Spotify recently shared an article on Super Listeners, confirming what our years of running authentic marketing campaigns has taught us: sustainable success isn’t just about streams, it’s about building a loyal, engaged audience. These “super listeners” make up a small part of your audience (sometimes just 2%) but drive a massive amount of your streams, shares, and even concert ticket sales. They are the engine of your career.
This is where Rise’s Active Listener Campaigns comes in. This is the only campaign available to independent artists that seeks out, attracts and converts your most engaged Instagram followers into repeat listeners on Spotify.
Tapping into the Superfan Funnel
Spotify’s own research shows that fans move through a funnel, from a potential listener who’s never heard your music to an active superfan. Our Active Listener campaign is designed to specifically target audiences on Instagram who are most likely to stream your music actively, multiple times.
This campaign is designed to bring balance to playlisting campaigns that can bring in larger numbers of listeners, but tend to be more passive. Both quality and quantity are needed to get above the noise in the algorithm, so we always recommend finding that balance through the right combination of campaigns for you.
At Rise, we’ve been running these highly-targeted Active Listener campaigns since 2024, and one early adopter saw their campaign result in 50,000 authentic streams over the course of their campaign.
This artist’s debut song hits algorithmic playlists in first week.
- Budget: $500 Active Listener Campaign — two week runtime.
- $250 Spotify Exposure Subscription ($225/month with subscription discount) — includes playlist pitching to ~200 verified playlist partners.
Read the complete Case Study, along with others here.
How an Active Listener Campaign Works for You
Our Active Listener campaign leverages a short video asset, such as an Instagram Reel, and tracks conversions that happen on a landing page. This process filters out passive, less-interested audiences, and reduces skip rates since the only users making it to your music on Spotify have already heard a clip, seen your aesthetic, and decided to intentionally click a second button on a landing page to listen to the full song.
Here are some perks of an Active Listener campaign:
- Retarget Your Engaged Audience: In addition to new fans, we can deliver a video ad to users who have recently engaged with your content on Instagram. This keeps your music and brand fresh in their minds, providing a “nudge” to dive deeper into your catalog.
- Encourage Deeper Engagement: The video ad directs them to one song or album, narrowing the focus and therefore encouraging multiple streams. It also provides an opportunity for them to “like”, add your songs to their own playlists, and follow your profile.
- Turn Passive Listeners into Active Fans: By continuously engaging with your most receptive audience and adding new fans with high potential, you increase the likelihood that they’ll become super listeners—the fans who stream your music on repeat, share it with their friends, and show up for you at every stage of your career.
The Power of an Active Listener Campaign
Spotify’s data shows that a small group of super listeners can account for over 18% of your streams and half of your ticket sales. Our Active Listener campaigns are a direct tool to grow this crucial segment of your audience.
Ready to connect with your super listeners? Launch an Active Listener campaign today and turn your current fans into the dedicated audience that will fuel your long-term success.