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4 Major Steps to Break into Apple Music’s Top 100

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4 Major Steps to Break into Apple Music's Top 100

Getting your music into Apple Music’s Top 100 is a big deal for any artist. Achieving this milestone will boost your visibility, unlock new opportunities, and be the breakthrough that your career desperately needs.

As the saying goes “Nothing good comes easy”, same for reaching this milestone. It takes more than just putting out good music, It requires calculated moves, massive promotion, and a solid understanding of how Apple Music works.

In this article, I’ll cover four key steps you need to take to break into Apple Music’s Top 100.

Create Relatable Music

The first and most crucial step to breaking into Apple Music’s Top 100 is creating music that truly connects with listeners. As an artist, the first lesson you should know is that “music standard is non-negotiable”, you need to be able to create relatable music consistently. Here are some short tips to make sure your music hits the right notes:

Know Your Audience: Have a detailed understanding of who your listeners are, what they enjoy, and the vibe they resonate with. Your music must always reflect those flows, whether through relatable lyrics, fast-paced beats, or your vocals.

Stay Authentic: While it’s important to make sure your music resonates with a wide audience, it’s just as important to maintain your artistic identity. Being authentic and real makes your music more relatable to people, which can lead to more streams and better chart rankings. Remember people love to celebrate humans, not some glorified lifestyle

Test Your Music: Before releasing a track, share it with a small group of listeners and gather their feedback. This can help you identify what works and what might need tweaking. Testing your song is the best shot at creating relatable music.

A Proper Marketing Campaign

A lot of artists these days focus more on music/video production and neglect its promotion. That approach is synonymous with preparing a feast without inviting people to join in the feasting.

A proper marketing campaign is more than just a series of advertisements or promotional tactics – it’s a cohesive, data-driven approach that aligns with your goals, understands the audience’s expectations, and gets your music in Apple Music’s Top 100.

Set Clear Goals: Decide what you want this marketing campaign to achieve. Are you aiming for a specific number of streams, playlist spots, or media coverage? Having clear goals will help you concentrate your efforts where they matter most.

Utilize Social Media: Promote your music on all social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok. Share behind-the-scenes content, teasers, and countdowns to create buzz. Keep your audience engaged by replying to comments and messages, and make them feel involved in your release.

Make A Press Release: A solid press campaign will provide the credibility your song needs to rise in the charts. Reach out to music bloggers, magazines, and news outlets to get featured. Don’t forget to send press releases and share your story on your social media page—what makes your music unique and why it matters.

Run Ads: Continuously run targeted ads on social media and Google. These ads can help you reach new listeners who might not have found your music yet.

Invest in a Heavy Playlisting Campaign

Playlist placements are the gatekeepers into Apple Music’s Top 100 chart. By investing in a heavy playlisting campaign, you can unlock the full potential of your music, reach a vast audience, boos your streaming numbers, and break into the Apple Music Charts.

Pitch to Curators: Submit your song to lots of Apple Music playlist curators, with both editorial and user-generated playlist targets in mind. Getting in on either playlist will give your streams a huge boost. Ensure you customize your pitch for each curator, highlighting why your song is a perfect fit for their playlist.

Engage Your Network: Tell your fans, friends, and fellow artists to add your song to their playlists. The more playlists your track is featured on, the more streams it will generate, improving its chances of climbing the charts easily.

Use Playlist Promotion Services: Use SounDisruptr playlist promotion services or other services that have direct connections with curators. Their leverage can help secure spots on playlists that are known to drive substantial streams.

Create Your Playlists: Don’t underestimate the impact of creating your own playlists. Curate a list that features your song alongside other popular tracks. Share this playlist with your followers and encourage them to share it with their mutuals.

Prioritize Shazam

Shazam plays a surprisingly key role in boosting your position on Apple Music charts. Here’s how to make the most of it:

Encourage Shazaming: As part of your promotion efforts, ask your listeners to Shazam your song. The more Shazams it gets, the better its chances of landing in Apple Music’s Top 100.

Use Social Media: while promoting your song on social media, end each post with a clear call to action asking your followers to Shazam it. This request can greatly increase your song’s visibility on both Shazam and Apple Music.

Include Shazam in Your Live Performances: During live shows, remind your audience to Shazam your song. This works especially well if you’re performing new or unreleased tracks that listeners might want to track down later.

Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with social media influencers who can use your song in their TikTok dance videos, IG reels or comedy skits. This will prompt their followers to Shazam the track. This can give your song a significant boost, especially if the influencer has a large following.

Understanding Apple Music Charts

it’s important to understand how Apple Music charts work. Apple Music’s Top 100 charts rank songs based on a combination of factors, including the number of streams, downloads, and user engagement metrics like Shazam tags and playlist additions. Unlike traditional charts, Apple Music’s charts update regularly, meaning the more consistent your song’s performance, the higher it can climb.

Understanding how Apple Music charts work is crucial as well. Apple Music’s Top 100 charts rank songs based on a mix of factors, including streams, downloads, and user engagement metrics like Shazam tags and playlist additions.

Unlike other charts, Apple Music’s rankings are frequently updated, so the more consistently your song performs, the higher it can climb. Here’s all there is to know:

Streams Matter: The more your song is streamed, the better its chances of ranking high. However, it’s not just about total streams—what matters is sustained, daily streams from audiences.

Engagement is Key: Apple Music places a lot of value on songs that get added to playlists, saved to libraries, and searched for on Shazam. High engagement shows that listeners are truly connecting with your music.

Timing Can Boost Your Position: Songs that gain quick momentum after release are more likely to rise to the charts. A strong launch followed by ongoing promotion is key to maintaining this momentum.

Conclusion

Getting into Apple Music’s Top 100 isn’t just about making great music like I said earlier— it’s crucial to follow each step outlined in this article closely. The goal is to make your music viral,  and these steps will boost your chances of making the charts and elevating your music career to new levels.

 

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Do you have any advice for promoting music independently? Or any thoughts on these tips? Let us know in the comments below.

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