Establishing strong vanity metrics on Spotify is really not that difficult, especially if you don’t care how you do it.
Fake followers, massive bot-driven playlist ads, and even legitimate streams from countries that don’t serve your long-term growth as an artist can make your artist profile look quite impressive to the untrained eye.
But if you’re like me, and you want to share your music with real people who truly enjoy the work you put out into the world, you’re going to want to do your best to avoid those pitfalls.
When working to grow a fanbase on Spotify, whether for myself or for any of the artists I work with, I am constantly paying attention to the data to make sure it’s good.
Here are the three biggest red flags I look for:
Which countries are listening?
I am always watching where my traffic is coming from on Spotify, especially as a result of my ads.
These days, I am primarily advertising in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, but regardless of where my ads are being shown, whether in a select few countries or on a global scale, I am looking at the relationship between those countries on Meta’s ad platform and on Spotify for Artists.
To that end, one of the biggest red flags a look for is whether or not those countries match up to any degree.
For example, if a country is getting a lot of traffic on Meta but minimal action on Spotify, this is a clear indication to me that something is off and I need to make a change.
Whenever this happens, I will remove the problematic country from my ad set targeting and pay strict attention once more to see if the results have improved.
I want to see a clear correlation between the results on Meta (filtered by impression below):
And the results on Spotify (filtered by top countries in the Audience tab here):
Sometimes it can take multiple rounds of culling to get those results to line up, but the marketing campaign is always stronger for it.
As long as I’m seeing things trend in the direction I want them to, I consider that a success and a red flag avoided.
Top cities are important too
Beyond the countries where I’m seeing love on Spotify, I am also paying strict attention to the cities where my music is being consumed as well.
The primary red flags I am looking for here are cities I know have big data centers in them.
Wait, what?
That’s right. Many cities worldwide, and specifically within the United States, house massive Amazon (and other) data centers. These data centers are often used to set up bot farms to generate fake playlist plays, fake followers, and fake streams for artists.
There are more companies out there than I can count that sell expensive playlist promotion packages that are built upon these sorts of bot metrics.
I’m not gonna name names here because that’s not my style, but I’m willing to bet you can think of at least one off the top of your head…
Within the US, specifically, the two primary cities that usually stand out are Ashburn, VA, and Buffalo, NY. Both contain various data centers that are frequently used to traffic fake Spotify numbers.
And if I’m ever in doubt about the legitimacy of a city, I’ll use this quick tool to look it up.
And lastly, bad playlists
As most of you likely know, I’m not a big fan of playlisting to promote my music on Spotify, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still get added to them from time to time.
And so do most of the artists I work with.
When a song begins to get traction on Spotify, achieving a popularity score in the 30s or 40s, it is often the case that it will begin to appear on more popular playlists as a result, regardless of whether or not the song has been pitched to that service.
Whenever I see a song has been added to a playlist with a significant following, I immediately want to do my due diligence on it to make sure it’s legit.
To do that, I use isitagoodplaylist.com.
This handy little tool can tell you a lot about the legitimacy of a playlist, but the two biggest things I look at are cities (from above) and growth in followers.
First, followers.
One of the clearest indications of a shady playlist is big changes in follower count with a sort of saw-tooth pattern over time.
Like this:
This playlist ☝🏻 lost and regained ~20k followers within five days. 🙄
What I want to see is slow and steady follower growth over time, even if it does contain some minor corrections.
Like this:
This playlist ☝🏻 has seen slow and steady growth for an extended period of time (and I happen to know that little dip in the middle is a result of Spotify removing all data from Russia from the platform).
If the playlist has a follower count that is all over the place (like the first one), odds are it’s bad and I don’t want to be on it.
Because even if it is resulting in streams, it’s ultimately only going to confuse Spotify’s algorithm and pollute my Spotify for Artists data all at the same time.
I don’t want that.
Next, cities.
With respect to cities, I like to dig into the playlist's artist data to see if there are an outsized number of artists that are all getting their highest number of streams from places with data centers like Ashburn, Buffalo, etc.
If I see a wide number of artists on a playlist with the same primary city listed, I know there’s likely to be a problem.
Example:
This playlist is clearly (to me) built on data center bots, and, as such, I want to avoid it like the plague, even going so far as to contact the playlister to remove my song if it has been added to the rotation.
It’s easy to grow on Spotify by faking the numbers, and with a small amount of money and a little bit of know-how, anyone can do it.
But I want my growth to be legitimate, and I want real people enjoying my music, even if it’s only a fraction of what the vanity numbers potentially could be.
And I carry the same philosophy for the artists I work with as well—I would rather see slower, more intentional gains than fake metrics that only look impressive at first glance.
So if you’re like me and you’re after legitimate streams from legitimate listeners, these tips may help you navigate the world of music marketing so you can only invest in the avenues that generate the kind of returns you truly want to see.
