Every release lives in eight or nine places: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, maybe TikTok. Your listener uses one of them and does not care about the rest. A smart link is a single page that shows all of them and lets each person pick theirs.
That is the whole idea. The rest of this article is about doing it well.
Why one link beats a list of links
- One thing to remember and share. You paste the same URL into bios, posts, emails and video descriptions. Other people can share it without asking which platform you prefer.
- It never goes stale. When a song gets added to a new service, you add the button on the page. The link in last month's post now shows it too.
- You see the clicks. A plain Spotify URL tells you nothing. A smart link tells you how many people clicked, from where, and which platform they chose. That last number changes what you post next.
- It can do jobs a platform URL cannot. Collect an email, show a pre-save before release and a "listen" button after, hold a download gate for the free version.
What a good link page looks like
The page has one job: get the visitor to their platform in one tap. Everything on it should serve that.
Above the fold
Artwork, artist name, track title, and the platform buttons. On a phone the first two or three buttons should be visible without scrolling. Order them by where your listeners actually are, which you will learn from the click data after the first release.
The buttons
Use the platform's name and logo, nothing clever. "Listen on Spotify" outperforms "Stream it here". If a platform is a poor fit for the release (a Bandcamp button for a single you are not selling), leave it off. Fewer, relevant buttons convert better than a complete list.
Optional extras
A short description or the release date can help when the link is shared by someone else. An email field can work if you offer something for it. A follow button for your main platform is worth adding under the streaming buttons. Anything beyond that (long bios, multiple videos, merch grids) belongs on a different page.
Speed
The page has to load fast on a mobile connection because that is where nearly all clicks come from. Compress the artwork. Avoid autoplaying video.
The bio link question
Instagram and TikTok give you one link. The wrong answer is to point it at your latest single and forget it. The two answers that work:
- One smart link per release, updated in the bio every time. Highest conversion for the current single, but the older posts pointing at the bio lose their context.
- A permanent artist page with your latest release on top and the rest below. Slightly lower conversion for the new single, but it never breaks and it works as a home for people who found you through an old post.
If you release often, use the permanent page and put the new single at the top. If you release twice a year, update the bio link per release.
Before and after release day
A link page can change what it shows based on the date. Before release, it shows pre-save buttons; on release day it switches to streaming buttons automatically. Set it up once, share it in every announcement, and every old post keeps working after the song is out. This is the single most useful thing a smart link does that a platform URL cannot.
Reading the data
After a release, three numbers are worth a look:
- Clicks per source. Which posts, stories or emails sent people. Post more of what worked.
- Platform share. If 70 percent choose Spotify, put it first and put your promotion effort there. If YouTube is second, add your video.
- Click to platform ratio. Of people who opened the page, how many tapped a button. Below about half usually means the page is slow, the artwork is missing, or the buttons are below the fold on phones.
Look at these per release and compare releases, not days.
Custom domains and branding
A link on your own domain (music.yourname.com/new-single) looks like yours and is easier to say out loud on a podcast or at a show. It also keeps working if you ever change tools. If your link service allows a custom domain, use it; it is a one-time setup.
Remove the tool's branding from the page if you can. The page should look like part of your world, not someone else's product.
A quick setup checklist
- Create the link the day the release is scheduled, with pre-save buttons.
- Add the streaming buttons; order them by your last release's platform share.
- Put the same URL in your bio, pinned post, video descriptions and email signature.
- On release day, check the page switched to streaming buttons. Click each one.
- A week later, read clicks per source and platform share. Write down what you would change next time.
You can create smart links with pre-save switching, a custom domain and per platform click stats on HypeLoves; smart links are free without limits.
Key takeaways
- One URL per release, used everywhere, that never goes stale.
- Artwork, title and platform buttons above the fold; order buttons by real platform share.
- Use pre-save to listen switching so old posts keep working after release.
- For frequent releases, a permanent artist page in the bio beats swapping links.
- Read clicks per source and platform share per release, then adjust the page and your posting.