Getting discovered in the music industry is hard. The competition is tough, and it can be pretty difficult to get your music on Spotify’s automatic playlists. As such, the thought of buying streams can seem incredibly tempting, if only to get a visibility boost that’ll help more people discover your music. Unfortunately, buying Spotify plays can be a complicated and intimidating process. The rules, the pros and cons, and the semantics of this kind of artificial promotion aren’t exactly clear. Even worse, with horror stories in the indie music community about artists’ accounts being banned after Spotify discovered bot activity, accessing these kinds of services can be scary if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. To help struggling artists navigate the ins and outs of the practice, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on the pros and cons and the how-tos of buying Spotify plays! Read on to figure out if this is the right path for you.
The Mechanics of Buying Spotify Plays
When you buy Spotify streams, you pay for a bot to stream your tracks repeatedly. This will boost the number of plays your track has, but it won’t increase your numbers in other forms of engagement. To buy streams, you will need to pay a predetermined price to a third-party company. You then enter the URL of the track, playlist, album, or podcast you want to promote, and bots will start streaming your tracks. Some services even let you choose a targeted country for the streams to originate from!
Why Spotify?
Spotify is one of the most widely used music streaming services worldwide, making it the most prone to botting services. Due to Spotify’s advanced AI and algorithms, an increased number of streams on a track can offer a real-world boost to your music. Your track will be promoted to a huge userbase, improving your chances of gaining more fans. This makes Spotify a popular platform for botting services, as the streams can have a tremendous impact on your metrics. As artificial streams have been an issue for Spotify for a long time, the company has developed methods for detecting these botting services.
30 Most Popular Sites for Buying Spotify Plays
Now that you know what buying streams entails, you’re probably wondering where artists can buy Spotify plays. To give you an idea of what’s available out there, here are five of the most popular services for buying Spotify streams:
Viralyft
Specializing in an easy-to-use and low-budget system, Viralyft is for those looking for a quick boost in numbers. With over fifty years of marketing experience, this site promises a short delivery time for your streams and a full refund if the numbers aren’t reached.
Viewsexpert
The Viewsexpert is a site for the more cautious artist. They guarantee that your account and tracks will never be put at risk. With their fast delivery times and low prices, this site is one of the most popular amongst those looking for a safe way to buy streams.
Social packages
Though they offer a wide range of prices and packages for the artist to choose from, Social Packages also lets the customer work with their team to put together their own custom package. This service can tailor the streams bought to fit an artist’s specific needs.
Getviral
If you’re an artist looking for an ultra-comprehensive service, Getviral could be the place to go. The site offers a tracking number with every purchase. This makes it easier for the customer to track their order being worked on and completed in real-time. Not only this, but Getviral also offers a refill guarantee – if the customer’s order isn’t executed in time or in the manner it was intended to (more often due to a technical glitch), Getviral will compensate them for the views they missed out on.
Famups
With their safe payments and privacy protection, Famups is a secure place for artists to buy Spotify streams. You can check out the customer reviews on their website to hear real-world testimonies or contact their 24/7 support network if you have any questions. If you can’t find a service that you like in this list, here are the twenty-five next most popular sites:
How to Choose a Service for Buying Spotify Plays
There are many botting services available online. While this offers you a wide variety to choose from, it can also be overwhelming if you’re not entirely sure what you’re meant to be looking for. To help you narrow it down, here are a few factors you should consider when choosing a service: If you make sure to approach botting services with a little caution, you should be safe from any scammers.
How to Buy Spotify Plays
When you’ve decided which service you want to use to buy your plays, you’ll want to click on the ‘Buy Spotify Plays’ link on the website. From there, though, the exact method will vary according to the website you’re using. These are the steps you’d need to follow: Over the next few days, the streams should start to roll in!
Alternative Ways of Buying Spotify Plays
If the idea of buying streams this way doesn’t appeal to you, there are still some ways to spend money to increase your plays without using bots. Here’s how:
Spotify ads: This option is more expensive than using bots, and it can take far longer to amass the same number of views. However, the views you get will be organic views from real people, which will help grow your following than just your numbers. Other ad networks: This option can be cheaper than Spotify ads, as adverts on sites such as Instagram and Facebook don’t have a minimum spending cap like Spotify. However, users will be less likely to interact with the ads, as they’re usually not in the mindset of listening to music as they would be on Spotify. Influencer marketing: Many influencers will accept payment for promoting your song to their audience. This kind of marketing is not as safe as other kinds of ads, as the number of views is not guaranteed. However, it can be very successful, especially on TikTok, where many of the most viral songs of the last few years first blew up. Spotify Discovery Mode: While this method isn’t the same as spending money to boost your views, if you accept a lower royalty for your streams, Spotify will promote them more. Essentially, you’re giving Spotify a higher percentage of your profits in return for recommending your tracks to more people.
