Backstage Links FAQ
Learn how to get the best out of Backstage Links to diversify your revenue streams and promote your content, on Artist Resources.
The following article covers the following Frequently Asked Questions on the Backstage links features:
- General questions
- What can I do if I don’t have access to Backstage Links; Artist Resources?
- Can I create an artist bio link?
- Can I create a playlist link?
- Can I create a purchase link (tickets, physical, merch)?
- In the dashboard, are my stats in real-time or is there a delay before getting the data?
- What links, other than music platforms, can I add to my Backstage Links?
- How to create a smartlink without a release?
- Pre-Save
- What will happen for my fans before and after the release?
- What can I do if my release date and time zone seem wrong?
- Can I set up a pre-save link if I don't have my release URL yet?
- Can fans also follow my artist on Spotify / Apple Music / Deezer on top of a pre-save?
- How to notify my fans on release?
- Why is my fan notification not sent yet?
- Where can I check the statistics of my fan notification?
- How do I activate/deactivate fan notification?
- Will my link URL stay the same before and after release?
-
Are links automatically updated on release day? (Content Autoscan)
- Customization
- Retargeting
- Where do I go to set up my Pixel?
- What are the different retargeting events?
- Where can I find my Facebook Pixel Id?
- How to create a custom audience on Facebook based on the pixel parameters?
- How to create a custom conversion on Facebook based on the pixel parameters?
- Where can I find my Google Ads Global site tag?
- How to create a remarketing list on Google based on the pixel parameters?
General questions
What can I do if I don’t have access to Backstage Links & Artist Resources?
If Backstage Links is not available on your profile, and you are the administrator of your account, try to log out from Backstage and log in again, Backstage Links & Resources should be now available on the left side menu under the Promotion Section.
On your admin Backstage account, you can activate these services for all your sub-accounts. Please go to your Backstage Settings to give access to your team members or contact the admin of your account to enable it for you, he/she just needs to enable “Links” on your Believe Backstage account.
Can I create an artist bio link?
Not yet but it might be a possibility in a near future.
Can I create a playlist link?
Not yet but it might be a possibility in a near future.
Can I create a purchase link (tickets, physical, merch)?
Yes. Manually you can find on the store selection list items like Concert tickets, Amazon... and then you just need to update it with the URL from the store concerned.
In the dashboard, are my stats in real-time or is there a delay before getting the data?
Stats are updated every three hours.
What links, other than music platforms, can I add to my Backstage Links?
From the list, where you find music platforms, you can also find other types of links that may be useful to you.
Tour/Show
Use Backstage Links to promote your venues and tours and add links of concert ticket stores. You can either add them through the Ticketmaster store from the list or selecting Concert Ticket options.
Live Platforms
Links to platforms for live streaming, such as YouTube Live and Twitch, can also be added to your Backstage Link.
Physical Stores
Physical stores to sell products such as CDs and vinyls can be added to your Backstage Link. For example, you can connect links to the Amazon or Mediamarkt stores.
Official Sites/Stores
Promote you official website and store by adding those URLs to your Backstage Links.
Social Profiles
Use Backstage Link to highlight your social media pages such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. You can also add links to more specific social platforms like Discord and Patreon.
DSP Playlists/Profiles
Links to social media are not restricted to releases. You can also add links to playlist or your artist profile.
How to create a smartlink without a release ?
Create a new link. When asked to select a release, click on “Next” rather than selecting a product. When asked to select an artist, select your artist name or create a new one.
You now have a link that is not connected to a release. You can change the heading of your link under “Landing”, on the left-hand side menu, if you don’t want to promote a release.
Pre-save
What will happen for my fans before and after the release?
Your pre-save will turn into a smartlink at your selected time and timezone.
URL remains the same before and after the release.
Pre-saves are launched automatically for Apple, Spotify, Deezer. Your release will be added in their music library.
For the other stores, you can enable a pre-save by Email or SMS to collect the fans opt-ins.
You can notify all your fans per email/sms notification.
You must check your URLs at earliest time in the morning of the release day.
You can add manually the links for the others music platforms if they are not added automatically on the landing page.
What can I do if my release date and time zone seem wrong?
- Based on your Believe time zone settings on your Backstage Account Settings your release will be active in the stores.
- Your link automatically switch to a smartlink and launches the pre-save. at this date time and timezone.
- You can customize this in step 1 if you want but be careful to check that your release will go live on platforms based on the time zone you selected in your Backstage Account Settings and in your release settings.
- That's also at this specific date time and timezone that your link will turn from a Pre-save to a Smart Link displaying all the stores available at launch.
- In your link settings > Step 1 "Release", you can see this absolute release date translated in your Link default timezone.
- For instance, if your Believe account is set to release music at midnight UTC+2, if your Link default timezone is set to UTC+3, it should display your release date minus 1 day at 23pm UTC+3.
