The music industry has grown cautious about promotional services since Spotify intensified its efforts to remove fake streams. Amid these changes, artists naturally want clarity about companies like Boost Collective and many are doing their own research to genuinely understand what is going on. To address these concerns objectively, we took a closer look into how Boost Collective operates.
Understanding Boost Collective
Boost Collective, founded eight years ago by Damian Barbu and Ronan Mullins, positions itself as a music promotion service aimed at helping artists reach more listeners. The founders initially pursued music as artists themselves, but soon realized they had a stronger talent for promoting music than making it.
Boost Collective primarily focuses on Spotify playlist pitching. Rather than guaranteeing streams or playlist spots, Boost pitches client tracks to curators managing playlists grown organically using targeted advertising campaigns on platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok. The company provides realistic estimates based on previous campaign outcomes.
Investigating Common Concerns About Boost Collective
One concern artists have when looking into promotional services is the authenticity of streams. Some promotional companies use artificial methods, like bots, to inflate streaming numbers—a practice strongly prohibited by Spotify. To address these common concerns, we reviewed Boost Collective’s advertising practices, checked real-world client experiences, examined third-party playlist verification tools, and looked into how Boost Collective has responded to Spotify’s stream removals.
Below are the clear pros and cons of Boost Collective:
Pros: What Boost Collective Does Well
- Honest Advertising Approach
Boost Collective openly shares its promotional approach. Playlists are promoted through targeted, paid social media ads on platforms like Meta and TikTok, genuinely attracting real listeners. Artists can independently verify the authenticity of these streams using respected third-party industry tools such as Artist Tools, Spot On Track, and Chart Metric. Testimonials and real-world results from Boost Collective clients can be seen directly on their website.
- Rapid Campaign Launch
Artists typically get pitched to curators and added to playlists within 24-48 hours after placing their order. This is significantly faster than many promotional companies, which may take a week or longer. Such quick turnarounds are beneficial for artists launching new releases or looking to swiftly test market response to their music.
- Proven Client Results (Both Big and Small Campaigns)
Boost Collective has a track record of successful client promotions. Prominent examples include artists like Matt Corman, who achieved over a million Spotify streams within a few months through Boost’s promotional strategies, and Gie, who grew from practically zero listeners to over 50,000 monthly listeners.
Smaller campaigns have also demonstrated successful results. Independent artists like Jimmy Frizzell (“Paradise”), Taylor Ricard (“10 Toes”), and Bethany Cruz all achieved meaningful streaming growth through affordable campaigns. These examples highlight how even modest investments can effectively validate market response, though artists should not expect massive numbers like millions of streams from minimal spending such as $100.
- User-Friendly Campaign Dashboard (with Music Distribution Option)
Artists consistently praise Boost Collective’s straightforward, user-friendly campaign dashboard, which allows them to easily track results and monitor their promotional progress in real-time. Additionally, Boost Collective offers optional music distribution, conveniently integrated within artists’ accounts.
Cons: Areas for Improvement
- Limited Effectiveness for Highly Niche Genres
Boost Collective typically promotes music through broad-appeal playlists. Artists with specialized or experimental music may face difficulties gaining traction, as fewer playlists cater to highly specific or niche genres.
- Global Reach vs. Local Focus
Boost Collective uses global audience targeting in their promotional ads to optimize costs. While this approach maximizes overall listener exposure, it may fall short for artists specifically aiming to grow their local or regional fanbases. Hyper-local targeting options exist but usually require higher-budget campaigns.
- Clearer Expectations Needed for New Artists
Boost Collective provides estimated results rather than guarantees. However, newer artists sometimes misunderstand these estimates, assuming they’ll automatically achieve the projected streams. Boost Collective could further enhance clarity by providing more upfront educational resources to help artists understand how results rely heavily on music quality, branding, and audience engagement.
- Previous Customer Support Issues
Historically, some Boost Collective customers faced delays when seeking support, occasionally waiting up to a week. Though this has significantly improved—with current response times now typically within 24-48 hours—past experiences still influence some perceptions of the company.
Authenticity of Streams: Are They Real?
Spotify aggressively removes artificially generated streams, a practice that negatively impacts many promotional companies and their clients. However, Boost Collective’s clients have avoided these removals. This success is due to the company’s strict adherence to ethical promotional practices, reflecting their obligations as an official distributor. As distributors themselves, Boost Collective must consistently deliver genuine streams to maintain strong relationships with Digital Service Providers (DSPs) like Spotify. Boost Collective also actively educates artists about avoiding promotional services offering guaranteed stream counts—a common red flag indicating potential bot use.
Boost Collective explicitly advises artists to independently verify streams through reputable industry tools, reflecting confidence in their methods and encouraging artists to maintain skepticism towards illegitimate practices.
Additional Context from Boost Collective’s Response
In response to recent claims of unethical practices, Boost Collective clarified extensively:
- Their campaigns rely entirely on real advertising strategies, as demonstrated by their ongoing ad spend on platforms like Meta, documented in detail in their response article.
- Boost Collective stresses that Spotify fines distributors directly if artificial streams are detected, emphasizing that allowing bot-generated streams would severely jeopardize their distributor status.
- Testimonials and case studies showcased by Boost Collective, such as those by Matt Corman and indie artists like Jmbeats, clearly verify their legitimate promotional efforts and real-world artist success stories.
- Boost Collective actively collaborates with Artist Tools, a respected playlist verification service, which independently verifies the authenticity of their playlists and the legitimacy of their promotions.
Realistic Expectations: What Artists Should Consider
Music promotion is about amplifying existing market appeal, not manufacturing it from nothing. Artists should test smaller promotional campaigns to initially gauge audience reaction before scaling their investment. It’s essential for artists to understand that promotional success depends heavily on music quality, effective branding, and targeted audience engagement.
Final Verdict: Is Boost Collective Legitimate or a Scam?
After reviewing Boost Collective’s practices, client outcomes, third-party verification, and responses to common concerns, we concluded clearly: Boost Collective is not a scam. The company operates ethically, adheres to Spotify’s promotional guidelines, and consistently delivers real listeners through genuine promotional methods.
However, like all promotional services, Boost Collective isn’t without limitations. Highly niche artists might experience limited results, and new users may initially misunderstand estimates as guarantees. Provided artists maintain realistic expectations and approach campaigns strategically, Boost Collective can deliver meaningful growth.
In short, Boost Collective is a legitimate music promotion company that consistently delivers authentic promotional results, provided artists understand that promotional outcomes are inherently linked to the quality and appeal of their music.