Spotify Presses Button on ‘Showcase’ Tool In Australia

Australian creators can now get their hands on Spotify’s Showcase, a new marketing tool that enables creators to highlight new and catalog releases to likely listeners.

Spotify for Artists previewed Showcase at last year’s Stream On as an in-test campaign weapon. At the time, the product was only available in the United States, with the promise of making it “more widely available in the near future.”

That time has come.

Over the coming weeks, artists and teams with Australia-based billing will be eligible to use Showcase if they have had at least 1,000 streams in the last 28 days in one of the available 36 target markets.

Showcase appears on the mobile Home screen as a sponsored recommendation with a series of customizable headlines — new music, recently released, release anniversary, getting buzz, and more — which allows users to connect with listeners and give context on the release they’re featuring.

Musicians can spotlight a single, EP or album with multiple campaigns to reach different goals, each targeting different markets or listener segments. On average, people who see a Showcase are six-times more likely to stream the promoted release, according to Spotify.

“We’re constantly talking with artists and their teams to better understand how we can help them grow their fan base more effectively,” comments Phoebe Deards, product marketing manager for Spotify for Artists. “While playlist pitching is an opportunity for artists to find new audiences and Marquee helps them make a splash for their new releases, today there are more moments than ever where promotion can drive impact. Artists want more ways to capture listener interest and drive engagement with more of their music.”

Showcase, explains Deards, “gives them the ability to do just that: now artists can amplify a new release, give their catalog an encore, turn viral buzz into long-term fandom, and more – right at the moments that matter most and on the most visited place on Spotify: Home.”

Spotify recently announced a market-leading 602 million monthly active listeners, of which 236 million are premium subscribers.

Royalties generated by Australian artists from Spotify in 2023 reportedly reached nearly $275 million, up almost 10% since 2022, according to the streamer’s Loud & Clear report.

In Australia, half of the population is on Spotify every month, Mikaela Lancaster, Spotify’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand, told The Music Network during SXSW Sydney 2023.