Buy Spotify Plays

A play count is the first thing listeners judge

Spotify shows play counts on album pages and on an artist's popular tracks. When someone finds your song through a share, a search or a playlist, they see that number before deciding whether to listen. A play is counted when a track plays for at least 30 seconds, and a track shows no count at all on your artist page until it passes 1,000 plays.

An honest word on streams

Spotify filters streams it considers artificial and does not pay royalties on them, and tracks need at least 1,000 streams in a year to earn royalties at all. Treat plays as social proof that makes a new release look heard, not as income or a way to qualify for payouts. If royalties matter to you, check Spotify's current rules with your distributor.

Choose a market

• Worldwide: $5 for 1,000 plays.
• Australia: $12 for 1,000 plays.

Delivery takes one to three days on the track you choose.

When plays help most

• On a new release, to get it past the 1,000 mark where its count appears.
• Before pitching to playlist curators, bloggers or bookers who will open the track.
• Alongside saves and followers, so the numbers on your profile look consistent.

How it works

Paste the Spotify link to the track and check out. We only need the track link, never your Spotify password.

Price and delivery

Spotify plays are $5 per 1,000 worldwide, or $12 per 1,000 from Australia. Larger orders are multiples of 1,000, with a package discount that grows with the order: 5% off two or three packs, 10% off four or five, and 15% off ten or twenty. Delivery takes one to three days, or longer on a slower speed.

Which link to use

Plays go to a single track. In Spotify, open the song, tap the three dots or Share, and choose Copy Song Link. Track links look like open.spotify.com/track/… Use a track link, not an album, playlist or artist link, so the plays reach the song you are promoting.

Where the play count shows

Spotify shows a play count next to each song on an album page and in an artist's Popular list. That number is what listeners, curators and bookers see first. Spotify only shows the count once a song passes a minimum number of plays, so a brand-new release can look like it has no plays at all. Plays help a song get past that point and show a figure that matches the rest of your profile.

How many plays to order

Plays should fit your profile. An artist with 300 monthly listeners and one song at 400,000 plays looks odd to anyone who checks. As a rough guide:

• New artists: 1,000 to 5,000 plays on a new single.
• Artists with a few thousand monthly listeners: 5,000 to 20,000 plays.
• Established artists: scale in line with your other songs' counts.

Pair plays with monthly listeners and followers, so the profile tells one story.

Worldwide or Australia

Worldwide plays are the most affordable and suit international releases. Australian plays suit Australian artists and releases aimed at the Australian market, where Spotify for Artists will show listening from the same country as the rest of your audience.

A worked example

A singer-songwriter releases their debut single and promotes it on Instagram and at local gigs. A week in, the song still shows no play count on their profile. They order 5,000 worldwide plays ($22.50 with the 10% package discount) on a slower speed over several days, and add followers to their artist profile. When a venue booker checks their Spotify, the single shows a play count and the profile looks like an artist people are listening to.

Keep expectations honest

Plays raise the visible count. They do not get a song onto editorial playlists, and they should not be treated as a way to earn royalties: Spotify's terms prohibit artificial streams and it can remove plays it considers invalid. Use plays to give a release a credible starting point, alongside real promotion.

Before you order

• Check the track is live on Spotify.
• Copy the track link, open.spotify.com/track/…
• Choose a slower delivery speed for larger orders, so the plays build over several days.
• Look at your other songs' counts, so the new one fits your profile.

Plays alongside the rest of a release

A release looks strongest when its numbers agree. Plays on the single, monthly listeners on your profile, followers who carry over to the next release and saves in your Spotify for Artists statistics all tell one story. Release a new song every six to eight weeks if you can, promote each one on the platforms where your fans are, and use plays to make sure no release starts with an empty count.

Fans who discover you through one release often go back to your older songs, so keep your profile, Artist Pick and playlists up to date, and make every song worth finding.

If you work with a distributor, check that your release has the right genre, mood and language metadata, since Spotify uses it to understand who the song is for. Clean metadata, a strong cover and a clear release date help real listeners find the song.