Promo to DJs · 5 min read
Smart link for DJ promo: one release page for your track
A smart link is one web address that opens a page with your release and a button for each streaming platform; in NeedlePool a Link Promo campaign makes that page, emails it to your own list and gives you a short link for a bio or a story. The page counts how many people opened it, pressed play and went to each platform, and the email that carries it shows by name who clicked. It has no pre-save, no ad pixels and no routing by country.
What the page does
- 1One page, a button for each platformYou add your links in the campaign and NeedlePool recognises the platform from the address: Spotify, Apple Music, Beatport, Deezer, SoundCloud, YouTube, YouTube Music, TIDAL, Bandcamp, plus a plain website link. Each becomes a coloured button, in the order you set by dragging. Beatport reads “Download on Beatport”, the others “Listen on …”.
- 2A play button on the coverPick Spotify, Beatport or SoundCloud as the player and the cover gets a play button that opens that platform’s own player inside the page. A private SoundCloud link works too. Other platforms don’t offer an embed, so for them the page shows the buttons only.
- 3The details a DJ looks forArtist, title, label, genre, BPM, key and length sit under the cover, with the short text you wrote. The release date is shown only if you leave it switched on. Fields you leave empty are not shown at all.
- 4A short link for stories and biosOnce the campaign is saved you get a short address of the form /l/xxxxxx next to the full one. It redirects to the same page, so the numbers stay in one place.
- 5Your own links under the buttonsQuietly below the buttons the page lists your SoundCloud, Spotify, Beatport, Instagram and YouTube, from your artist profile, so a DJ who liked the track can find the rest.
What you can see afterwards
The page counts people, not clicks: how many opened it, how many pressed play on the cover, and how many went to each platform. Three taps on Spotify by one visitor count as one. The campaign report shows these numbers, so you can tell which platform your listeners actually picked.
These counts are anonymous. The page address carries no personal token, so a click on the page can’t be tied to a name. The name comes from the email that carried the link: the campaign report shows who opened it and who clicked the button in it, per person. A link you paste into a story or a bio gets the page counts only.
In the email report, opens and clicks that look like a mail security scanner (an open within seconds of sending, a burst of clicks on every link) are left out of the numbers, so a security filter does not look like a DJ. The page counts above are not filtered this way.
What it does not do
There is no pre-save, no ad pixels and no choosing a platform by the visitor’s country: everyone sees the same buttons. It is not a place to host or download audio either. Files live on the other kind of page: the shareable link of an Audio Promo campaign has a player, and a DJ who wants the file leaves an email address and confirms it from a link in the email before downloading.
It also isn’t a campaign to the Promo pool. The pool takes Audio Promo, the campaign that carries the track itself, for music a curator can still play first. A release page points at a track that is already out, so it goes to your own lists.
Where it fits in a promo
Before release, send the track to DJs and radio as Audio Promo and see by name who pressed play. In release week, send the release page to your own list and put the short link in your bio. One saved release holds the links, so the page and the email use the same buttons.
The page is open to search engines, and it carries a small “Sent with NeedlePool” line at the bottom. Hiding that line is an option on paid plans.
Questions
What is a smart link?
One address that opens a page with all the places to hear a release, so you don’t have to choose a single platform for your audience. In NeedlePool it is a release page with a button per platform, a play button and a short link.
Can I send the release page to the Promo pool?
No. Link Promo goes to your own lists. The pool is for Audio Promo, where the track itself is hosted and a curator can play it before release.
Can a DJ download the track from the release page?
No. The release page has listening and store buttons only. Downloads sit on the Audio Promo link, where a DJ leaves an email address and confirms it before getting the file.
Does it work as a pre-save?
No. There is no pre-save, no ad pixels and no routing by country. It is a page for a track that is out, or for a private link you want to share.
Do I see who clicked?
By name for the email, yes: the report shows who opened it and clicked its button. On the page itself the counts are anonymous, and so are visits through a short link you posted in a story or a bio.
What does it cost?
Starting is free, with no card and no time limit: you send to your own contacts. Paid plans open our Promo pool in any genre and start at $14.99 a month (Starter).
Keep reading
- Electronic music release planWeek by week: label pitch, promo to DJs and radio, release week.
- How to send promo to DJsThe sending side: what to write, whom to pick, how to follow up.
- How to get DJ support for your trackWhat a DJ needs in order to play a track, and what you can see afterwards.
- DJ promo email templateThree promo emails to copy: to a DJ, to a radio host, and the follow-up.
- Where to find DJs who take promosWhy bought lists fail and where working promo addresses come from.
- How much does music promotion cost?Doing it yourself, paying per curator, agencies and pluggers, and a promo pool.
- NeedlePool for artistsSend music to DJs, radio and labels and see who listened.
- PricingWhat each plan includes.
Make your release page
Start free, no card. Send the page to your own list and see by name who clicked. The Promo pool opens with Starter, $14.99 a month.