Sticker

This sticker allows you to set a countdown for a special announcement or event so your fans can follow along and be notified when the time comes.
How it works:
- Open the stories camera and tap on the sticker section
- Select the countdown sticker and customize the name e.g. what you’re counting down to and the date/time of the event.
- You can also change the colour of the sticker
- Once added to your story, ask fans to click on the sticker to save the day/time of the countdown

Donation Sticker

Enables eligible nonprofits and their supporters to raise money for charities directly.
To access to Donation feature:
- Before you can start fundraising on Instagram, you must be registered for Facebook’s Charitable Donation Tools .
- Linking your Facebook and Instagram accounts allows you to use fundraising tools on Instagram.
- Make sure to convert your Instagram account to a business account.
How it works:
- Open the camera in Instagram and take or upload a photo that best represents your cause.
- Tap the sticker icon.
- Select the donation sticker in the box.
- Find a non-profit and select it. If you don’t see your organization on the list, it means you’re not yet eligible to use this feature.
- Tap ”Send to”. Next, next to Your story, tap Share.

Q&A Sticker

Artists can now interact with their fans
How does it work?
- Post content capture, go to the stickers button and select ‘questions’
- you will be prompted to create a question or ask for song recommendations
- If you ask for music recommendations, followers will see the music library once they go to respond
- By clicking on the eyeball icon, you’ll be able to see all follower responses to your story
- Choose which response and part of the song you’d like to include while sharing
- Share and make your followers day!
Example: asking what tracks your fans want to see during a live stream or gig

Poll Sticker

Enables you to engage with your followers by asking questions and receiving answers from them.
How does it work?
- Open the stories camera and tap on the sticker section
- Select the “poll” sticker icon.
- Fill in the question for your poll and edit your answer options.
- Tap “Your Story” or “Send To” to share your poll on your stories.
To view the results of your poll, simply view your own story and tap the “Seen by” button in the lower-left corner.
There’s also a “Share Results” button so you can easily share the results of your poll onto your Instagram stories.

Live Rooms

What is IG Live Rooms?

Previously, you could only go live with one additional guest on your Instagram and now you have the ability to go live with up to three additional guests. Artists & creators can now see data on accounts they reach, saves and shares plus the number of peak concurrent viewers for lives i.e. the highest number of people watching at one instance.

Live Insights

In Account Insights, navigate to ‘Content You Shared,’ then tap an individual live to view insights
Accounts Reached, Views, Peak Concurrent Viewers, Comments, and Shares are available for your individual lives
Live Insights will also be included in all Account Insights pages: Accounts Reached, Content Interactions, Top Content, Media Library
Note: Available for all Live videos on or after May 24

How does it work:

First, open the Instagram Camera (swipe left from anywhere) then go live
Tap the new “Rooms” icon (the one that looks like a camcorder), now to the side of your stream
You’ll see people who have requested to go live with you at the top of your screen and can also search for a guest to add
Tap your guest(s) handle(s) to invite them to your Live Room
You can add all 3 guests at once or in a staggered way (for example, you could start with two guests, and add the third later); you can also swap guests at any time.

Some additional features to remember:

Donations: You can still raise money for causes you care about while live.
Shopping and badges: If you’re eligible for these tools, they’ll be available to use during your live.
Notifications: Your followers and the followers of those that join the Live Room will be notified that you are Live, which creates a great opportunity for new eyes on your content.

Improvements to your Live experience:

Comments: Live Comments will default to “On” and appear in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. You can always turn off comments by clicking the “…” and selecting “Turn Off Commenting.”
New Title Display: If you title your live, that title will now be displayed at the top of your broadcast. If a viewer taps the title, they’ll be able to see your username and your guests’ usernames.
Overall “look and feel” changes: You’ll notice that Live has a new look and feel in general –the Camera tool icons have moved, incl: adding a guest, flipping camera, filters, etc. from the bottom of the Live viewer to the sidebar.

Helpful Tips:

Attached HERE is a step by step guide for this feature.
Please review Instagram’s Community Guidelines before your live.
Remember, you can control who can join and comment on your live in Privacy Settings (via Comments & Blocked Accounts). You can always disable comments after your live starts by tapping ‘…’ in the comments field. Comment warnings have been introduced to help keep your live experience safe and positive.

Music Insights

Here is an overview of MIX Insights, located inside Creator Studio. It’s your one-stop shop to see how your music is performing across Facebook’s Family of Apps.

On the left navigation panel in Creator Studio, you’ll see an option for Insights.
Click on Performance under Music. This will take you to Music Insights.
You can then see aggregate metrics and a ranked chart of your tracks, based off of consumption and production data.

Consumption:

The “Unique AL Plays” represents the total Audio Library plays of your music, filtered to the last 7 days, as shown in the far-left dropdown menu. This would, for example, include an Instagram Story someone watched that had a music sticker containing your song.
The “Unique UGC Plays” represents the total User-Generated Content plays of your music which, for example, would include an Instagram Story where one of your songs is playing in the background.

