Every platform claims to be the best place for artists. Almost none of them can prove it with numbers. We decided to generate our own.
We tracked 300 independent artists across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts for 6 months (July–December 2024), measuring three outcomes that actually matter: Spotify stream increases, new Spotify followers, and email list sign-ups driven from short-video traffic.
TikTok drove the highest stream-per-view ratio (0.8% → Spotify), but YouTube Shorts drove 3× more email sign-ups per 1,000 views.
TikTok: High Reach, Low Ownership
TikTok delivered the highest raw discovery numbers in our study. Artists who went micro-viral (50K–500K views on a single video) saw average stream increases of 12,000–40,000 in the following 7 days.
The problem: almost none of that audience converted to email subscribers or consistent Spotify followers. The TikTok audience is a rented audience — they follow the algorithm to your content, then leave when the algorithm moves on.
Instagram Reels: Best for Community Building
Reels underperformed on raw discovery, but significantly outperformed on community conversion. Artists who posted consistently on Reels saw 2.3× more profile clicks per 1,000 views versus TikTok, and their Spotify follower conversion rate was higher.
YouTube Shorts: The Sleeper
The most underutilised platform in our cohort. YouTube Shorts drove the highest email sign-up rate of any platform — likely because YouTube has strong link-in-description culture and higher intent audiences.
Artists who used Shorts to drive traffic to a lead magnet saw conversion rates of 2–4%, compared to under 0.5% from TikTok.
Our Recommendation
- Under 1,000 monthly listeners: TikTok first, for discovery
- 1,000–10,000 monthly listeners: Add Reels to build community around the TikTok audience
- 10,000+ monthly listeners: Shift effort toward YouTube Shorts + email capture
The goal is to move people off social media and onto your email list as fast as possible. Social platforms are distribution channels, not audience ownership.