Unlocking Spotify Playlists: Your Guide to Music Promotion

Listening to Spotify

In the rapidly evolving music industry of 2023, Spotify is the most-used platform for music fans who want to discover new artists. So as an up-and-coming musician, it's vital to get your music on Spotify playlists and in front of legions of potential fans.

But how do new artists get featured?

The only way to land on Spotifys' playlists is by putting your music in front of curators and making an impact. Once you get your music on Spotify, it's hard to understate the boost a great playlist placement can give, so I've laid out this essential advice to help you grab those major playlist features in 2023.

How to get your music playlisted on Spotify.

Pitch directly to Spotify via Spotify for Artists,

If you are using Spotify, you must be using Spotify for Artists.

Spotify for Artists has many tools to help you promote your music on Spotify; the most useful is direct playlist pitching.

You can access Spotify for Artists via the app and desktop.

There are two ways you can pitch your music for playlisting via the service in 2023:

1. Once you're signed up and logged in, head to the 'Home' tab at the top of your Spotify for Artists dashboard and choose 'Pitch a song to our editors'.

Spotify For Artists

2. The other way to start pitching is to navigate to the 'Music' tab from the top of your Spotify for Artists dashboard and choose 'Upcoming' and then 'Pitch a song'. From here, you'll be able to pick the specific track that you'd like to pitch.

Spotify For Artists

Spotify will then ask you to fill out some info about the release you're pitching. Make sure to fill this in accurately to increase your chances of getting it placed!

They'll ask for details like location and metadata for your song.

Be as specific as possible to help curators understand the creative influences behind your release.

Make sure you check to make sure everything's correct and then click 'submit.'

Once submitted, Spotify will send an email to let you know if your placement is accepted.

A few things to remember when pitching for playlists through Spotify for Artists.

You can only pitch music unreleased music. Once you've uploaded it to your digital service provider (DSP) and accepted by Spotify (this can take a few days), it'll be available in your Spotify for Artists' upcoming releases.

You can't pitch compilation songs if you're a featured artist.

As of writing this, Spotify only allows you to choose tracks where you're the lead artist. So bear this in mind too. It's best to upload to DSPs with plenty of time to spare and pitch early.

At the very latest, you should pitch two weeks before your release date, but ideally, you want to be uploading & submitting your tracks three to four weeks before your release date.

Spotify's curators must go through thousands of playlist submissions, so the earlier you pitch, the better your chance of getting heard.

Also, you can only submit one track per release. Spotify wants to limit the number of artists pitching their music, so Spotify's editorial team can give every artist a chance.

So if you're releasing an album or EP, think about which track will get picked up by playlists.

Pitch music to independent curators

Blogs, media outlets, and industry people to your average Spotify users create these playlists. Spotify does not generate these playlists.

Spend a few hours searching through Spotify to find playlists that suit your sound, note who owns the playlist and head to Google.

A bit of Google searching can throw up the contact details you need to start submitting to the playlists you've chosen as targets. It'll usually be an email address or a submission form on their website.

Sites like PlaylistPush can help you make contact and get your music added. You could keep things even more organised by generating a spreadsheet of all your potential playlist contacts.

Once you've found the right contacts, it's time to reach out.

Keep your email short, polite and informative, with prominent links to your music on Spotify. Make it simple for them to quickly find out who you are and listen to your music.

Get on Discover Weekly & Release Radar

Spotify's Discover Weekly & Release Radar playlists are unique to every user on the platform. Rather than being curated by Spotify's staff, they're AI-generated.

It's simple to get onto the release radar playlist. You get added to anyone who follows you. Release Radar generates more streams than any self-curated playlist.

Discovery Weekly is more complicated. On Monday morning, every user on Spotify gets their own Discover Weekly playlist. The algorithm uses the user's listening habits to generate the playlist and provides songs the user hasn't heard.

Here's a quote from a Spotify executive explaining how it works:

We look at what you've been listening to. And what are the songs playing around these songs that you've been jamming on but that we know you haven't heard yet on Spotify.

Let's say you've been playing a song by The Killers and a song by Bruce Springsteen a lot. Algorithms look for how those songs are played and ordered in other Spotify users' playlists. If it turns out that, when people play those songs together in their playlists, there's another song sandwiched between them that someone has never heard before, that song will show up in your Discover Weekly.

Drive traffic to Spotify.

If you want to wow curators, you will need a following. The more you have, the more seriously they will take your pitch. Ask everyone to follow you, friends, family and all fans. Tell them to hit the Follow button on your profile.

Make sure your profile is complete.

Complete your bio, add social media links and any gig dates. Don't forget to verify your profile.

Lastly, curate your playlist.

Use your influences and any great songs you like. Be sure to sprinkle your tracks throughout your playlist. Try to build a following for your playlist over time. Remember, the Discover Weekly algorithm looks at every playlist, large or small.

In 2023, Spotify playlisting remains a powerful tool for artists to gain exposure and reach new listeners. By utilising the tips and strategies outlined above, you can increase your chances of landing on popular playlists and growing your audience on Spotify. Remember, it takes persistence and effort, but with the right approach, you can unlock the potential of Spotify playlist promotion and take your music career to new heights. Good luck!