Spotify today revealed it is initiating a trial of a new system designed to give artists greater influence over music discovery within the Spotify environment. Upon its introduction, this service will enable artists and their record labels to designate tracks they wish to prioritize, and Spotify will subsequently incorporate a signal to enhance the visibility of these selections through its personalized recommendation algorithms.

While this new service does not involve a direct payment for promotion and requires no initial financial investment from artists or labels, Spotify states that participating artists, labels, and rights holders will be subject to a “promotional recording royalty rate” for streams generated through this service. Streaming activity originating from other areas of the application will remain unaffected.

Initially, the promotional royalty rate will be applied exclusively to specific sections of the Spotify app, namely Spotify Radio and Autoplay. Promoted songs will not be featured on either algorithmic or editorially curated playlists, although Spotify has not dismissed the possibility of extending the service to these areas at a later date.

“Our intention was to create tools that are accessible to artists of all sizes, regardless of their career stage,” explains Charleton Lamb, Spotify Product Marketing Lead, when discussing the new service. This is why the company has chosen not to require any upfront payment from artists and labels, he clarifies.

“We sought a model that was equitable, more democratic, and fair…This model will empower even emerging artists to access promotional opportunities on the same terms as major labels,” Lamb further elaborates.

Spotify is not disclosing the precise details of the royalty rate adjustment for promotions, indicating that it may be subject to modification during the testing phase.

The company also emphasizes its commitment to considering listener engagement and enjoyment in conjunction with this change. Spotify states that if a track resonates well with listeners, it will continue to be promoted. Conversely, if it fails to gain traction, it will be withdrawn.

“We do not guarantee placement for labels or artists, and we only recommend music that we believe listeners will genuinely enjoy,” Spotify states in its official announcement.

Lamb clarifies that this means users may encounter a promoted track if they already listen to that particular genre or artist, but also if other indicators suggest they might appreciate the music. For instance, a promoted track could be presented to a user if it shares acoustic similarities with their existing listening preferences. It could also be suggested to users who listen to comparable artists, or if individuals with similar listening habits also enjoy that song.

The opposite scenario will also hold true. If users with comparable listening habits respond negatively to a promoted track—perhaps by skipping it or reducing their engagement with Radio—the music may be removed from rotation.

“If any recommendation was causing a listener to respond negatively or demonstrate diminished interest in radio features, we would adjust our recommendation strategy,” Lamb explains.

This feedback mechanism can rapidly influence the extent of a track’s promotion, as the recommendation pools for listeners are updated on a daily basis.

Currently, there is no restriction on the number of tracks an artist or label can promote simultaneously, nor is there a time limit on the duration of a promotion.

While artists can promote tracks regardless of their release date, Spotify anticipates that the primary use of this tool will be for catalog music. For example, artists might choose to commemorate an album anniversary or capitalize on a current “cultural moment.”

In essence, this service could be particularly beneficial if an artist experiences a sudden surge in popularity for an older track. This phenomenon is becoming increasingly common, largely due to platforms like TikTok, which frequently resurface older songs when they are featured in viral videos.

For example, when TikTok user Nathan Apodaca—widely known as @420doggface208—shared a video of himself skateboarding while enjoying Ocean Spray’s Cran-Raspberry juice accompanied by Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” the 1977 hit re-emerged on the charts.

TikTok reported that from the video’s release on September 25th through mid-October, the daily usage of “Dreams” in TikTok videos increased by 1,380%, leading to a 374% rise in sales and an 89% increase in streams. This propelled the song back onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 21 after a 43-year absence. It also climbed into the Top Ten of Spotify’s Global and U.S. charts and reached No. 1 on Apple Music.

This is precisely the type of “cultural moment” Spotify now intends to leverage.

Although the service isn’t a straightforward “pay for play” system, it is a financially linked promotional service that effectively allows Spotify to generate additional revenue when streams are “promoted” using the new tool.

Spotify has been gradually exploring the pay-for-play market for several years. In 2019, the company introduced a feature enabling artists to purchase a full-screen recommendation to promote their new album to users identified as fans. Internal documents cited by Rolling Stone indicated that each ad click cost 55 cents.

While targeted toward users likely to appreciate such notifications, the feature drew criticism as a modern form of payola—suggesting that labels with greater financial resources would receive disproportionate exposure.

In prior years, Spotify had also faced scrutiny for allowing payola to influence its playlists. The company also sparked user dissatisfaction in 2018 with an extensive Drake album promotion that prominently featured the album and Drake’s image throughout the app, even on playlists unrelated to his music—such as those dedicated to dance hits and pop music.

This new service, however, aims to address some of the concerns associated with past promotions by prioritizing the delivery of tracks to receptive listeners—and doing so in a more subtle manner than through intrusive ads or widespread global campaigns.

Spotify has previously tested this technology with a limited number of partners, but will now commence a broader rollout of the trial and the promotional rate in the United States.

During the trial period, the company will collaborate with a select group of labels, encompassing both independent and major companies, to gather diverse feedback. Spotify anticipates expanding the feature globally in the future.