Most smart links send fans to a page you don't own with nothing to buy. We build ours on the artist's own site, with the video, the store, every listen link, a signup and the merch.
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.
Most smart links don't. They live on a link company's or a distributor's domain, show a row of streaming logos, and stop there. We build our listen pages on the artist's own site and feature the merch and a subscribe form on them. Almost nobody does this, and it is 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 the page belongs on your site and not a distributor's
- Why Todd Snider's own site sent his store more sales than 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?
Five things, in this order. Each one earns its place.
- 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 agrees with half of this. Its own Countdown Pages 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?
The traffic is yours. The visit lands on your site, your pixels see it, and you can retarget everyone who came to listen. The page matches the artist's brand. And you control what sits next to the play buttons, which is the whole point.
My contrarian take: don't send fans to the smart link a label or distributor builds for you. In my experience working with labels, that link carries their pixel, not yours, and the email signups go to them. You'll probably never see those fans. Smart links are easy to make, so make your own: set one up and pay for it yourself, or better, build the page on your own 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. Since 2022, visits from toddsnider.net have brought his store more sales than Facebook, Google search or Instagram.
It sent more than twelve times what Instagram did. Only direct and unknown traffic brought more.
Be honest about what that number covers. It is the whole site, not just the listen pages. Shopify sees which site an order came from but not which page, so the listen pages can't be pulled out on their own.
What to take from this:
- The artist's own site sent more store sales than Facebook did.
- The site is the one referrer you fully control.
- Tag the store links on each listen page so you can measure the pages next time.
How do you track which listen page sold the record?
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. With tags in place, your analytics and your store can credit each release's page by name.
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. If you want the template, ask for it through the contact form.
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 free smart link service instead?
Yes, if you set it up and pay for it yourself, so your pixel and your signups stay yours. Don't rely on the one a label or distributor makes for you. Their pixel goes on it, the signups go to them, and you rarely see either. We use their link only 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.
Did toddsnider.net really sell more than Facebook?
Yes, from 2022 to 2026. That covers the whole site, not only the listen pages.
What should you do this week?
- Build the listen page on your own site, not a link company's.
- Video, store link, listen links, signup, merch. In that order.
- 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.
