Want to know what other artists are actually advertising on Facebook and Instagram?
You can.
One of the most useful research tools for anyone running music marketing campaigns is completely free: Meta’s Ad Library.
The Meta Ad Library allows you to search advertisers and see the ads they’re currently running across Meta’s platforms. For artists, managers and music marketers, that means you can look beyond what other artists are posting organically and see what they’re actually putting advertising dollars behind.
Start With Artists Similar to You
Before building your next campaign, search a few artists who share a similar audience.
Don’t just search the biggest artist in your genre. Look at established artists, developing artists, independent artists who appear to be growing, labels and even music marketing companies.
Then start looking for patterns.
Are they advertising a new release or an older catalogue song? Are they using the chorus, verse or another part of the track? Is the creative taken from an official music video, a live performance or an organic social post?
Look at how quickly the music starts, what appears in the opening seconds and whether there’s text on screen. Pay attention to whether the ad actually looks like an advertisement or simply feels like another piece of content in someone’s feed.
This is real-world creative research you can do before spending a dollar.
Look for Multiple Versions of the Same Campaign
This is where the Ad Library gets particularly useful.
You may find an artist running several different ads for the same song. One might use a performance clip, another might focus on lyrics and another could use completely different footage.
That’s a good reminder that the ad you’re seeing isn’t necessarily the ad. It may be one of several creative variations being tested against different audiences.
Look at what’s different between them:
- The part of the song
- The opening hook
- Performance versus lifestyle footage
- On-screen text
- Video length
- Calls to action
- Captions and copy
- Different formats or edits
You won’t know which version is winning, but you can see what other marketers believe is worth testing.
Search Labels and Music Companies Too
Don’t stop at individual artists.
Search record labels, festivals, promoters and music companies. Larger organizations may have multiple campaigns running at once, which can give you an even broader look at how music is being marketed across different releases and audiences.
You can also step outside your own genre.
A country artist doesn’t only have to research country campaigns. Pop, rock, hip-hop and independent artists may be using creative formats or hooks that haven’t become common in your corner of the industry yet.
The goal isn’t to copy another artist’s campaign. It’s to understand what’s happening around you.
Pay Attention to Ads That Keep Appearing
The Ad Library can show when an ad began running.
That’s useful context.
If you find an ad that has been active for a meaningful period of time while several other versions appeared and disappeared, it’s worth paying attention to. You still don’t know the budget, conversion rate or actual performance, so you can’t declare it the winner.
But longevity can give you another clue about what an advertiser has chosen to keep in market.
Likewise, if an artist is running numerous versions of the same concept, that tells you something about how seriously they’re testing that particular approach.
Treat these as clues, not proof.
What the Meta Ad Library Won’t Tell You
This part is important.
Seeing an advertisement in the library does not mean the campaign is successful.
The Meta Ad Library won’t give you the advertiser’s cost per conversion, click-through rate, targeting, complete audience setup or the Spotify results happening on the other side.
You also can’t assume that an advertiser spending money on something knows more than you do.
A terrible ad can appear in the Ad Library too.
That’s why the tool is best used for research and inspiration, not validation.
Build Your Own Swipe File
If you’re regularly marketing music, start keeping examples.
When you find an interesting hook, format, visual treatment or campaign idea, save it. Take note of what caught your attention and why.
Over time, you’ll build a reference library of approaches you can come back to when you’re planning a release or trying to find another way into a song.
And don’t only save the flashy ideas. Sometimes the most useful discovery is how simple an effective music ad can be: a strong section of a song, the right performance and a reason to stop scrolling.
Use It Before Your Next Campaign
Before launching your next Meta campaign, spend 20 minutes in the Ad Library.
Search five comparable artists. Search a couple of major labels. Look at artists outside your genre. See which songs they’re advertising and how they’re presenting them.
You’ll probably leave with a better idea of what you want to test — and just as importantly, what you don’t.
The best part is that none of this requires a subscription, marketing report or insider access. Meta makes the library publicly available.
You’re already seeing everyone’s organic content. You might as well see what they’re paying to promote too.
Try it: Meta Ad Library ↗