Good luck out there. 🫡
Establishing strong vanity metrics on Spotify is really not that difficult, especially if you don’t care how you do it.
Fake followers, massive bot-driven playlist ads, and even legitimate streams from countries that don’t serve your long-term growth as an artist can make your artist profile look quite impressive to the untrained eye.
But if you’re like me, and you want to share your music with real people who truly enjoy the work you put out into the world, you’re going to want to do your best to avoid those pitfalls.
When working to grow a fanbase on Spotify, whether for myself or for any of the artists I work with, I am constantly paying attention to the data to make sure it’s good.
Here are the three biggest red flags I look for:
Which countries are listening?
I am always watching where my traffic is coming from on Spotify, especially as a result of my ads.
These days, I am primarily advertising in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, but regardless of where my ads are being shown, whether in a select few countries or on a global scale, I am looking at the relationship between those countries on Meta’s ad platform and on Spotify for Artists.
To that end, one of the biggest red flags a look for is whether or not those countries match up to any degree.
For example, if a country is getting a lot of traffic on Meta but minimal action on Spotify, this is a clear indication to me that something is off and I need to make a change.
Whenever this happens, I will remove the problematic country from my ad set targeting and pay strict attention once more to see if the results have improved.
I want to see a clear correlation between the results on Meta (filtered by impression below):
And the results on Spotify (filtered by top countries in the Audience tab here):
Sometimes it can take multiple rounds of culling to get those results to line up, but the marketing campaign is always stronger for it.
As long as I’m seeing things trend in the direction I want them to, I consider that a success and a red flag avoided.
Top cities are important too
Beyond the countries where I’m seeing love on Spotify, I am also paying strict attention to the cities where my music is being consumed as well.
The primary red flags I am looking for here are cities I know have big data centers in them.
Wait, what?
That’s right. Many cities worldwide, and specifically within the United States, house massive Amazon (and other) data centers. These data centers are often used to set up bot farms to generate fake playlist plays, fake followers, and fake streams for artists.
There are more companies out there than I can count that sell expensive playlist promotion packages that are built upon these sorts of bot metrics.
I’m not gonna name names here because that’s not my style, but I’m willing to bet you can think of at least one off the top of your head…
Within the US, specifically, the two primary cities that usually stand out are Ashburn, VA, and Buffalo, NY. Both contain various data centers that are frequently used to traffic fake Spotify numbers.
And if I’m ever in doubt about the legitimacy of a city, I’ll use this quick tool to look it up.
And lastly, bad playlists
As most of you likely know, I’m not a big fan of playlisting to promote my music on Spotify, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still get added to them from time to time.
And so do most of the artists I work with.
When a song begins to get traction on Spotify, achieving a popularity score in the 30s or 40s, it is often the case that it will begin to appear on more popular playlists as a result, regardless of whether or not the song has been pitched to that service.
Whenever I see a song has been added to a playlist with a significant following, I immediately want to do my due diligence on it to make sure it’s legit.
To do that, I use isitagoodplaylist.com.
This handy little tool can tell you a lot about the legitimacy of a playlist, but the two biggest things I look at are cities (from above) and growth in followers.
First, followers.
One of the clearest indications of a shady playlist is big changes in follower count with a sort of saw-tooth pattern over time.
Like this:
This playlist ☝🏻 lost and regained ~20k followers within five days. 🙄
What I want to see is slow and steady follower growth over time, even if it does contain some minor corrections.
Like this:
This playlist ☝🏻 has seen slow and steady growth for an extended period of time (and I happen to know that little dip in the middle is a result of Spotify removing all data from Russia from the platform).
If the playlist has a follower count that is all over the place (like the first one), odds are it’s bad and I don’t want to be on it.
Because even if it is resulting in streams, it’s ultimately only going to confuse Spotify’s algorithm and pollute my Spotify for Artists data all at the same time.
I don’t want that.
Next, cities.
With respect to cities, I like to dig into the playlist's artist data to see if there are an outsized number of artists that are all getting their highest number of streams from places with data centers like Ashburn, Buffalo, etc.
If I see a wide number of artists on a playlist with the same primary city listed, I know there’s likely to be a problem.
Example:
This playlist is clearly (to me) built on data center bots, and, as such, I want to avoid it like the plague, even going so far as to contact the playlister to remove my song if it has been added to the rotation.
It’s easy to grow on Spotify by faking the numbers, and with a small amount of money and a little bit of know-how, anyone can do it.
But I want my growth to be legitimate, and I want real people enjoying my music, even if it’s only a fraction of what the vanity numbers potentially could be.
And I carry the same philosophy for the artists I work with as well—I would rather see slower, more intentional gains than fake metrics that only look impressive at first glance.
So if you’re like me and you’re after legitimate streams from legitimate listeners, these tips may help you navigate the world of music marketing so you can only invest in the avenues that generate the kind of returns you truly want to see.
