Service Rating | 3/5
A few weeks ago we went ahead and tried out the Musicvertising playlist service. Sadly, we weren’t impressed by the results and we found it super sketchy in certain areas. If you want to check that article out click here. This week we are going to review Imperium Network! We gave them a shot last month (July 2022) through one of our super secret artist accounts and got the results for you. Keep in mind that we try our very best to be precise with our results based on what we find on our Spotify Artist account but it may be off a bit and we are not affiliated with any of these playlist services we review. We are giving you HONEST reviews so that you don’t have to spend money on useless strategies for your music releases. So getting back to where we were… is this service worth it? Is it what they say it is? And what kind of impact or results did we get from it? Let’s get straight to it!
The Pricing, we think it’s confusing.
As soon as we landed on the product pages for this playlist service we noticed that the pricing and description for the packages they offer are not clear. For example, we didn’t know how long this service would run since there are no mentions of that. The deals are packaged into small, medium, and large promotions and only provide claims of guaranteed work. That in itself gave us some red flags but we continued to purchase the small promotion option so that we can try their services out and write this review. We do want to note that we got the promo pack on sale but it turns out they always have “sales” with a ticking timer on their website. This is just a marketing tactic they employ.
We will say that, unlike our last experience with Musicvertising where the payment was done month-to-month (subscription-based), Imperium Network only charges you a one-time fee. The screenshot for the pricing as of August 2022 is below so that you can check that out yourself.
Playlist Placement Results, it didn’t make sense for our song.
When it came down to the playlist placement it wasn’t what we expected. They did deliver BUT it wasn’t making sense. The placements were irrelevant or not matched to the song we submitted for placement. The placements didn’t make sense at all! Our submission was a sad pop song, with slower BPM and they placed us in a “Cardio” and “Chest Workout” playlist. What the heck! This is not a good playlist placement! Why? Well, think about it, if someone is actually listening to the playlist during a workout and all the songs are upbeat and then it lands on our song what happens? They will probably go “WTF is this?” and then they would just skip our song entirely. We found several playlist placements that were not fitting our genre and pop song overall. It felt like there so called “reps” just placed our song is random playlists without giving a second thought to our song. In conclusion, our music was NOT delivered to the right target audience.
The Results were, well, SMALL.
After looking at the playlist placement we went ahead and took a look at our audience stats and well the results were SMALL, just as they promised. We got a total of 177 listeners and 301 streams. If we take those calculations against the placements, we had a total of 197 streams and 168 listeners from the Imperium Network services. As you can tell by our audience graphs below there was a slight spike at the start of the service and then towards the end, it flatlined which is typical with these type of services.
As for the followers, we didn’t see much there! Maybe a follower or two from the entire Spotify promotion.
Our FINAL Evaluation of Imperium Network’s Spotify Promotions
We’ve rated it 3 out of 5 stars, and here’s why:
Positives:
- They successfully secured placements on several playlists, as evidenced by our visibility on our Spotify Artist Account. This demonstrates their ability to fulfill their promises.
- There were no indications of artificial engagement or bot activity, which is a common concern with similar services.
- Throughout the campaign, they maintained communication with us via email, providing regular updates—a commendable aspect that sets them apart from others in the industry.
Areas for Improvement:
- Despite their efforts, the playlists we were featured on weren’t necessarily aligned with our target audience or genre preferences.
- While there was an initial spike in activity, it tapered off towards the end of the service period.
- While we saw some increase in streams and listeners, the results fell short of our expectations, especially considering the mismatch in playlist placements.
- Regrettably, there was no noticeable growth in our follower count, likely due to the lack of precise audience targeting.
Recommendation: Ultimately, we cannot wholeheartedly endorse this service. We believe there are more effective ways to allocate your resources, particularly for artists and bands serious about cultivating a dedicated fan base. However, if your primary objective is to boost your stream counts and listener numbers without committing to a subscription, this service may suit your needs.