Pandora is considered by most to be the original subscription music platform. Even today, Pandora has approximately 240 million monthly active users. Figuring out how to get more Pandora plays is just as important today as it ever was. If you can build a successful presence on Pandora, the rest takes care of itself.
It’s a particularly popular platform in the US but also has a huge following elsewhere. As for why Pandora plays matter, it’s all about credibility and exposure. In order to be taken seriously on platforms like Pandora, you need to look popular and legit. Plays are a key indicator of both.
The more plays your tracks accumulate, the more likely they are to influence and appeal to listeners. Therefore, they can be hugely influential. In terms of exposure, plays appeal directly to the platform’s indexation algorithm. Pandora automatically picks up on and promotes popular music to its users.
As plays are a major popularity metric, they count for a lot. As your tracks accumulate plays, they’re showcased more prominently on the platform. This, in turn, means that more plays translate to more exposure for your music. Two huge benefits from a simple social signal – if you can figure out how to get more Pandora plays.
How to Get More Plays For Your Music on Pandora?
The truth is, there are dozens of different ways of going about the process. Anything you can do to promote your music and make it visible to others will help. You can also simply buy Pandora plays to get the job done quicker, which we’ll get to a little later.
The most effective promotional strategy for Pandora is one that incorporates numerous complementary tactics. What follows is a brief rundown of 10 tried, tested, and trusted ways to get more plays on Pandora:
1. Create A Station
As Pandora does not allow the creation of playlists for other people, creating a station is the next best thing. Any ad-supported or Pandora Plus listener can access stations, which are created by artists and publishers to help them find new music and discover new artists.
This can therefore be a great way of helping people find your music on Pandora. By creating stations that include your tracks, you stand every chance of bringing new listeners on board. Pandora offers a step-by-step tutorial for creating stations, which rarely takes more than a few minutes to complete.
2. Upload Quality Music
Unsurprisingly, the quality of the music you publish will always make a huge difference. In this context, quality means two things. The first of which is how good your music is in general and whether it appeals to your audience. There’s no place for second best on Pandora, where people head for world-class music of the highest quality.
Secondly, you need to focus heavily on production standards and the final edit. Everything about your music needs to scream professionalism and nothing less. Always take the time to ensure your published cuts are polished to perfection – no exceptions and no excuses.
3. Connect To Facebook & Twitter
This is by far one of the easiest ways of promoting your music and getting more plays. It can also be great for attracting new listeners and generally getting more fans on board. You’re most likely already active on numerous other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. In which case, it simply makes sense to make the most of your existing audiences.
Use your other social media profiles as promotional platforms for your music. Aggressively promote every track you publish on Pandora, and post frequent reminders to check you out. Link directly to your tracks and your profile page, making it as easy as possible for people to find you.
4. Create Original Music
Originality counts for a lot on platforms like Pandora due to the sheer volume of music available. Nobody’s going to take you seriously if the music you make is the same as everyone else’s. Or, for that matter, it sounds anything like the music being published by other artists. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to be 100% original, 100% of the time.
Everything you publish should be unmistakably yours – instantly recognizable as your work. This is easier said than done but is nonetheless essential for becoming a successful artist. Generic music that sounds the same as everything else on Pandora rarely motivates listeners to hit the ‘play button.
5. Release New Music Regularly
Keeping current listeners entertained is just as important as getting new listeners on board. Precisely why you need to ensure you are releasing new music regularly. Not so often as to bombard your audience with too much, but enough to keep them interested in what you do.
It’s important to remember that on platforms like Pandora, listeners really are spoilt for choice. If you can’t keep them hooked with a steady stream of music, they’ll find what they need elsewhere. Retention is, therefore, something that should be prioritized when looking to stack up plays and build an engaged audience.
6. Use Eye-Catching Images
The impact and appeal of quality imagery on Pandora are often overlooked. It’s a predominantly audio-based platform, but visuals still count for a lot. Remember that everything you publish will be used to gauge your professionalism, credibility, and general worthiness.
This includes the images you publish, which need to be just as striking, original, and engaging as your music. Every image you publish should be relevant to your music and to you as an artist. It’s also important to focus on consistency with your imagery, building towards a recognizable brand. Avoid uninspiring stock images at all costs or anything that could be interpreted as amateurish.
7. Share Everywhere
We’ve already covered the importance of promoting your work on social media. In addition, it’s worth getting into the habit of promoting it everywhere else. This means working out which online and offline channels are available to you and using them to your advantage.
Your website, blog, email signature, gig flyers, and so on are all fair game for Pandora promotion. Tell people you’re on Pandora, tell them to check you out, and show them the way. While doing so, express your appreciation for them taking the time to pay you a visit. Politeness always goes a long way with promotional activities like these.
8. Be Patient
They say patience is a virtue, which couldn’t be truer when it comes to stacking up plays. As far as organic plays are concerned, there’s really nothing you can do to accelerate the process. Promoting your music is essential, as is engaging your audience and building a good fan base. But even then, it’s going to take some time to stack up all the plays you need.
Consequently, the best advice is to get started sooner rather than later. The earlier you get the process underway, the quicker you’ll accumulate a meaningful number of plays. Nevertheless, losing patience and giving up too quickly is the worst thing you can do. Ensure you have realistic expectations and don’t expect overnight miracles.
9. Support Others on Pandora
Another great way to encourage people to play your music is to do the same for them in return. Social media is highly reciprocal in nature – you scratch their backs, they scratch yours. Something that doesn’t apply only to plays but also covers things like followers, shares, comments, recommendations, and so on.
It’s all about engaging your audience and becoming part of the community. If you can be seen as a valuable supporter of others on Pandora, they’ll instinctively support you in return. Try not to treat the whole thing as a one-way street – embrace the ‘social aspect of social media.
10. Buy Pandora Plays
Last up, the fastest option by far is to buy Pandora plays for your tracks. At Media Mister, we make it easy and affordable to buy all the plays you need in a matter of minutes. All of which come from real people with active and authentic accounts – 100% identical to the real thing.
Buying Pandora plays can be great for getting things off the ground with an instant credibility boost. We’ve already helped more than 10,000 customers with their promotional campaigns on Pandora – we’d be delighted to do the same for you. We even cover all sales with a money-back guarantee, so you know you’re in safe hands with us.
Conclusion
If looking to kickstart things as quickly as possible, buy Pandora plays to set the wheels in motion. This instantly gives your tracks the kind of credibility, appeal, and influence they need to be taken seriously.
After which, it becomes much easier to begin attracting more organic Pandora plays. Ideally, you should be looking to incorporate each of the tactics above into your strategy. Once again, accumulating thousands of organic Pandora plays takes time and effort. But it’s something you need to do if looking to stand out on the world’s original subscription music platform.
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