What a smart link does
Without a smart link, you post a Spotify link and lose everyone who uses Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music or anything else — or you post five links and lose everyone to choice. A smart link is a small page for one release: artwork, title and a button for each service. Each listener taps the one they use.
A link-in-bio page is related but different: it collects all of an artist’s links. Many artists use both — a smart link per release, and an artist page that lists them. See link in bio for musicians.
What to look for
Accurate matching. The tool should find the same recording on each service, not a cover or a different version with the same name. The most reliable way is by code: the ISRC for a track and the UPC for an album, which identify a recording and a release across services. (What ISRC and UPC are.)
The services your listeners use. Global services are not the whole picture. In Japan, LINE MUSIC and AWA matter; in Korea, Melon, Genie and FLO; in Taiwan and Hong Kong, KKBOX. A good page shows local services first to the people who use them.
Pre-saves before release. If you announce music before it is out, the link should work as a pre-save link and change on release day without a new address.
Useful analytics. Visit counts are not enough. You want clicks through to each service and, most of all, where those visitors came from, so you know which post or ad worked.
Ad tracking. If you run Instagram, Facebook or TikTok ads, you want the click through to a service reported to your ad account as a conversion, ideally also from the server, where ad blockers cannot hide it.
Speed and language. The page should load fast inside the Instagram and TikTok in-app browsers, and speak the listener’s language.
How listenthru handles each of these
- Paste one link and the release is found on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and TIDAL by ISRC or UPC; other services are filled in only when the title and artist match exactly. You can add any link yourself.
- Pages can link to more than 40 services and stores, from Spotify and YouTube Music to LINE MUSIC, Melon, KKBOX and Bandcamp, ordered by the listener’s region.
- Set a release date and the buttons read Pre-save until then; from release day they switch to the release by themselves.
- Insights show visits, clicks through to each service, click-through rate and where each visit came from — Instagram, TikTok, a QR code, a campaign link.
- Your Meta Pixel and TikTok Pixel work on every plan; Pro also sends the events from the server through the Meta Conversions API and TikTok Events API.
- Pages appear in nine languages, chosen by each listener’s browser.
Make one in a minute
Copy any link to the release
A Spotify, Apple Music or other streaming link, or a pre-save link if it is not out yet.
Paste it into listenthru
Choose New release and paste. Title, artwork and the release on other services are filled in where they can be matched.
Check the services
Reorder, remove or add services. Add local ones your listeners use, or a Bandcamp or merch link.
Share it everywhere
Use one link in your bio, stories, ads and messages, with a tagged copy per place.
Signs your smart link needs attention
- Many visits, few clicks through. People open the page but do not pick a service. Check that the services your listeners use are near the top, and that the artwork and title load quickly.
- A wrong match. If a service opens a different version or another artist with the same name, replace that link by hand.
- A missing service. If a local service is missing, add its link yourself; listenthru only fills in services it can match exactly.
- Old links in old posts. If you used a different link for each post before, put your release page in the posts you can still edit, and use one link from now on.
One link per release, or one link for everything?
Use a smart link per release when you promote that release — in posts, ads and press. Put an artist page in your bio, where people arrive wanting “everything”. Both are counted the same way, so you can compare them.
Questions
Is a smart link the same as a link in bio?
No. A smart link is for one release; a link-in-bio page collects all of an artist’s links. listenthru makes both: a page per release and a page per artist.
How does a smart link find my song on other services?
listenthru matches by ISRC for songs and UPC for albums on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and TIDAL, so a match is certain. Other services are added only when title and artist match exactly, and you can add links yourself.
Can I use a smart link before the release is out?
Yes. Add the release date and a pre-save link; the buttons read Pre-save until release day and switch to the release on the day.
Does a smart link count streams?
No smart link can see streams. It counts visits and clicks through to each service. Streams are in each service’s artist dashboard.