How to Choose a Song Your Current Fans Will Want to Share

When you choose a song, you are choosing for two audiences: people who have never heard of you, and the ones who already follow you. This guide is about the second group, because they are the ones who will actually tell someone else.

It helps to know who they are before you pick.

Your core fans share the most

Spotify for Artists describes super listeners as the most loyal slice of an artist's monthly listeners, people who have intentionally sought out the music from sources like the artist profile or their saved library in the past 28 days. They make up 2% of monthly listeners but drive over 18% of monthly streams.

Spotify also reports that they are nine times more likely than other listeners to share music with their network. That is the strongest reason to design your next release around the people who already care.

Read what they already do

Spotify for Artists added an Engagement section that shows streams per listener, saves and playlist adds. Spotify says these help you see "how listeners are leaning into your music."

Look at your last few releases. Which songs got saved the most? Which ones are on the most playlists? Those are your clearest hints about what your fans want more of.

Remember that these numbers describe people who found you through different routes. Compare songs that had similar promotion, so you are looking at the song and not just the marketing.

What makes a song easy to pass along

People share a song when it says something they want to say. A lyric that names a feeling exactly gives them a way to do that without writing a message.

Berklee Online's songwriting advice says that specific detail "allows your audience to step into your shoes," and that is also what makes a listener think of a friend. A general lyric is less likely to remind anyone of a person.

• A line or image people can quote in a caption or a message.
• A clear, single mood, so the recipient knows what they are about to hear.
• A chorus that is easy to remember after one listen.
• A story that matches something your fans already know about you.

Fit the song to your fans, not to a trend

A song that is a big departure from your catalog may bring new listeners, but your existing fans may not recognize you in it. Ask: would the person who has played your last song forty times pick this one for a friend?

If you are trying a new style, choose a song whose story or mood is familiar, and let the production carry the change. Starchild lets you hear the same song in several styles, so you can find the version closest to your sound.

Test it on real people

Before you license, send two or three finalists to a few of your most engaged fans. Do not ask which they like. Ask which they would send to someone, and who they would send it to.

Their answers will often surprise you, and they cost nothing. Our guide to auditioning songs before licensing explains how to run the listening test.

Pay attention to what they say about the lyric. If someone quotes a line back to you without being asked, that line is doing the sharing work.

Also notice whether they describe the song in the same words you would. If they do, your story is landing.

Make sharing easy once you release

Credit the songwriter clearly and keep your release details tidy so fans can find and pass on the song. Our guides on crediting the songwriter and using a licensed song in your music video and on social media explain how.

Your license also covers your own music video and lyric video, which gives fans something to share beyond the audio.

Know the difference between reach and depth

A song that spreads to strangers and a song that your fans pass to friends can be different songs. The first is about a hook that works for anyone. The second is about a feeling that people connected to you want others to understand.

Spotify's super listener data suggests that depth is where sharing lives, since these fans are far more likely to share than light listeners. Both goals are valid, but be clear which you are choosing for.

Fans stay when the song is true

Spotify for Artists reports that more than half of super listeners are still streaming an artist six months after discovery. People who stay do so because they trust the artist, and trust comes from songs that feel honest.

Pick a song whose story you could talk about for ten minutes in an interview. If you cannot say why it matters to you, your fans probably will not feel it either.

A quick fan check list

Before you license, run through these questions with your last release open on your analytics.

• Which of my songs has the highest saves relative to streams?
• Which songs do fans mention in comments or messages?
• What mood do those songs share?
• Does my shortlist add to that story, or point somewhere new on purpose?
• Would I be proud to have this song's lyric printed on a shirt?

Sources

• Spotify for Artists: Super Listeners, Your Guide for Developing Fans Who Go Deeper
• Spotify for Artists: Understand Your Audience Better With the New Release Details Page and Audience Engagement Analytics
• Berklee Online Take Note: Use Destination Writing and Object Writing to Craft Vivid, Image-Rich Lyrics