Are Pre-Saves Still Worth It? (Or Are We Just Doing It for Vibes?)

Let’s talk about the thing we all say we’re doing but secretly roll our eyes at: pre-saves.

You’ve probably set one up. Maybe you slapped the link in your bio, hyped it on TikTok, maybe even got a cousin to test it to make sure it worked. But…what’s actually happening on the other end?

Let’s break it down—and see why pre-saves might need a serious glow-up (and how ForeverFan makes it easy to actually get something useful out of them).

Wait, What Even Is a Pre-Save?

Yes…kind of.

• They put your song in fans’ libraries the second it drops. Nice.

• They often auto-follow your Spotify profile. Also nice.

• If you get enough of them, the Spotify robots may give you a gold star and slot you into Release Radar or Discover Weekly. Potentially very nice.

BUT—and it’s a big but—the real problem is…

You Can’t Really Measure Any of It

Spotify doesn’t tell you who pre-saved your track. You don’t get emails. No phone numbers. Just some vague graph that tells you people clicked something somewhere, maybe, and then your stream count went up (or didn’t).

So you’re spending all this time hyping up a pre-save link…and getting zero fan data from it.

You can’t follow up. You can’t retarget. You can’t even say thank you. It’s like throwing a party where people RSVP anonymously and sneak in wearing masks.

Also, Have You Tried Clicking Your Own Link?

Try doing it from Instagram or TikTok. The in-app browser opens. You’re logged into the wrong Spotify account. Maybe it’s your old one from 10th grade. You give up. Congrats—you’ve just recreated the experience of most of your fans.

So yeah. Pre-save links? Not exactly frictionless.

So What’s Better Than a Ghost Link?

Enter: ForeverFan.

Instead of shouting into the algorithm void, ForeverFan helps you actually collect fan data when someone wants to support your release. Think email addresses. Phone numbers. City. Birthday if you’re nosy.

That way, when your track drops, you can text your fans. Or email them. Or drop a DM campaign. Direct-to-fan. Like it’s 2025. (Oh wait.)

How It Works (Without Requiring an Engineering Degree)

With ForeverFan:

You make a pre-save page—but it doubles as a fan collection page.
Fans enter their email or phone (or both!) and then they pre-save your song.
Boom—you now own that fan relationship. No more hoping Spotify remembers to send a push notification.

Bonus: You don’t even need an ISRC code to get started. Which means you can build hype before the song is even finalized. (We see you, demo leakers.)

The TL;DR

Pre-saves by themselves? Kinda mid.

Pre-saves + fan data via ForeverFan? Way better.

Just vibing and hoping the algorithm saves you? Risky at best.

If you’re gonna promote a release, get something real out of it. Like a direct line to your fans. So next time you drop a single, you’re not just praying—it’s in inboxes, texts, and DMs before the platforms even wake up.

P.S.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re already smarter than most artists running pre-save campaigns. Might as well cash in on that. Set up your ForeverFan pre-save page in like 3 minutes and get your fans and their info. Let’s make pre-saves work for you this time.

ForeverFan Blog