Introduction: A music festival is more than just a live event; it’s a journey that often begins months before the gates open. One powerful way to spark that journey is through curated playlists and music samplers. For folk festival organisers, harnessing the passion of fans through pre-festival music discovery can boost ticket sales and build a deeper connection between the audience and the artists. By strategically curating platform-agnostic playlists – arranged by mood, tradition, or theme – and promoting them widely, festival producers can turn casual listeners into excited attendees. This article explores how to create engaging playlists and samplers before a festival, how to promote them (think QR codes on posters and social media buzz), and how to track their impact on ticket sales. Whether producing a small local folk weekend or a massive international music festival, these tips will help build momentum with music long before showtime.
The Power of Pre-Festival Music Discovery
Engaging Audiences Early: In the lead-up to a festival, fans are eager to discover the music they’ll experience. Streaming data shows that when a festival’s lineup is announced, listeners flock to music platforms. For example, the official Glastonbury Festival 2023 playlist saw streams skyrocket by 323% after the lineup announcement (ads.spotify.com). Audiences want a taste of what’s to come. By offering a curated playlist or sampler album of performing artists, a festival can feed that curiosity and build hype. This is especially true for folk festivals, where lineups often feature eclectic or lesser-known acts spanning various folk traditions. An effective playlist can introduce potential attendees to new favourite artists and styles, making them more excited to buy tickets.
Converting Listeners to Ticket Buyers: Playlists aren’t just about hype – they can directly influence ticket sales. When listeners fall in love with a song or an artist via your festival’s playlist, they’re more likely to commit to attending. It’s a low-friction way to let the music itself be your salesperson. Many festival producers have noted spikes in website visits and ticket purchases after promoting their playlists. The pattern makes sense: as soon as fans hear a captivating fiddle tune or an uplifting folk anthem from an artist on the bill, FOMO (fear of missing out) kicks in. In a world where streaming has replaced radio discovery for many, a playlist is the new flyer – it gets your lineup into people’s homes, cars, and earbuds. Even those on the fence about attending might be swayed by a track that resonates with them emotionally.
Broadening Reach Internationally: Remember that folk festival audiences can be global. Someone in New Zealand might consider flying to a renowned festival in Spain after sampling the lineup’s music, and vice versa. By making playlists available globally (and platform-agnostic), you remove barriers for international fans. A great example is WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) festivals, which attract fans worldwide; they release multi-platform playlists showcasing artists from different countries to drum up excitement across continents. In today’s connected world, a playlist link travels instantly via social media and messaging, reaching potential attendees far beyond the radius of your physical posters or local ads.
Curating the Ultimate Festival Playlist
Platform-Agnostic Approach: To maximize reach, ensure your playlist is platform-agnostic – in other words, accessible on multiple music streaming services. Different people have different preferences: some swear by Spotify, others use Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or Deezer. As a festival producer, consider publishing your playlist on all major platforms so you don’t unintentionally exclude a chunk of your audience. There are tools like Soundiiz and TuneMyMusic that can help convert a playlist across platforms, or you can manually recreate it. Another approach is using a smart link service (like Linktree, Songwhip, or Ticket Fairy’s own marketing tools) that detects the user’s preferred service – one click and a fan can open the playlist in their app of choice. Being platform-agnostic shows you care about convenience, and it increases the likelihood that people will actually press play.
Mood and Tradition-Based Curation: Simply dumping all artists into a playlist isn’t enough. A well-curated playlist should take listeners on a journey. One effective method is to organise songs by mood or by musical tradition. Folk festivals often showcase a tapestry of traditions – Celtic, Appalachian, Latin American, Indigenous, Asian folk, and more – as well as a range of moods from rousing dance tunes to poignant ballads. You might create multiple playlists each highlighting a different mood or subgenre (e.g., “Festival Chill Folk Mornings” vs “Foot-Stomping Folk Dance Party”), or sequence one master playlist in sections. For example, start with some upbeat, familiar tracks to hook the listener, then flow into a set of songs grouped by cultural tradition or vibe. Grouping songs thoughtfully helps listeners emotionally connect and ensures the playlist isn’t jarring. An Irish folk fiddle reel might segue into a bluegrass banjo number for an energetic section, then the playlist can ease into a set of soulful singer-songwriter ballads. Curating in this way reflects the story of your festival’s programming, giving a preview of the diverse experiences in store.