Good luck out there. 🫡
Establishing strong vanity metrics on Spotify is really not that difficult, especially if you don’t care how you do it.
Fake followers, massive bot-driven playlist ads, and even legitimate streams from countries that don’t serve your long-term growth as an artist can make your artist profile look quite impressive to the untrained eye.
But if you’re like me, and you want to share your music with real people who truly enjoy the work you put out into the world, you’re going to want to do your best to avoid those pitfalls.
When working to grow a fanbase on Spotify, whether for myself or for any of the artists I work with, I am constantly paying attention to the data to make sure it’s good.
Here are the three biggest red flags I look for:
Which countries are listening?
I am always watching where my traffic is coming from on Spotify, especially as a result of my ads.
These days, I am primarily advertising in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, but regardless of where my ads are being shown, whether in a select few countries or on a global scale, I am looking at the relationship between those countries on Meta’s ad platform and on Spotify for Artists.
To that end, one of the biggest red flags a look for is whether or not those countries match up to any degree.
For example, if a country is getting a lot of traffic on Meta but minimal action on Spotify, this is a clear indication to me that something is off and I need to make a change.
Whenever this happens, I will remove the problematic country from my ad set targeting and pay strict attention once more to see if the results have improved.
I want to see a clear correlation between the results on Meta (filtered by impression below):
And the results on Spotify (filtered by top countries in the Audience tab here):
Sometimes it can take multiple rounds of culling to get those results to line up, but the marketing campaign is always stronger for it.
As long as I’m seeing things trend in the direction I want them to, I consider that a success and a red flag avoided.
Top cities are important too
Beyond the countries where I’m seeing love on Spotify, I am also paying strict attention to the cities where my music is being consumed as well.
The primary red flags I am looking for here are cities I know have big data centers in them.
Wait, what?
That’s right. Many cities worldwide, and specifically within the United States, house massive Amazon (and other) data centers. These data centers are often used to set up bot farms to generate fake playlist plays, fake followers, and fake streams for artists.
There are more companies out there than I can count that sell expensive playlist promotion packages that are built upon these sorts of bot metrics.
I’m not gonna name names here because that’s not my style, but I’m willing to bet you can think of at least one off the top of your head…
Within the US, specifically, the two primary cities that usually stand out are Ashburn, VA, and Buffalo, NY. Both contain various data centers that are frequently used to traffic fake Spotify numbers.
And if I’m ever in doubt about the legitimacy of a city, I’ll use this quick tool to look it up.
And lastly, bad playlists
As most of you likely know, I’m not a big fan of playlisting to promote my music on Spotify, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still get added to them from time to time.
And so do most of the artists I work with.
When a song begins to get traction on Spotify, achieving a popularity score in the 30s or 40s, it is often the case that it will begin to appear on more popular playlists as a result, regardless of whether or not the song has been pitched to that service.
Whenever I see a song has been added to a playlist with a significant following, I immediately want to do my due diligence on it to make sure it’s legit.
To do that, I use isitagoodplaylist.com.
This handy little tool can tell you a lot about the legitimacy of a playlist, but the two biggest things I look at are cities (from above) and growth in followers.
First, followers.
One of the clearest indications of a shady playlist is big changes in follower count with a sort of saw-tooth pattern over time.
Like this:
This playlist ☝🏻 lost and regained ~20k followers within five days. 🙄
What I want to see is slow and steady follower growth over time, even if it does contain some minor corrections.
Like this:
This playlist ☝🏻 has seen slow and steady growth for an extended period of time (and I happen to know that little dip in the middle is a result of Spotify removing all data from Russia from the platform).
If the playlist has a follower count that is all over the place (like the first one), odds are it’s bad and I don’t want to be on it.
Because even if it is resulting in streams, it’s ultimately only going to confuse Spotify’s algorithm and pollute my Spotify for Artists data all at the same time.
I don’t want that.
Next, cities.
With respect to cities, I like to dig into the playlist's artist data to see if there are an outsized number of artists that are all getting their highest number of streams from places with data centers like Ashburn, Buffalo, etc.
If I see a wide number of artists on a playlist with the same primary city listed, I know there’s likely to be a problem.
Example:
This playlist is clearly (to me) built on data center bots, and, as such, I want to avoid it like the plague, even going so far as to contact the playlister to remove my song if it has been added to the rotation.
It’s easy to grow on Spotify by faking the numbers, and with a small amount of money and a little bit of know-how, anyone can do it.
But I want my growth to be legitimate, and I want real people enjoying my music, even if it’s only a fraction of what the vanity numbers potentially could be.
And I carry the same philosophy for the artists I work with as well—I would rather see slower, more intentional gains than fake metrics that only look impressive at first glance.
So if you’re like me and you’re after legitimate streams from legitimate listeners, these tips may help you navigate the world of music marketing so you can only invest in the avenues that generate the kind of returns you truly want to see.
Good luck out there. 🫡
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.