(Check out this article to learn more about the methodology)

Use the Clusters table to identify artist clusters potentially aligned with your artistic goals and strategy. Check the top artists in a cluster, associated genres, addressable audience pools, and similarity scores (gauging the strength of your artist's algorithmic connection to a cluster).
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Leverage these insights to assess whether a cluster aligns with your artist’s sound, vibe, and desired audience profile.

💡 Example: If you’re promoting a dreamy indie pop release, look for clusters featuring artists like Clairo or Dayglow and genres such as indie pop, bedroom pop, chillwave, and dreampop. Multiple clusters might fit your initial criteria.

Access the Cluster Focus view by clicking on any row in the Clusters table or via the navigation panel on the left. Inside the Cluster Focus view, you can navigate between clusters using the dropdown selector.

This view allows you to study each algorithmic audience across five primary dimensions: artists, genres, audience demographics, catalog (how the artist's tracks relate to the audience), and playlists. For each relevant cluster, analyze the data to gain deeper audience insights. To preview the cluster’s sound, generate a sample playlist using the panel on the left.

Use the Cluster Focus view to deepen your understanding of each potential target audience. Ask yourself:

A robust grasp of the cluster will help you prioritize effectively and tailor your marketing approach to the audience.

💡 Example: You notice the cluster's playlists are dominated by Gym & Workout themes, suggesting workout as a key consumption context. Leverage this insight by pitching to relevant editorial and third-party playlists or including "workout" and "gym" as audience interests in digital platform targeting.

💡 Example: You find that the first cluster, while well-aligned with the upcoming release, has a limited addressable audience. You expand your target to include adjacent clusters on the Artist Map, broadening your reach while maintaining consistency.
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💡 Example: Brazil emerges as the second-largest market in your target (32% of the audience pool, after the US). With this insight, you emphasize Brazil in your marketing plan by running a dedicated digital campaign in Portuguese, securing local PR, and pitching to local support.
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Export your target audience data by clicking "Export Current Audience" in the Audience Builder section. Ensure your filters are set to relevant clusters before exporting. Choose "Yes, give me all links" to receive an email with artist profile links across platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), or opt for a simple data export available directly on the platform.
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(This section will deal with how our inisghts are put to use on Spotify. For marketing optimization on Meta, YouTube and TikTok, check our dedicated guides)

Use the Genres References section in the Cluster Focus view or the exported top genres list to optimize your Spotify pitch. Spotify recognizes over 6,000 genres to categorize artist profiles, and this detailed genre data helps you identify the genres associated with your target audience. Note that not all genres will be available for selection on the Spotify form.

Navigate to the Spotify: Pitch Form tab and use top genres to optimize your pitch, increasing the chance of your track getting picked up by the editorial team and recommended via the algorithm.

💡 Example: If your target cluster emphasizes “indie folk” and “alt-country” include these genres in your pitch to improve you chances on editorial playlists, enhancing both visibility and algorithmic performance.

To find suggested pitch genres, navidate to the Spotify: Pitch Form tab, and use the top genres to optimize your pitch, boosting the track's chances of getting noticed by the editorial team and recommended by the algorithm!

💡Example: If your target cluster is heavy on “indie folk” and “alt-country”, include these in your pitch to increase editorial playlist consideration. This improves both editorial visibility and algorithmic recommendations.
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Use Spotify Ads Manager to target audiences based on your identified target clusters:

a) Open Spotify Ads manager and create a new audio or video campaign. Go through the flow, selecting your campaign objective and Name, untill you get to the "Ad Set" step
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b) Under Targeting, go to the Detailed targeting section and select Fan bases

c) Search for the artists in your target clusters and add all of them to your target list (or manually select the most relevant ones fi your targets are getting too broad).

Curate thematic playlists that combine your artist’s tracks with songs from relevant artists in your target clusters. This helps engage listeners, expand your artist universe, and strengthen your algorithmic profile on Spotify (you can always use the Cluster Sample Playlist as a starting point)

A successful artist playlist cultivates shared listenership patterns, reinforcing algorithmic ties to other artists featured on the playlist and increasing your chances of being recommended to their audiences.

💡 Keep Playlists On-Brand: Ensure playlists reflect your artist’s universe on Spotify. Pay attention to the playlist cover, name, and description. For an indie electronic artist, create a playlist like Chill and Electric Nights, featuring your artist alongside acts like ODESZA and Tycho.

💡 Pro Tip: Use a 1:3 ratio of your artist's tracks to others. Place your artist’s songs at the top to maximize streaming volume and help Spotify algorithms establish stronger connections.