TikTok is reportedly testing a feature that allows fans to pre-save upcoming albums so they are automatically added to users' music libraries on Spotify or Apple Music once they're released.
Test newsalbum-pre-saves/” target=”_blank”> first reported by Music Ally. A spokesperson for the platform declined to comment.
Pushing for pre-saves has been a staple of music marketing on TikTok for years. Artists encourage their fans to not just watch and comment on their latest videos, but to go the extra mile by clicking a link, connecting to their streaming service of choice and pre-saving a track to add to their personal libraries when this comes out. Pre-save links used by artists are usually created by third-party companies such as Linkfire and Feature.FM.
Completing a pre-save is not a passive activity. Since it takes extra work from fans, it's often been seen in the music industry as a critical sign of their commitment — and an important predictor of future streams. If an artist teases a song on TikTok and doesn't get a lot of pre-saves, they might not even bother releasing it officially.
“The industry is obsessed with [pre-saves] because of all the recent examples of success that people' have had when running these campaigns, Conor Lawrenceco-founder of indify, he said in 2022. “It's the ability [of pre-saves] to capture and convert attention into fans — and dollars through streaming revenue — that caused the obsession” with them.
Artists like Lauren Spencer-Smith and David Kushner amassed impressive pre-save totals that were seen across the industry in 2021 and 2022. Kushner, for example, earned 146,000 pre-saves before the release of “Miserable Man” and more than 137,000 before the release of “Mr. Unforgettable,” according to Rolling Stone.
Spotify added its own pre-save feature in 2023. During its stream On 2023 event, the company said that over 80% of pre-savers stream a song within the week of its debut.
It stands to reason that TikTok will eventually look to provide artists with a similar pre-save feature. It also fits with TikTok's recent emphasis on “Add to Music App,” which allows users to save a track they discover on the platform to their preferred streaming service with relative ease.
In October, Instagram launched its own version of the 'Add to Music App'.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/tiktok-tests-album-pre-saves/