The Spotify Campaign Kit is a set of in-app promotion tools—Playlist Pitching, Discovery Mode, Marquee, and Showcase—available in Spotify for Artists.

TL;DR

The Campaign Kit consolidates four promotional tools in one place within Spotify for Artists. It’s strongest at reaching listeners who are already on Spotify and primed to stream, with clean, native placements. It’s less flexible than social ads for storytelling and doesn’t replace first‑party fan capture. For most independent artists and small teams, it’s worth testing around release moments—but it should be one lane in a broader plan, not the plan itself.

A short story about why this exists

Picture a release week you’ve lived through: great music, tidy rollout, reels are popping—and your budget goes mostly to Meta and YouTube because that’s where you can tell the story and find new people. Fans click off those platforms to listen on Spotify, where the stream happens and the royalties are paid. In that hand‑off, there’s a tug‑of‑war: Meta and Google own most of your ad euros, but Spotify – as the end of the path – also wants a piece of your pocket.

Spotify’s answer has evolved over the years. The company has always had on-platform promotions, but they were scattered and inconsistent—hard to access, with uneven eligibility, and inconsistent naming. Campaign Kit is Spotify’s attempt to pull the pieces together, wrap them in clearer audience segments, and make “promote where listening happens” feel less like a leap of faith.

There’s a business context, too. Spotify earns revenue from subscriptions and from advertising. A significant share of listeners are on the free, ad‑supported tier, which means promoting to people already inside the app feels simply convenient. In Q2 2025, roughly 433M of 696M monthly users were ad‑supported (about 62%). And just days ago, Spotify expanded what its Free tier can do, giving non‑paying users more control over what they play. Put simply: more free listeners, with more freedom, equals more inventory for Spotify Ads—and a larger in‑app audience you can reach with Campaign Kit (and beyond).

With that frame in mind, let’s unpack the kit—piece by piece—using Spotify’s own definitions and examples.

What is the Spotify Campaign Kit?

In one sentence: The Campaign Kit is a hub within Spotify for Artists that bundles four music-specific promotion tools, allowing you to reach listeners within Spotify and view results in the same place.
It bundles four tools designed for music marketing on Spotify: Playlist Pitching (free), Discovery Mode (exposure on personalized surfaces with a royalty trade-off on opted tracks), Marquee (paid, full-screen recommendation), and Showcase (paid, Home promotion for new or catalog tracks). The promise is simple: reach the right listeners where they choose what to play, then measure engagement in Spotify for Artists.

It also connects to Spotify’s audience segments—programmed, previously active, active (light, moderate, super), and the potential audience—so you can aim each tool at people in different stages of their journey with you.

Campaign Kit at a glance 

1) Playlist Pitching (free)

What it is. Your pre‑release submission to editorial teams, with fields for metadata and story. Done inside Spotify for Artists before the track goes live.

Where it helps. Pre‑release momentum, editorial consideration, and a clean launch day footprint that can add programmed discovery later. Strong metadata, combined with a straightforward narrative, helps editors (and algorithms) understand the track.

Pros. Free; native; ties directly to your artist profile and upcoming release; improves the odds of early playlist momentum without ad spend.

Cons. Competitive; no guarantees; limited to unreleased music; doesn’t build owned contacts; story field is short, so it’s not a place for deep brand‑building.

Segments it touches. Primarily, the programmed audience (editorial/personalized sources) is targeted at first; if the song is successful, it can spill into active segments as fans save and return.

2) Discovery Mode (royalty trade‑off on selected tracks)

What it is. You choose specific tracks to be prioritized across personalized listening contexts such as Radio and Autoplay. In exchange, streams driven by those Discovery Mode placements pay a lower per‑stream rate for the opted tracks during the period you’ve turned it on. You can turn it on or off by track and review performance monthly.

Where it helps. Nudging more listeners to your chosen songs inside algorithmic contexts where people are open to discovery; expanding reach across markets; building saves and repeat listens that fortify your catalog.

Pros. Targets the moments where discovery actually happens; flexible (track‑by‑track); can lift saves, playlist adds, and follows during the first month; useful to prime the ground before a release or to revive a sleeper.

Cons. The trade‑off is real: a lower rate on streams from Discovery Mode contexts for the opted tracks. If a track is already thriving organically in Radio/Autoplay, the incremental lift may be smaller. No owned data; the effect is inside Spotify.

Our stance. For many indie teams, Discovery Mode can be a reasonable trade‑off—because it’s limited to chosen songs and only applies to eligible contexts. It’s also future‑facing: you decide per track, per window. If your catalog already triggers strong Radio and Autoplay on its own, it’s worth pausing to weigh whether the extra lift beats the rate reduction. Either way, this isn’t an always‑on switch; it’s a selective lever around moments.

Segments it touches. Strongest with programmed and potential audiences; success often flows listeners into your active audience as they save and return.

3) Marquee (paid, full‑screen recommendation)

What it is. A sponsored, full‑screen recommendation shown to targeted listeners the next time they open Spotify after your new release drops. Priced on a cost‑per‑click basis with a campaign window (typically up to 10 days).

