I build release pages on the artist's own website, with the video, the store, every listen link, a signup and the merch in one place. Here is the layout we built for Todd Snider.
Fans are most likely to buy music and merch while they are listening. So the page that sends them to Spotify should also show them the record and the shirt.
The video, listening links, email signup and merch all fit the release instead of a template. We control the whole page, and that's where we put our conversion work.
In this post:
- What goes on a listen page, top to bottom, and why the store link sits first
- Why we build the page on the artist's site and not a label's or distributor's link
- What Todd Snider's own site contributed to his store, next to Facebook
- How to build one template that serves every release
Build your listen pages with us
What should a smart link page have on it?
This is my starting layout, five things in this order. Adjust it when the campaign's main goal is a stream or a signup rather than a sale.
- The music video, if there is one. It is the best thing you have, so it goes first.
- The official store link, at the top of the link list. A fan who wants the record should not scroll past nine streaming services to find it.
- Every listen link, and the pre-save links before release.
- An email signup. Someone who came to listen is a fan you can reach next time.
- The merch. The vinyl, the bundles and the shirts, shown off at the bottom to drive the sale.
Every release gets its own page at the same kind of address, like toddsnider.net/listen/crank-it. Todd's site has more than 50 of them. One link goes in the bio, the emails, the ads and the video descriptions.
Spotify's own Countdown Pages also put merch next to the pre-save. The difference is that a listen page on your site carries your signup and your store, and counts the visit as yours.
Why build it on your own site?
On the artist's own page you control the design, the offers and the tracking. Your pixel is on it, so the visitors it can track, within each platform's consent rules, go into your own retargeting audiences. The page matches the artist's brand, and you decide what sits next to the play buttons.
Don't send fans to the smart link a label or distributor builds for you. In my experience that link almost always carries their pixel, not yours, and the email signups go to them. You'll probably never see those fans. It's frustrating, and I don't think it's fair. A hosted tool you set up and pay for yourself can carry your pixel and capture your signups, and they're easy to create, so make your own. For full control, build the page on the artist's site.
The one exception is the pre-sale. When a distributor or label runs the pre-order, we use their link for that piece and put it on our page.
If the store is on Shopify and the site is not, the Shopify Buy Button can put products and a cart on any page. If you want the store built into the site, see our musician websites and band website design pages.
What did it do for Todd Snider's store?
Todd's listen pages live on toddsnider.net, next to the rest of his site. From 2022 to 2026, toddsnider.net referred more store sales than Facebook, Google search or Instagram.
It sent more than twelve times what Instagram did. Only direct and unknown traffic brought more.
That number covers the artist's whole website, not just the listen pages. The Shopify export used here reports referring domains, not pages, so the listen pages can't be pulled out of it on their own. Tag the store links on each page so you can measure them next time.
How do you track which listen page sold the record?
Tag links from emails and ads, and give the store links on each page their own UTM tags: the source, the medium and the release name. Google explains the format in its guide to campaign URLs. Track which release page a fan viewed and which store link they clicked. If the artist's site and store use separate domains in one GA4 setup, configure cross-domain measurement so the original source of the visit is preserved.
How do you build it once for every release?
Ours is one template fed by a list of releases: title, cover, video, and the links for each service. A new release is a new entry in the list, not a new page design.
We built a smart link page kit from the Todd pages. Download the smart link page kit (ZIP, 1.6 MB): the page template, logos for 15 streaming and music services, and each service's rules for using its logo.
See how the pages fit the rest of Todd's campaigns in the Todd Snider story. To fill the signup on the page before the first single, read how to grow your list with comment-to-subscribe.
Questions musicians ask
Can I use a hosted smart link service instead?
Yes, if you set it up and pay for it yourself, so the pixel and the signups are yours. Avoid the link a label or distributor makes for you, except for a pre-sale they run.
What order should the links go in?
Video first, then the official store at the top of the link list, then every listen and pre-save link, then the email signup, then the merch.
What should you do this week?
- Build the listen page on the artist's own site, or on a hosted tool you control. Not the label's link.
- Start with video, store link, listen links, signup, merch, and adjust to the campaign's goal.
- Tag every store link so you can see which release sold.
Build one listen page for your latest release, put the merch at the bottom, and swap it into your bio. Your fans are already listening. Give them something to buy while they do.
