What is a pre-save? Spotify pre-save links, explained
A pre-save lets a fan save your song or album before it comes out, so it lands in their library on release day. Here is how it works on Spotify and Apple Music, how to get a pre-save link and how to make people use it.
The details about Spotify below come from Spotify for Artists’ help page on Countdown Pages, checked on October 13, 2026. Platforms change these rules often, so check them again before you plan a campaign. If you don’t have access to Spotify for Artists yet, start with our Spotify for Artists guide.
What a pre-save is
A pre-save is a promise from a listener: “add this to my library when it comes out.” The fan taps a button before release day; when the music goes live, it appears in their library without them having to look for it. On Apple Music the same idea is called a pre-add.
For you, a pre-save does two things. It turns the attention you get before a release — a teaser, a show, an interview — into something that still counts on release day. And it tells you, before the date, how many people are actually waiting for the song.
Pre-save on Spotify: Countdown Pages
Spotify has its own pre-save inside the app, called Countdown Pages. According to Spotify for Artists:
- It is for new albums and EPs. Singles, re-releases and deluxe editions are not eligible.
- The artist needs at least 3,000 monthly active listeners (in Spotify for Artists: Audience → Segments).
- The option appears in Spotify for Artists within 72 hours after your distributor or label delivers the release.
- Fans can pre-save, preview the tracklist, watch countdown videos and see merch.
- On release day, Spotify sends a notification to everyone who pre-saved and adds the release to their library.
- You see the number of pre-saves under Upcoming → View Analytics.
Spotify says that, on average, nearly 60% of people who pre-save an album stream it in its first week.
Pre-save links for singles
If you are releasing a single, or you don’t meet the requirements above yet, the usual route is a pre-save link from your distributor or from a smart-link service. The fan opens the link, signs in with their streaming account and gives permission to add the release to their library on release day.
Two things to know before you choose a service: what permissions it asks fans for (some also make them follow you, which some fans don’t like), and whether it lets you see who pre-saved. Read the screen your fans will see before you share the link.
Apple Music: pre-add
On Apple Music, a release can be added to a library before it comes out when it is delivered in advance as a pre-release (pre-order). That is set up through your distributor, not in Apple Music for Artists, and each distributor has its own options — for example, whether you can make one track available right away. Ask yours before you plan the campaign.
How to make a pre-save link
- Deliver the release early. A pre-save needs the release to be in the platforms’ systems with its final date. Delivering several weeks before release also gives you time for editorial pitches — see our release planning checklist.
- Get the codes right. The UPC of the release and the ISRC of each track must be final; a change later can break the link.
- Create the link in your distributor’s tools, in a smart-link service or, for an album or EP that qualifies, in Spotify for Artists (Countdown Page).
- Test it with a friend’s account on a phone, on Spotify and on Apple Music.
- Put it where people already look: your link in bio, your bio on each platform, your EPK and the description of every teaser.
How to get people to pre-save
- Give them something to hear. A pre-save for a song nobody has heard is a hard ask. Post 10 to 20 seconds of it: from the studio, a rehearsal or the video.
- Show the date every time. Each post should say when the song comes out and where the link is.
- Use one link. Send everything to the same link in bio; switch it to the release on the day.
- Ask at your shows. A live audience is the warmest one you have. A QR code on the screen or the merch table works.
- Remind people the week before and the day before, not every day.
- Thank them on release day and give them the next thing: the lyric video, a clip, a show date.
The teaser clips can come from material you already have: TONTRIA Clips cuts vertical clips from a session, a live show or the video, and makes the lyric video and the Spotify Canvas and release assets from a song link. Your smart link on TONTRIA for Artists shows a pre-save button with the link you paste from your distributor or pre-save service while the release is upcoming, and the release itself once it is out.
Common mistakes
- Opening the pre-save two days before release: there is no time to promote it.
- Sharing a link nobody tested, or one that opens a login page with no explanation.
- Asking for a pre-save without letting people hear anything.
- Different links in different places, so you can’t tell what worked.
- Counting the pre-saves and forgetting the fans: on release day, give them a reason to come back.
A pre-save is one step of the release plan, not the plan. For the rest — credits, splits, press and content per week — start with the release planning checklist, and prepare your EPK and your press release at the same time.