Where it helps. Release week and the two weeks after—turning casual or lapsed listeners into active ones, and getting the new release heard quickly by people most likely to care.

Pros. Native, high-intent moment (app open); click-based pricing; the ability to choose audience segments, such as active (light/moderate/super), or previously active; reporting is available inside Spotify for Artists.

Cons. Budget required (plan small tests; e.g., $250 / €250 / £200 pilots); creative is constrained (this is a recommendation, not a social video canvas); best performance generally requires an existing listener base; limited storytelling room vs off‑platform ads.

Segments it touches. Useful for active and previously active audiences; can also be aimed at programmed or potential listeners when scale supports it.

4) Showcase (paid, Home promotion for new or catalog)

What it is. A sponsored recommendation tile on the Spotify Home screen. Unlike Marquee—which is tied closely to a new drop—Showcase can spotlight new or catalog at any time.

Where it helps. Heating specific markets before a tour; reviving catalog clusters; giving a moment to a track that’s trending off‑platform and needs in‑app momentum.

Pros. Sits where many users start listening (Home); flexible timing beyond release week; audience segment targeting similar to Marquee; reporting shows amplified, reactivated, and new active listeners.

Cons. Budget required; creative constraints; not a substitute for broader storytelling or owned capture.

Segments it touches. Works across active, previously active, and programmed audiences; can be tuned to potential where available.

And yes—there’s also Spotify Ads (Audio)

Separate from the Campaign Kit, Spotify Ads allows brands (and artists with brand budgets) to run audio ads that play between songs or in podcasts, sometimes accompanied by a clickable companion display. These live in the Ads Manager world, not in Campaign Kit. They’re helpful when you want a broader reach across Free listeners with brand‑style creative, but they aren’t a direct substitute for the music‑specific tools above.

Why Spotify is leaning into the Free tier

Spotify has recently expanded the capabilities of Free users, giving them more control over searching and playing. That shift broadens the reach of in-app promos and Spotify Ads. It also matters for you: a larger, more capable Free audience means more people you can reach inside Spotify without asking them to jump platforms. Combined with the fact that a majority of Spotify’s users are on the ad‑supported tier, there’s a clear incentive for Spotify to make in‑app promotion work better for artists and labels.

How Campaign Kit maps to audience segments

Spotify’s audience model in Spotify for Artists breaks down into:

• Programmed audience: people who’ve heard you via programmed sources (editorial/personalized playlists, Radio, Autoplay) but haven’t intentionally streamed you in the last two years.
• Previously active audience: listeners who used to stream you intentionally but haven’t in the past 28 days.
• Active audience: listeners who intentionally streamed you in the last 28 days—from light to moderate to super listeners (your most engaged fans).
• Potential audience: people who don’t stream you yet, but whose habits suggest they might.

In practice:

• Playlist Pitching feeds the programmed layer first and can push folks toward active as they save/return.
• Discovery Mode is designed for programmed/potential discovery contexts, and when it is activated, it converts some into active ones.
• Marquee is a fast way to turn previously active back on and deepen active engagement during release windows.
• Showcase can touch all three—spotlighting a catalog cluster to programmed and previously active, while keeping active listeners leaning in.

Is it worth it? A balanced view

If the goal is to trigger the algorithm and build momentum inside Spotify, Campaign Kit is designed for that lane. It shines when you want reach among people who are already in listening mode, and it reaches pockets of listeners you won’t find efficiently on social. That said, it doesn’t replace owned fan capture or off‑platform storytelling. Most teams get the best results by spreading budget across a few lanes—testing small, reading the lift in Spotify for Artists, and keeping the lights on with your broader top‑of‑funnel.

On Discovery Mode, we’re generally positive for selective use: it’s limited to the tracks you choose, and the royalty trade‑off only applies to streams from Discovery Mode contexts. For future releases and specific catalog picks, it can be a helpful reminder. If a track is already getting steady Radio/Autoplay on its own, think twice before toggling it on—your organic lift might already be doing the job.

FAQ

Is Campaign Kit available to everyone? Access varies by country, account history, and the rollout of features. Check eligibility inside Spotify for Artists.

Marquee vs Showcase—what’s the difference? Marquee is a time‑boxed, full‑screen recommendation typically tied to a new release. Showcase is a Home tile you can run for new or catalog at any time.

Is Discovery Mode “payola”? Spotify frames it as an opt‑in trade‑off for specific tracks in discovery contexts. The rate reduction only applies to streams driven by Discovery Mode. It’s best treated as a selective tool, not a blanket strategy.

How do I measure success if I’m also running social ads? Time-box the in-app campaign and maintain a simple pre- and post-baseline for streams, saves, and conversions to active/super listeners in Spotify for Artists.

Can Campaign Kit replace my off‑platform ads? It’s more of a complement. Campaign Kit reaches listeners inside Spotify; social and search excel at storytelling, video, and owned audience growth.

Verdict

The Campaign Kit is worth a thoughtful spot in the plan—especially around releases and catalog moments—because it meets listeners where they choose to play. Treat it as a complement to your creative storytelling and first‑party capture, not a replacement. Small, structured tests go a long way in this regard.