[FAQ]

Hey,

I’ve been working hard on my artist profile, and I’m really curious about the “Fans Also Like” section. Right now, it’s showing a few artists that I don’t think are a great fit for my sound, and I’m worried it might be sending potential new listeners in the wrong direction.

How does Spotify’s algorithm actually build this list? Is it just based on what my listeners are streaming, or does it look at other things too?

More importantly, is there anything I can do to influence it? I’d love for it to show artists that I’m genuinely similar to or inspired by, but I can’t find any ‘edit’ button for it. It feels like a really important discovery tool, and I want to make sure it’s working for me, not against me.

[Jeff Bullas]

This is a common point of confusion for new artists.

Short Answer: You cannot edit “Fans Also Like” directly. It is an algorithmic section based on listener data and external text-based information gathered from around the web.

Let’s look at the data signals that feed this algorithm and how you can influence them.

This feature is generated by Spotify’s algorithm, which analyses two main types of content. First, it processes audio listening data, looking for audience overlap between you and other artists; if your fans frequently play another artist’s audio content, that artist is a strong candidate for this section. Second, the system crawls the web for text-based content like blogs and press, analysing your artist bio and online articles to see which other artists you are textually associated with. The best way to influence this is to first create your own ‘Artist Playlists’ that feature your audio alongside the audio of artists you want to be associated with. Second, ensure your text-based artist bio and any press you generate clearly mention your influences and peers, as this text-based data provides a strong signal for the algorithm.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

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