Pros and Cons of Buying Spotify Plays
Now that you know how to buy Spotify streams, you might still be questioning if it’s the right path for you to take. It can seem like a very high-risk strategy, and the reward isn’t guaranteed in anything but empty numbers. On the other hand, buying plays is an instant and actionable way to gain some success and credibility with your audience – something which isn’t available elsewhere in the music industry. So how exactly do the benefits and risks weigh up?
The good
There are several benefits to buying streams, some obvious and some less so. These include:
Increased visibility
Higher stream numbers on your account will result in your tracks being recommended to more people and put into more playlists. More people will listen to your music if more people are exposed to it. With some luck on your side, your music may even reach big industry records and labels.
Boosted reputation
The higher the numbers on your artist page when a prospective fan checks it out, the more likely they are to click. There’s a reason that one of the first things on your page is a list of your top streamed tracks.
Faster growth
The first few months or years of a music career are by far the slowest. If you can boost your numbers early on, you can skip out on months of waiting for people to find your music to gain organic streams.
Saving time
If you buy plays for your tracks, you don’t have to spend time marketing or engaging with other artists to try and boost your numbers. Instead, you can focus on producing and perfecting your music and get more content out there for your audience.
Better performance
Higher numbers on a track will result in the Spotify algorithm recommending the track to new listeners and putting it in the personalized playlists and ‘Similar Music’ it generates. Consequently, your track can stay on the top trending lists for longer than it would’ve without this boost. So far, buying streams sounds like a great idea! However, there are some downsides as well that you should consider alongside.
The bad
Buying streams comes with plenty of risks and repercussions. We’ve listed a few of those below:
Spotify’s bot detection
If Spotify finds out that you’re buying streams, you’re in serious trouble with your account. You could get flagged, meaning that your actions are restricted, Spotify could remove the track, or your account could even be suspended/banned.
Worse performance
If the bots streaming your tracks aren’t listening to the track the whole way through, your songs could perform even more poorly under Spotify’s algorithm. When Spotify doesn’t get any interactions with the tracks playing, and they’re mostly skipped, it will think that nobody likes your music! Then you won’t get recommended as much, despite the higher numbers.
Your reputation could suffer
Though most listeners won’t be able to tell the difference between organic and purchased streams, other artists and music producers will. Once it’s evident that you’ve been buying plays, your reputation in the industry could take a serious hit. And if you were hoping to get signed by a bigger label or collaborate with a larger artist someday, buying plays could limit your chances or completely hinder them.
Your numbers won’t add up
If you have high numbers of streams on your tracks but noticeably disproportionate followers and likes, your account will start to look suspicious. This could be off-putting to prospective fans. Deciding whether to buy plays or not is entirely up to you. Still, you should keep these pros and cons in mind when deciding whether you should indeed go ahead with this strategy.
The Costly: Is Buying Spotify Plays Worth It?
So, now you know the risks involved with buying Spotify plays. But now comes the most crucial question – is buying Spotify plays actually worth it? Lots of people buy Spotify plays. From the biggest artists looking to enter the top of the charts to smaller indie artists looking for a leg up on their competitors, buying streams is a rampant problem for Spotify even though it’s explicitly against their terms of service. Spotify’s profits are split into two kinds of royalties shared between the artists on the platform once a month. These royalties are divided according to the number of streams each artist has received that month. However, Spotify emphasizes that it does not pay artists on a per-play or per-stream basis, as is widely believed. If these streams are being artificially manipulated, more royalties will go to the artists who can already afford to buy streams. Essentially, by collecting royalties on artificial streams, you aren’t just making yourself more money. You’re taking it away from other artists who have also been working hard to build themselves a career. Ethical issues aside, buying streams could cost you more than just money. You risk your entire fanbase if your account gets banned or your track is removed. For instance, if your account is taken down, your fans will discover that you’ve been buying streams. Though there will be some who won’t care, the majority of people see buying streams as unethical and are likely to steer clear of your music in the future. To top it all, Spotify has its ways of rooting out bots. Its algorithm tracks users’ listening habits and will flag any unusual behavior, such as non-stop repetitive streaming of the same few songs and playlists. If you buy Spotify plays, Spotify will likely detect such anomalous behavior, and your account could suffer. So, ask yourself: Is it worth risking everything you’ve worked for so far for some boosted numbers that will likely drop once you stop paying for these services? It’s up to you to decide. Buying streams can certainly give you a substantial boost but comes with a proportionate risk.