- You can change your default Link timezone in Links > Settings > Link Settings > Custom Link Settings.
Can I set up a pre-save link if I don't have my release URL yet?
Yes! But you need to come put your links as soon as they are available on D-day. You just need to put them manually on the pre-release > Pre Save menu
Can fans also follow my artist on Spotify / Apple Music / Deezer on top of a pre-save?
You can add actions on the main stores in addition to your pre save. You just need to enable on the Pre-Save section > Secondary actions and select the actions for the campaign (Follow artist, Like a track, Follow a playlist, Save the release...) and paste the Spotify / Apple Music / Deezer link.
You can also decide when you want to proceed this action (Now, on the release day or in a selected date)
How to notify my fans on release?
- You need to enable Pre-save with a form to collect Emails and SMS on the Pre-release > Form item.
- Then you can edit your text and which fields you want for this form (Emails, Names, SMS...) in the Collect Fans section
- Once your link is shared and the fans start to fill this form you can collect their opt-ins
- An automatic email notification will be set up in the step “Fan Notification” and the content will already be prefilled. It will be sent once your release is out.
- If you want, you can customize this email, change the prefilled wordings and send date and time (max 3 days after your release).
Note: if you don’t want to notify your fans automatically, you can disable this option and contact them manually.
Whenever you want you can export these data by clicking on the right button on the release and “Export Audience”.
You will have all the data available in a CSV file that you can use on a CRM software. You just need to import in your favorite CRM tool like Mailchimp, Mailjet, Salesforce for EMAILS or for SMS and setup a campaign to your fans to notify them.
You can also export all your data (from all your releases) in the Fans section (on the top menu)
Why is my Fan Notification not sent yet?
It is normal, it might take a few minutes, or an hour max. Please come back and refresh the page later. Please contact us if the problem persists.
Where can I check the stats of my Fan Notification?
You just have to go to your Link’s stats, in the conversion section > Fan Notification.
How do I activate/deactivate Fan Notification?
Just switch the toggle button on the top of the Fan Notification page. If it’s blue, it means it’s on. If it’s grey, it’s off.
Will my link URL stay the same before and after release?
Yes. You can schedule posts and ads with this link ahead of release.
Are links automatically updated on release day? (Content Autoscan)
Backstage Links retrieves auto-scan URLS for Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon Music, Anghami and Wynk.
For stores that aren't auto-scanned by our technology, if no URL is filled out for the store, Links has a fallback option. When clicking on the store, fans will be redirected to:
- The artist profile on the DSP, if available in artist settings on backstage
- Or the DSP's search option, for the artist name & release name
The following stores have a fallback option: Youtube, Youtube Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, TIDAL, Yandex Music, Jiosaavn, Gaana, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Napster, Amazon Store, WYNK
Customization
Why hasn't the YouTube URL been added to my link?
You might not have selected the “Video release” when you were searching for your release. Go step 1 -> Edit release -> Select your video product ->save and hit refresh button near store URLs.
How to add a missing store to my link?
Click add store and find on the list which store you want to add on your smartlink or pre save.
If your music store is not in the list please contact your local support team.
Can I add a link to my official website?
Yes, click on “add store”, select “Official website”’ or “Official store”.
Can I embed a YouTube video on my link?
Yes, you can enable a YouTube video directly on a smartlink .This option is not available for a pre save link. You just need to toggle “Show music video” button and add your YouTube ID.
If you want, you can also disable the display of your artwork to give more visibility to your YouTube Video.
How to customize my link per territory?
About translations and local customization
Today you can customize your Link for each territory based on the fans browser language. We are considering adding IP-based territory variations in the future to handle more complex variations such as when your release has different URLs on music stores based on country-based rights.
By default, your Link language is set to the language in which your Backstage is displayed.
There are 3 valid ways to change your Link language:
- By editing the Link
- By editing your Workspace Link template
- By editing your Artist Link template
Add local customization by editing the Link
For each link, you can add languages by expanding the language switcher at the top of any editor's step which includes texts, for instance of the step 3 "Pre-release Landing".
Click "Add new language", select your language, and verify the pre-built translations. You can also customize the stores, store order, and more.
If you don't want 2 languages on your Link, you can remove any language as long as it is not set to "Default for the rest of the world". Select your second language, click "Set as default", come back to the first language and click Remove.
Add local customization by editing your Workspace Link template
When you are watching your list of links, you can click Settings on the left of the screen, and then Links settings to edit the default values for any future Link that you will create.
Switch from the default Link settings to custom, change the language (see above step) and save.
Add local customization by editing your Artist Link template
If you have several artists in different countries you can also set a default language in the Artist Link Settings.
When you are watching your list of links, you can click Settings on the left of the screen, and then Artists. Click Edit Artist and select the second tab "Link settings" to edit the default values for any future Link that you will create for this artist.
Switch from the default Link settings to custom, change the language (see above step) and save.