Highlight Headliners and Hidden Gems: Balance is key. Include the well-known headliners that will grab attention, but also shine a spotlight on the lesser-known “hidden gems” of your lineup. A festival playlist is an opportunity to elevate emerging artists or international acts who might not yet be on the listener’s radar. When listeners discover a new favourite band through your playlist, it adds extra incentive to buy a ticket – attendees love the feeling of anticipating an act they just discovered. For example, the Calgary Folk Music Festival playlist intentionally pairs big names with up-and-coming artists from different folk traditions, ensuring that listeners get both familiarity and discovery in one package. By the time the festival arrives, fans will be just as excited to see that small-stage Mongolian throat-singing group (who they learned about via the playlist) as they are for the closing-night star performer.
Adding Track Notes and Artist Links: To enrich the listening experience, provide context around the songs. Many successful festival organisers include brief track notes – a sentence or two about why a song or artist is special – and direct links to artist profiles or festival lineup pages. While streaming platforms themselves offer limited space for notes, you can get creative: write a blog post or a festival news article that lists the playlist tracks with commentary. In the playlist description field, include a short link to that blog post or to your festival’s lineup page. Some festivals use this strategy to drive traffic to their website, where each artist name on the playlist is linked to their bio and set time. For example, a note might read: “Track 5: Los Panchos – Besame Mucho. Included to represent the Latin folk tradition; this bolero trio’s serenades will sweep you off your feet at the Sunday night finale. (Learn more about Los Panchos on our website.)” Such notes educate listeners and build personal investment – they start forming a schedule of who to see based on stories behind the songs. Cambridge Folk Festival‘s long-time producer once curated a 50th anniversary playlist with one song from each year of the festival, accompanied by anecdotes about each track (www.theguardian.com) (www.theguardian.com). This kind of narrative curation turns passive listening into an engaging journey through the festival’s heritage and lineup.
Multi-Channel Promotion: Getting the Playlist Heard
Creating a fantastic playlist or sampler is only half the battle – next you must actively promote it so that people know it exists and take the time to listen.
Leverage QR Codes on Physical Promotions: One innovative way to spread your playlist is by printing QR codes that link directly to it. QR codes act as a bridge between the offline and online world – perfect for festival marketing. Include a QR code on your posters, flyers, tickets, and even merchandise. For instance, on your beautifully illustrated festival poster (the one displayed at cafes, music venues, and community centres around town), add a small caption like “Hear the lineup now – scan to listen.” A quick scan with a phone instantly opens the playlist, letting a passerby literally hear what your festival offers. This method has been used at events like Celtic Connections in Scotland and the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, allowing curious onlookers to sample artists’ music on the spot. Make sure to use a trackable QR code (through a service like Bit.ly or a built-in analytics tool) so you can monitor engagement. Seasoned promoters recommend using unique QR codes for different locations – for example, one code on posters around campus and another on posters at music stores – to see which locations drive the most listens (marketerinterview.com). This data can reveal where your marketing is most effective and when people are scanning (e.g., lots of scans after 6pm when folks are out socialising). It’s a modern twist on the old street-team tactic of handing out sampler CDs, except now you can quantify the impact.
Social Media and Email Blasts: Digital channels are obvious but powerful avenues for playlist promotion. Announce your official festival playlist on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), TikTok, and LinkedIn – every platform where your target audience hangs out. Use engaging visuals: perhaps a short teaser video with montage clips of artists on the lineup set to a track from the playlist. Encourage artists on the bill to share the playlist link with their fans as well; when the bands performing are excited and promoting the playlist, it lends credibility and vastly increases reach (each artist has their own followers who might decide to attend to see them). Email newsletters are another key channel: send out a “lineup listening guide” to your mailing list with direct links. For example, the Winnipeg Folk Festival email newsletter highlighted their Spotify and Apple Music playlists with a note, “Discover your next favorite artist before you even set foot on the festival grounds!” Provide clear calls to action like “Listen Now” buttons. Additionally, engage your audience by asking for their input – maybe run a poll for which song from the playlist people are most excited to see live, or have a contest where sharing the playlist enters fans into a ticket giveaway. The goal is to get as many ears on your sampler as possible, because every new listener is a potential ticket buyer.
