What is Deep Linking?
Deep linking is a way of directing users to an app-based destination versus a web-based one.
This creates a more seamless and desirable experience for your fans who are wanting to access music in their preferred streaming service directly from a pre-save or smart link.
Why it’s useful
All of Feature.fm’s marketing links inherently deep link into supported streaming platforms. The one exception is when a user is taking an action like Pre-Saving, Saving or Following which requires them to first login and authenticate their account for the first time.
Once they’ve completed this process one time, they will likely not have to do it again (unless they change third-party settings) and thus will be taken immediately into their preferred streaming service the next time they click through one of your landing pages (e.g. via deep linking). You can configure these settings with Routing Rules.
Playlist-specific Deep Links
A cool trick for deep linking into Spotify and gaining more traction with more streams through the Spotify algorithm is to configure a URL in a way that will open a specific track contained within a broader playlist, so that once the song has played the rest of the playlist will automatically continue to play.
Typically when you set up a Music Smart Link for a track, you either scan with the ISRC or a URL to the song from one of the supported DSPs. For this hack, you’ll want to manually add the URL for Spotify and first, you’ll need to manipulate the URL a bit with these steps:
- Grab the Spotify URL for the individual track, e.g. https://open.spotify.com/track/0RgcOUQg4qYAEt9RIdf3oB?si=faec66a69eac44fe
- Paste into a blank page and delete everything following the question mark, e.g. https://open.spotify.com/track/0RgcOUQg4qYAEt9RIdf3oB?
- After the question mark, add context=spotify:playlist: (e.g. https://open.spotify.com/track/0RgcOUQg4qYAEt9RIdf3oB?context=spotify:playlist:
- Grab the URL for the playlist you want to be the “container” for the song, e.g. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO2QxIuk?si=52680573c6114df2
- Copy everything from the last forward slash onwards and paste this as the end of the URL https://open.spotify.com/track/0RgcOUQg4qYAEt9RIdf3oB?context=spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DZ06evO2QxIuk?si=52680573c6114df2
- Finally, change the last question mark in the URL to an ampersand e.g. https://open.spotify.com/track/0RgcOUQg4qYAEt9RIdf3oB?context=spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DZ06evO2QxIuk&si=52680573c6114df2
Now when a listener plays the track in Spotify from your Music Smart Link, the song will open within the playlist so that once the song ends, the rest of the playlist will continue playing. This gives more control over the fan’s experience, while also setting you up for more streams!