Can I customize my URL?
Yes on General > Sharing options you can setup your URL name with the name of your release for example: bfan.link/my-release
How can I add my own image on the page?
To include an image within your pre-save or smartlink pages or use a different image than the default release artwork with rounded corners effect, follow these steps:
- Toggle off "Show artwork"
- Go to content editor & click on the Source code icon ( Represented by <>)
- Insert the following piece of code in the editor:
<p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src=ImageURL width="254" height="254" /></p>
Since an image URL is necessary, your image needs to be hosted externally to be able to display it. - Save your link
If you used this to remove rounded corners cover artwork, remember to do the whole proceeding twice, both on pre-release and post-release landing pages.
Retargeting
Where do I go to set up my Pixel ?
- On the Backstage platform, access Backstage Links by clicking on Promotion > Links.
- Once on the Links page, find and click on the Settings cogwheel on the left-hand side menu. In Settings, select Workspace.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page, to find the Retargeting Pixels section.
- To set up your retargeting pixels, you need to copy your Facebook Pixel Id and Google Ads Id from the Facebook Ads Manager website and Google Ad website. Paste the respective Id in its corresponding box in Workspace Settings on the Backstage platform.
For help in finding your pixel Ids, follow these guides :
Where can I find my Facebook Pixel Id?
Where can I find my Google Ads Global site tag? - Click Save. All the Backstage links you create will now automatically accumulate data on how users interact with it.
What are the different retargeting events?
If you have correctly set up your pixel (see Where do I go to set up my Pixel?), Backstage links sends different types of retargeting eventsto Facebook and Google Ads. This allows you to target your audience with greater detail. Retargeting data is made up of 2 events :
- Landing Visited
This event is triggered when a fan visits your Link. This event contains several parameters:
artist
This parameter gives the name of the artist corresponding to a campaign. With this information, it is possible to target users who have visited campaigns of a particular artist for example.
artistid
Similar to the artist parameter, the artist id is a more precise way of determining the artist corresponding to a campaign. In the same way, you can you this data to target users who have visited campaigns linked to a unique artist id.
releaseName
This parameter provides the name of the release (e.g. song name, album name) corresponding to a campaign. This data can be used to target users who have visited campaigns for a particular song or album that is similar to the release advertised.
releaseDate
This parameter gives the date of the release corresponding to a campaign. The data can be used to target users who visited campaigns for songs released the same year for example.
campaignSharingExtension
This parameter gives information on where the url of a campaign was posted (e.g. Facebook Bio, e-mail, YouTube Post). This way, it is possible to target users who visited campaigns posted in a Facebook post or Instagram ad for example.
campaignSlug
The campaign slug refers to a segment of the campaign url. The slug can be found at the end of the url. In the example of https://bfan.link/test, the slug would be “test”. The slug is unique so provides a more precise way of targeting a particular campaign.
campaignType
This parameter gives information on if the fan visited the backstage link before or after the release. It is possible to target an ad at users that visited a backstage link before the single release for example. - Store Clicked:
This event is triggered when a fan clics on a store either before of after release. This is usefull to optimize your ad campaigns on conversions. It contains all the parameters listed above + the follwing one:
store
The parameter gives information depending on if a user clicked on a particular service within the campaign link. For example, it would notify if a user clicked on the spotify store for a release. With this data, it is possible to target campaigns at users who tend to visit a certain store.
Where can I find my Facebook Pixel Id?
To obtain a Facebook Pixel Id you will first need to create a pixel on the Facebook Ads Manager website.
For information on where to create and find your Facebook Pixel Id, please refer to: Create and Install a Facebook Pixel | Facebook Business Help Center
How to create a custom audience on Facebook based on the pixel parameters
Once your pixel has been correctly set up, Facebook will start receiving parameter data from Backstage Link. From this information can be created your custom audiences.
For information on how to use the pixel parameters to create a custom audience in Facebook, please refer to: Create a Website Custom Audience | Facebook Business Help Center
How to create a custom conversion on Facebook based on the pixel parameters
To track audiences who clicked on a particular store when visiting your Backstage Link, you will need to create a custom conversion. To do so, make sure you’ve correctly set up your pixel.
For information on how to create a custom conversion on Facebook based on the pixel parameters, please refer to: About Custom Conversions for Web | Facebook Business Help Center
Where can I find my Google Ads Global site tag?
To obtain your Google Ads Global site tag, you will need to make sure you have set up remarketing.
For information on how to set up remarketing and find your global site tag, please refer to: Remarketing | Tags | Google Developers
How to create a remarketing list on Google based on the pixel parameters
Once your pixel has been correctly set up, Google Ads will start receiving parameter data from Backstage Links. From this information can be created your custom audiences.
For information on how a remarketing list based on the pixel parameters, please refer to: Create an audience segment that includes your website visitors - Google Ads Help