The underlying forces that compel you to buy or pay for certain products and services are called Marketing Drivers. As an artist, these are the key details you want to be shared with DSP’s like Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, YouTube, Soundcloud, Pandora, etc. to help you stand out.
In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to know and more…
What Are Marketing Drivers and Why Do I Need Them?
About Marketing Drivers
For artists and labels, Marketing Drivers are the key details that help your release stand out among the thousands of songs our partners receive every day. These details give our Client Marketing team the context they need to better understand your release, your audience, your campaign, and the momentum you’re building around the music.
When submitted through SymphonicMS, these details help our team evaluate your release for potential pitching opportunities, including DSP playlist consideration and other partner-facing features when applicable.
Your music is always the foundation, but your release story, promotional strategy, audience signals, and campaign activity help give that music a stronger case.
The more relevant information you can provide, the better! Strong Marketing Drivers show what is already happening around the release, what you have planned, and why this song, EP, or album deserves attention now.
Some examples of Marketing Drivers include:
- Music videos, visualizers, lyric videos, or other visual assets
- Social media following, engagement, content strategy, and audience growth
- Third-party Spotify playlist adds
- Previous DSP playlist placements, homepage features, or editorial support
- Paid advertising planned for this release
- Premieres, interviews, reviews, blog coverage, and other press pickups
- Radio campaigns, DJ support, mixshow support, or direct DJ relationships
- Tour dates, notable live performances, festival appearances, or shared stages
- Charting history, including iTunes, Billboard, Beatport, Shazam, or other relevant charts
- Brand partnerships, media partnerships, influencer campaigns, or creator support
- Offline marketing campaigns, including wildposting, print, street team activations, or event promotion
- Pre-save, pre-add, pre-order, and smart link campaign data
- Sync placements, licensing opportunities, or TV/film usage
- Artist development points of interest, including management, booking agent, publicist, label support, notable collaborations, or TV/film appearances
For EPs and albums, it’s also important to identify the focus track you want prioritized. This helps our team understand which song should lead the campaign and where the strongest promotional energy is being directed.
How to Submit Marketing Drivers
Providing Marketing Drivers is an important step for DSP editorial consideration and playlist pitching. If your Symphonic plan includes marketing and playlist pitching support, you’ll need to submit your Marketing Drivers through SymphonicMS.
Marketing Drivers are currently only available for Symphonic Partner clients, not Starter plan clients.
To submit your Marketing Drivers:
- Log in to SymphonicMS, where you deliver your music.
- Create and submit your release.
- Once your release is submitted, click Submit Marketing Drivers if the button appears for that release.
- You can also access the form by going to Marketing > DSP Pitching (Marketing Drivers) in SymphonicMS.
- Fill out the form with the strongest release details, campaign plans, audience signals, assets, and promotional activity you have available.
📌 To see the full breakdown of how it works, check out our Help Desk article.
Did you miss our last masterclass on marketing drivers? Check out the full video below…