Local Media and Community Tie-Ins: For folk festivals especially, community and tradition are integral. Reach out to local radio DJs or folk music bloggers and offer your playlist for features. Community radio stations or national broadcasters (like BBC Radio for UK festivals or NPR affiliates in the US) might run a special segment playing selections from your festival sampler, giving on-air exposure to the artists and your event. Likewise, if your festival is tied to cultural organizations (say, a Celtic cultural center or a folk dance society), those communities will appreciate a custom-curated sampler. For example, the National Folk Festival in Australia partners with folk music clubs and shares playlists that those communities help curate, blending the festival lineup with beloved traditional songs. By involving community leaders or influencers in the curation and promotion process, you not only widen your reach but also build goodwill – people feel a sense of ownership and pride in the festival when they have a hand in promoting its music.
From Streams to Seats: Tracking Playlist Impact on Ticket Sales
One of the most satisfying aspects of a pre-festival playlist campaign is seeing it contribute to tangible results. To understand how your playlists and samplers are converting into ticket sales, you’ll want to track a few key metrics and draw connections to sales data.
Tracking Plays, Follows, and Saves: First, monitor how your playlist is performing on the streaming platforms. Most platforms will show the number of followers or likes a playlist has. Keep an eye on these, especially in relation to major festival milestones. Do you see a spike in playlist follows after the lineup announcement or artist schedule release? This could mirror rising interest. If possible, note the play counts on tracks (some platforms show a play count for each song, which can hint which artists are getting the most attention). A surge in plays of certain tracks might indicate those artists are becoming big draws – useful insight for scheduling or marketing those acts in other channels.
Using Analytics and Unique Links: As mentioned earlier, using unique QR codes or trackable short URLs for your playlist will provide data on how often the playlist link is accessed, and from where. For example, a poster QR code might get 500 scans, while the link in your email got 300 clicks – this tells you how effective each channel is. You can then correlate these with your ticket sales timeline. If 50 people scanned the playlist QR at a particular event (say, a launch party or a partner’s venue) and you saw a handful of ticket purchases that same night, it’s a good sign that the music might have nudged them to buy. Modern ticketing platforms such as Ticket Fairy allow you to integrate marketing links with your ticket sales page. By using Ticket Fairy’s analytics, you can potentially see if users who came via the playlist link ended up purchasing tickets (for instance, through UTM parameters or referral tracking). While privacy means you can’t see who streamed a song and then bought a ticket, aggregate data can show patterns. Perhaps regions where the playlist was heavily promoted (with lots of link clicks) correspond to stronger ticket sales – a hint to double down marketing in those areas.
Conversion Rate and Feedback: It may be difficult to get a precise “conversion rate” from streams to tickets, but you can gather approximate indicators. If your playlist followers grew by 1,000 after your marketing push, and during the same period you sold 200 extra tickets, you can infer a portion of those sales were influenced by the playlist exposure. To bolster your case, consider simply asking fans – for instance, run an optional one-question survey during online ticket checkout like, “What made you decide to attend?” and include “Festival Playlist” as an option. The feedback can be illuminating. Some events discovered that a considerable segment of their audience did hear the lineup playlist first and that it directly affected their decision to go. These insights justify the effort put into playlist curation and can help in refining future marketing. For example, if people comment that they especially loved discovering artists from a certain country via your sampler, you might emphasize that aspect even more next time.
Adapting from Data: The data you gather may reveal surprises. If an artist’s track in the playlist is getting disproportionately many plays, maybe that artist should be moved to a bigger stage or a better time slot – clearly the interest is high. Or if one of your mood-based playlists (say, a “Fireside Evening Folk” set) is rarely opened compared to your main highlights playlist, perhaps your audience prefers one consolidated list rather than several niche ones. Use the analytics to adapt your strategy on the fly. The beauty of digital marketing is that it’s iterative – if something isn’t catching on, you can tweak it. For example, if you notice not many people are scanning the QR codes on posters, maybe the placement or the call-to-action needs improvement (larger text, more enticing copy like “Scan to hear artists” instead of just a small logo). Or it might mean your audience is more responsive to social media promotion and you should focus there.
