Artists and labels can gate content to get Spotify follows

Digital music marketing campaign tool Show.co has claimed it’s the first marketing platform to allow gating in exchange for a Spotify follow: where artists and labels can ask visitors to follow a playlist, artist or user in order to unlock content.

Show.co, created by the team behind the now defunct social listening app Snowdrop, have said Spotify follows are one of the most valuable digital “currencies” available in the music industry and campaigns that put restrictions on content in return for user engagement has been successful in the past.

Damien Fischetti, the digital strategist for Polydor France, worked with Show.co on a similar gated campaign with German band Tokio Hotel, for their album Kings of Suburbia.

“Thanks to the email gating feature on this very page, we were able to collect the email addresses of more than 50% of unique visitors,” said Fischetti. “Moreover, the user experience on the Show.co minisite accompanied fans to several links: to purchasing platforms and the entire environment of the artist, like the Vevo channel on YouTube.”

Through a Spotify follow campaign, Show.co clients can gate audio files, SoundCloud tracks and YouTube videos at a cost of $28 a week. The company had previously offered gating in exchange for Facebook 'likes' but the feature was later dropped when Facebook changed its developer platform policy last August. The new policy stated apps "must not incentivize people to use social plugins or to like a Page."