How to Get More Spotify Plays Without Buying Them
If you’ve decided that buying plays isn’t for you, or you want to promote your tracks beyond artificial streams, there are plenty of ways you can get more streams without resorting to bot services.
Create playlists and share them
Playlists are one of the most common ways users find new music on Spotify. Create unique playlists featuring the tracks you want to promote and others of a similar genre, and your streams should start to increase. You should get more interactions if you ensure the playlist is several hours long and update it regularly with new music.
Embed songs on your website or blog
If people are going to your website, then they’re obviously interested in what you have to offer. Whether they looked you up because they heard and liked one of your songs or just stumbled across your blog while browsing social media, they’re in the perfect place for you to display some of your best tracks! You could also use platforms like Instagram and TikTok to embed Spotify music into your posts.
Share playlists featuring your songs
Sharing playlists featuring your songs will give you legitimacy as an artist, as other people are creating playlists featuring your tracks. It will also make the creator of the playlist more likely to include more of your music, promoting you to a larger audience.
Build up your artist profile on Spotify
People like to know about the creators whose content they enjoy. If you have a professional and detailed profile on Spotify, your audience will feel like they can relate to you. This makes your existing audience more dedicated and draws in potential fans as you will stand out from the crowd.
Capitalize on Spotify’s in-house promotional tools
As mentioned earlier, you could also use organic Spotify tools like Ad Studio to garner more numbers for your music. Ad Studio lets you create and manage campaigns as well as track the growth and popularity of your music across targeted categories. Another hack coming straight from Spotify’s organic promotion pool is the use of a Spotify code. A Spotify code is essentially a QR code that your fans can scan using the Spotify scanner. You can add this to your profile, playlist, and songs and share it on any of your social media handles. This will help make your music more discoverable and generate more organic plays!
Post new music consistently
Most people don’t have a long-lasting attention span. Consistently posting new music will keep your followers from forgetting you.
Pitch your songs for playlist consideration
Getting your tracks onto a popular playlist will not only get your songs more streams, but will also expose you to a broader audience.
Engage with your fans
Make sure you’re engaging and interacting with your fans. If a listener feels connected with the artist, they’re more likely to stream their music.
Collaborate with other artists
By collaborating with another artist, their fanbase will hear a sample of your music. If they like what they hear, they will likely check out your other music.
Promote across all platforms
To give you the maximum reach, you should make sure that you’re promoting your tracks on as many social media platforms as you can. This gives your posts more chances to go viral and reach a larger audience.
How much profit do 1000 Spotify plays give you?
For 1000 streams on Spotify, you can earn anywhere between $2-$4.
Is buying Spotify plays safe? Do I need to share my password?
Buying plays from a reputable company should not require you to share your passwords. If a site asks you for your passwords, it’s possible they’re a scam, and you should avoid purchasing from them.
Can buying Spotify plays get you banned?
Yes, buying plays can get your account removed. However, the chance of this happening is low if you don’t go overboard with the number of streams you buy. If a track that previously had less than 10,000 streams shoots up to over a million in just a few days, it will be obvious that the artist has been buying plays.
Will you lose Spotify followers when you stop paying for these services?
No. Ideally, you shouldn’t lose followers when you stop paying. Buying plays and followers is not a subscription service, it’s a one-time purchase.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a struggling artist keen on growing a following on Spotify or a seasoned professional looking to capture a larger share of the audience, social proofing helps immensely in standing out from the competition. To that end, buying Spotify plays might be a valid means to a desirable end. However, not all that glitters is gold. Manipulating streaming activity on your Spotify profile can cost you dearly (in the long term), if detected by the app. So make sure you know what you’re getting into when choosing to go down this road. Hopefully, our article will have helped you see all possible sides of this approach and lent you tips to implement this strategy successfully. Did you find this article helpful? Did you manage to buy real Spotify plays from the options discussed above? Make sure to tell us in the comments below!