Production:

Here you will see the amount of audio library and user-generated content created using ISRCs you own the rights to.

The “AL Creations” represent the total number of Audio Library posts/stories that incorporate your artists’ music across FB and IG.
The “UGC Audio Creations” represent the number of times your tracks were used in UGC i.e. Reels.

You can filter these metrics by track, date range, sources (aka Facebook products) or territories (aka countries).

Ranked Top Tracks Chart:

This is a list, at the bottom, of your most consumed or produced with songs for both Audio Library and UGC. What is measured as a single consumption is a minimum 3-second play.

Advanced Mode:

To the far-right of the dropdown filters, you’ll see a toggle for Advanced mode. When in Advanced mode, you’ll be able to apply custom date ranges and select multiple sources or select multiple territories to filter the data by. The top tracks list is not currently available in Advanced mode but Facebook’s product teams are working on adding this functionality.

Search Tab

And finally, if you want to look at a particular track, you can use the Search tab to find it.

Create & Optimise Your Artist Profile

For campaigns where you are looking to grow your audience via TikTok, the first recommendation is to set-up a profile for the artist and start posting video content to the platform on a regular basis.

Establish Yourself

Create your profile with a recognisable handle and image and link your account to Twitter & YouTube.

Define Your Strategy

Engage with the platform as a user and embed yourself within the community. Find your main creative focus before you start engaging with influencers.

Create A Regular Schedule

Stay at the top of the feed with regular videos.

Use the correct hashtags and take part in as many challenges as you can to grow your following.

Engage With Your Audience

Watch, react and engage with users’ content to build a deeper connection & get your profile in front of more people.

Collaborate with other creators/users using the duet feature

Switch to a PRO Account

What is a PRO account?

Pro accounts are accessible to all users and can be enabled directly on each profile via the TikTok App. Enabling this provides access to analytics for all of your posts via the settings page.

Similar to Instagram Creator accounts, the TikTok analytics dashboard can show you insights into your overall audience and performance of your content.

In order to convert your TikTok profile to a Pro account, follow these steps.

1. Open App, go to “Me”

2. Click the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner (this brings you to settings).

3. Click “Manage My Account”

4. Navigate to the bottom of the screen and select “Switch to Pro Account.”

5. Follow all the prompts to complete the process…

Useful Information

The analytics will start recording the data after you’ve switched to a PRO account and won’t display any historic data
You’ll need to wait up to 7 days for your account to generate enough data to start displaying insights
Tip: publish as much TikTok content as possible during this period so you can get deeper insights

3 main categories of analytics

Profile overview
- shows how well your profile is performing overall
- includes total video views, profile views & follower count
- Tip: use the profile overview data to interpret a funnel of users, starting with people who begin to consume your content through to those who become engaged followers. This allows you to estimate your conversion rate from your total videos views to users who visit your profile and the conversion rate of those who actually followed your profile. This will help you prepare an effective content strategy.
Content insights
- total views of each video from the past 7 days
- reveals which of your videos have been trending on the For You page and total number of views those videos have accrued throughout the process
- Tap on the post thumbnail to open it’s unique dashboard for analytics per post for total likes/comments/shares, play time, video views, average watch time, traffic source types and audience territories.
- Tip: compare the territory engagement for individual posts to your overall audience territories in the followers tab. If different forms of content resonate with new audiences from different locations, double down on creating similar content in those territories.
Follower insights
- A top-line view of your audience demographics
- gender split and % breakdown of your audience by location

Market Your Music

Even if you aren’t able to create a viral hit on the platform, having a presence and engaging with users on TikTok with help raise the awareness of your artist with a crucial young audience. Capitalise on the advantages of early adoption with a large and highly engaged audience and relatively little competition.

Please note that the Playlists in the Sounds section of the TikTok App are currently not pitchable. However you should actively reach out to your SONO Marketing & Promotions contact if you have tracks that are already gaining traction on the platform, and have specific goals you would like to achieve via TikTok.

Best Practices Corner

Be consistent with posting to aid content discovery. Give your followers a bank of content to look through if they find you on the For You Page.
Mix original trend-led content and creator/fan reposts. Involve your fans with original content by encouraging them to react to it or recreate it.
Create short, digestible videos that hook the audience within the first couple of seconds. You need to show people why they should stop scrolling to watch your video over someone else’s.
Popular Sounds and hashtags can help you get on people’s For You Page. Stick to no more than five hashtags per post. This means you can reach relevant audiences without distracting from the video itself.
Go Live!

The Basics

Consistent username across all platforms
Short and relevant description. Make sure it’s obvious to users that you’re an artist
Connect to your Instagram & YouTube channel
Get a Pro Account
The ideal runtime for a video is 10-17 seconds.

What’s Important

Consistency
Authenticity
Community integration
Personality, people don’t want a sales pitch

Content Strategy

Native content
Not overly-produced (but good lighting is a must!)
Incorporate trending sounds, memes, challenges, hashtags
Duet and react to UGC and comments
Collaborate with others on the platform
Grow your artists profile with a combination of influencer collabs, ads and your consistent & creative content strategy