Updating and Energizing: Playlists During & After the Festival
The “playlist journey” doesn’t have to stop once the festival starts. Updating your playlists during the festival can create a feedback loop of excitement for both attendees and those watching from afar.
Real-Time Playlist Updates: One creative approach is to update your main playlist (or create a new one) during the event to reflect the live highlights. For instance, after a rousing Day 1 at a folk festival, you could add a new section to the playlist: “Festival Day 1 Highlights” featuring songs performed that day. If a surprise collaboration happened on stage between artists, add those artists’ tracks to commemorate it. By doing this overnight, you wake up to an updated playlist that both recaps what happened and builds excitement for Day 2. Some festivals even rename their playlist during the event to things like “Now Playing at [Festival Name] – Live Highlights” to encourage fans on-site to follow along or for fans at home to get a taste of what’s happening in real time. This real-time curation keeps the momentum going – attendees might play the playlist at their campsites or hotels after the shows, reliving the day, while those who couldn’t attend see what they’re missing (and perhaps resolve not to miss it next year!).
Social Amplification of Updates: Let your audience know when you update the playlist. A quick daily tweet or Instagram story: “Couldn’t catch all of Day 2? Our playlist is now updated with today’s most buzzed-about songs – fresh from the stage!” will drive people to listen. Artists love this too – if one of their songs was added as a highlight, they might share that fact, reaching more potential listeners. Essentially, your playlist becomes a dynamic part of the festival’s storytelling.
Post-Festival Samplers – Keep the Fire Alive: After the festival, fans often experience the post-event blues – they don’t want the magic to end. This is a chance to convert them into loyal community members (and early buyers for next year). Update your playlist one last time to create a post-festival sampler or “Highlights Recap”. This might include live recorded tracks if available, or just a refined selection of songs that represent the festival’s best moments. Many folk festival producers also create photo or video montages set to music from the playlist for social media, giving nostalgic content for sharing. Notably, data from Spotify showed that many festival fans keep streaming festival playlists even after the gates close – for instance, streams of the Glastonbury playlist remained nearly 400% higher than average during the weeks after the festival as fans relived the moments (ads.spotify.com). Keeping your playlist active and updated feeds this desire to relive and remember. It also provides a smooth segue into promoting future events (“Loved the 2025 Festival Playlist? Stay tuned for our 2026 lineup – coming soon!”).
Building Tradition through Playlists: Over years, an official festival playlist (or annual playlist series) can itself become part of your festival’s tradition. Attendees might start looking forward to the playlist drop as an unofficial start of the festival season. Some festivals create archival playlists by year – for example, a 2024 Folk Festival Playlist, 2025 Playlist, etc., which together form a rich library of the festival’s evolving story. The small Kimpton Folk Festival in the UK does this by keeping playlists from each year available, so fans can go back and listen to past years’ lineups, enjoying nostalgia and discovering artists they missed (www.kimptonfolk.uk). This not only strengthens the community around the festival’s history but also serves as great marketing content year-round. New potential attendees can explore what type of music the festival features by browsing old playlists, essentially sampling the “feel” of the event across different years.
Success Stories and Cautionary Tales
It helps to learn from others’ experiences. Around the world, festival producers have experimented with playlists and seen both impressive wins and instructive challenges.
Success Story – GlobalFest (Canada): GlobalFest, a world/folk music festival in Canada, curated mood-based playlists (“Morning Coffee Folk,” “Global Dance Party,” etc.) on multiple platforms. They promoted them via QR codes in local cafes and cultural centers. The result was a surge in playlist followers and noticeable ticket sales from new demographics; for instance, a large number of university students attended for the first time, many citing the upbeat “Dance Party” playlist that introduced them to Afro-Folk fusion artists they’d never heard of. By tailoring playlists to different tastes, GlobalFest broadened its audience without diluting its core identity.
