Guides

How to run Meta ads for Spotify streams

Facebook and Instagram ads are one of the few ways an independent artist can put a song in front of new listeners on demand. The catch is measurement: Meta can't see who opens Spotify, so most music ads optimise for cheap clicks instead of real listeners.

This guide shows the whole process in Found Sound: a smart link that tells Meta when someone actually opens your song, an audience built around artists you sound like, and a campaign that runs on your own ad account.

What you need

  • A Found Sound account with your Meta ad account connected (see the setup guide).
  • A song on Spotify, and its share link.
  • Two or more short videos or images for the ad. Vertical video works best on Instagram.
  1. Step 1

    Make a smart link for the song

    Go to Links and create a new link. Paste the Spotify link to your song (a track, album or playlist link works) and create it.

    Found Sound pulls in the artwork and title and builds a landing page. It opens on Spotify, and you can add Apple Music, YouTube, YouTube Music, Deezer, SoundCloud and others from the landing page tab.

    Every tap on that page is sent to Meta as a conversion event. That's what lets your campaign learn who actually opens your music, rather than who clicks.

  2. Step 2

    Build an audience

    Go to Ads, then Audiences, and create a new audience.

    Countries: start with the places your listeners already are. Many artists start with the UK, US, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, then add others by searching.

    Interests: add the genre and era your sound fits (for example "Pop music" and "Pop music of the 2010s"), then artists you sound like. If you sound like Taylor Swift, search for her and add her as an interest.

    Set the age range, gender and (only if it matters) language, and choose placements: Facebook, Instagram or both. Check the estimated reach, name the audience, and save it.

  3. Step 3

    Start a "More streams" campaign

    Back on the Ads page, choose More streams. (More ticket sales is for promoting a show in the cities where your fans are.)

    In Details, pick the smart link you just made. The campaign sends people to that link and optimises for taps on it.

  4. Step 4

    Add your creatives and ad text

    In Creative, drag in your videos or images. You can also use a post from your Instagram, or something already in your Meta library if you've run ads before.

    Add a headline, primary text and description for each one. You can add up to 15 creatives; Meta shows the ones that work more often. Three to five is a good start.

  5. Step 5

    Choose the audience

    In Audience, load the audience you saved. You can still change it here.

    Leave "Split into variants at launch" on to test your interests against each other: each interest becomes its own ad set (up to 6), so you can see which artist or genre brings listeners most cheaply.

  6. Step 6

    Set the budget and launch

    In Budget, set a daily budget in your ad account's currency, and either a run length or no end date (you can switch it off any time).

    Press Launch on Meta. Found Sound creates the campaign on your own ad account and you pay Meta directly. When it's live, you'll see each variant running and its results as they come in.

Tips

  • Give a campaign a few days before judging it. Meta needs time to learn who to show it to.
  • Judge it on cost per link tap and what happens on Spotify, not on likes.
  • When one interest clearly wins, put more budget behind it and switch the losers off.
Try Found Sound

Questions

How much should I spend on Meta ads for my music?

Start with an amount you're happy to lose while you learn, for a week or two. Your ad account has a minimum daily budget, which Found Sound shows you. You pay Meta directly; Found Sound doesn't add a fee to your ad spend.

Can Meta optimise for Spotify streams?

Not directly: Meta can't see inside Spotify. A smart link fixes most of that by sending Meta an event when someone taps through to your song, so the campaign learns from listeners, not just clicks. Streams themselves show up in Spotify for Artists.

Facebook, Instagram or both?

Both is a sensible default. Meta moves budget to whichever placement works better. Choose one only if you have a reason, such as having only vertical video.