Success Story – Rajasthan International Folk Festival (India): This festival in Jodhpur embraced a platform-agnostic strategy by publishing their lineup sampler on YouTube (to reach local audiences who may not use subscription streaming apps) and on Spotify/Apple Music for international listeners. They included short YouTube video descriptions highlighting each folk tradition (Rajasthani percussion, Sufi vocals, etc.) with artist bios. The educational angle earned them praise; scans of QR codes on festival posters in Delhi and Mumbai led thousands to the YouTube playlist, and the festival saw increased press coverage highlighting how they were innovating in digital outreach. The community engagement soared, as people shared the videos, proud of their heritage being showcased in a modern way.
Learning from Challenges: Not every attempt is a hit right away. One European folk festival learned that simply creating a playlist isn’t enough – in its first year trying this, they quietly posted a Spotify list on their website but did little else. Unsurprisingly, it gained minimal traction and had negligible effect on ticket sales. The next year, they adjusted by actively promoting the playlist link via email blasts and Facebook events, and by partnering with a popular folk music blog to feature the playlist. Engagement skyrocketed. The lesson: promotion and partnerships are key – a playlist has to be treated as a campaign, not just a link. Another pitfall to avoid is making the playlist too overwhelming – if you have a 12-hour long playlist with every single artist, casual listeners might not know where to start and give up. It can be better to publish a well-curated 1-2 hour “highlights” playlist that is inviting and then offer deeper cuts separately for the super-fans.
Respecting Artist Preferences: A minor but important note – always check with artists (or their management) if they have a preferred track for inclusion, especially if they have new releases. Most will be delighted to be featured, but some might have a particular song they want highlighted (or a song they can’t license for streaming). Communicate early to ensure your sampler is both exciting to fans and respectful to artists’ promotional timelines. This level of professionalism can strengthen your relationship with the artists, who in turn may promote the playlist more enthusiastically.
Key Takeaways
- Start Early with Playlists: Release a playlist or sampler as soon as your lineup is public. Early engagement fuels excitement and can directly boost ticket sales by converting curious listeners into attendees.
- Be Platform-Agnostic: Make your playlist available on all popular streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc.) or use smart links. Cater to all listeners’ preferences to maximize reach.
- Curate by Mood/Tradition: Don’t just list artists – craft a musical journey. Organise tracks by mood, culture, or theme to showcase the diversity of your folk festival and keep listeners engaged from start to finish.
- Add Context: Provide track notes and artist links through playlist descriptions or a blog post. Educate and excite your audience with stories behind the songs, enhancing their emotional connection to the festival.
- Promote Everywhere: Treat your playlist like an event. Share it on social media, via email, through community partners, and on QR codes placed on posters and flyers. The more avenues people can discover it, the better.
- Track Engagement: Use unique QR codes or tracked links to monitor playlist hits. Watch for spikes in followers or plays and correlate those with ticket sales periods. Use analytics from platforms (and your ticketing partner like Ticket Fairy) to gauge what’s working.
- Stay Dynamic: Update playlists during the festival with daily highlights to sustain momentum, and follow up after the event with a recap playlist. This keeps fans engaged and thinking about the festival year-round.
- Learn and Iterate: Note what songs or playlists resonated most. Gather feedback and data, then refine your approach for the next festival. Each year, your playlist strategy will get smarter at driving discovery and ticket conversions.
- Community and Global Reach: Remember that folk festivals thrive on community. Use playlists to connect with local and global audiences alike – from a folk club in your city to folk music fans halfway across the world – building a broad, inclusive fan base.
- Artists as Allies: Collaborate with your artists in the playlist promotion. When artists share the official playlist, it amplifies reach tremendously. It’s a win-win: artists gain new listeners and the festival gains potential attendees.
By embracing playlisting and samplers as core tools in your festival marketing arsenal, you tap into the power of music discovery to build anticipation and loyalty. From intimate folk gatherings in rural towns to sprawling world music celebrations in capital cities, pre-festival playlists bridge the gap between interest and attendance. It’s about meeting your audience where they already are (humming along to tunes in their daily lives) and guiding them toward an unforgettable festival experience. With thoughtful curation, clever promotion, and continuous engagement, your festival’s playlist can turn curious ears into committed ticket-holders – and set the stage for a truly magical event.
14th September 2025