How to Submit Music to Spotify Playlists
The complete guide to the different types of playlists on Spotify and how to get your music on them.
Content:
User-Created Playlists
Algorithmic Playlists
Editorial Playlists
How Do You Get Your Song on Spotify’s Editorial Playlists?
Spotify is by far the biggest music streaming platform on earth, with over 345 million active users, available in 178 countries, and the largest user base in the United States, followed by Europe.
Spotify promotion is the best tool for independent artists to promote music and currently, the best way for independent artists to get music discovery for their new music is on Spotify playlist submission.
Playlists on Spotify are the best way to grow your streams, get more exposure for your music, and gain followers, likes, and saves. Placing your music on Spotify's popular playlists could be a game changer for the anonymous artist.
Spotify's editorial team curates tens of thousands of playlists, and users make millions more, ranging from hip hop playlists to rock classics, Music Friday, and power ballads. These playlists are important for music discovery and marketing since they allow artists to upload music to Spotify playlists, participate in Spotify playlist promotion, and reach new audiences.
There are different ways to get on playlists, but what is the right way to get on them? And what kind of playlists are out there? the differences between them? Which playlists can you add your song to? And how do you get your music on Spotify playlists?
These are the questions that every artist, who releases new music, is busy researching,
Well, we're here to help answer these questions, but just before we do, if you're into playlist submissions, make sure you've already released your music using digital music distribution and you have access to your Spotify for artists dashboard.
So let’s jump right in!
Spotify playlists fall into three categories: editorial, algorithmic, and user-created.
User-Created Playlists
These are the playlists created by Spotify users, meaning independently curated playlists.
Everyone can create their own playlist, and all users can choose whether to make their own curated playlists private or public.
Most users are regular users who create their own playlists for fun and sort them by music genre or theme. Some Spotify users create playlists for more professional use, for example, playlists are used for bars, restaurants, music charts, exercise, different brands, etc.
The bigger the playlists in terms of followers, the more exposure your song can get when placed on one of these playlists. The best playlists are managed by Spotify, but you can find a lot of great playlists that are user generated playlists.
In the past years, these playlists have become in high demand for independent artists, so there's a whole ecosystem of Spotify playlisters and curators.
Some of these playlists are organic and genuine, with real followers, others are based on fake or bot followers. It is important to figure out which one is who, and that's for a different article.
You can read further on how to identify fake Spotify playlists.
So how do you get your music on these playlists?
There are two ways to get on user-generated playlists.
Research and submit music to curators yourself.
You can do your own research, browsing the web, extracting lists, and creating a list of playlists within your music genre. You'll need to find out the contact person for each playlist and reach out to them, asking them to place your song on their popular playlist. Make sure your song fits their musical genre and that you're not submitting a hip hop song to an indie pop playlist.
Bear in mind that the more popular the playlist is, the less likely you will receive a response from the playlist curators. A popular curator might receive 300 emails a day, and it's almost impossible to reply to or review each artist.
Some of these curators will request a payment to place your song on their playlists, You should avoid these playlists at all costs; it is most likely they are fake and created using fake bots. If a playlist receives every artist who is willing to pay for a placement, how do you think the playlist will sound? Most likely, no one would be interested in listening to these playlists.
These processes could take a lot of valuable time and might not deliver the results you are expecting.
Using a music submission service
The second method of submitting music to Spotify playlists is using a music submission platform like our platform, One Submit. We're all about connecting artists and Spotify playlist owners, YouTube music channels, TikTok influencers, music blogs, radio stations, and record labels.
One Submit provides a reliable service where you can submit your music for playlist consideration and get it reviewed and listened to by Spotify playlist curators. All playlists are analyzed by us, and we make sure they are organic and have real followers.
Once you submit your music and start a campaign, the curators will review your music and have a choice of whether to approve or decline your song. If they choose to approve your song, they will add it to their playlist or channel, which will promote your music exponentially. Either way, the curator is obligated to provide a written review for your song, and in most cases, that's valuable feedback for any artist.
Algorithmic Playlists
Every time you like a song, listen to a song on repeat, follow an artist, or save a song, the Spotify algorithm remembers it. Using the data collected, Spotify creates a personalized playlist just for you based on your music tastes. Artists can gain exposure for their songs and connect with genuine fans through these playlists.
There are three main kinds of algorithmic playlists: Daily Mix, Release Radar, and Discover Weekly.
Daily Mix
Different kinds of music genres can be featured on Daily Mix, which is updated daily. The more you listen to Daily Mixes, the more frequently they are updated.
Release Radar
Release Radar is a playlist with 2 hours of music and is updated on a weekly basis. The music in these playlists is newly released tracks from artists that you are following.
Discover Weekly
presents you with artists that match your music taste and other people like you with the same music preferences. It is updated every Monday and is a great way for artists to gain music exposure.
There are a few more types of algorithmic playlists on Spotify, but these are the main ones.
So how can you put your music on these algorithmic playlists?
In a nutshell, your song will need to generate between 5,000 and 10,000 streams within the first two weeks of its release. It is not promised that you will get on algorithmic playlists if you manage to gain these streams, since there are more factors such as song likes, streams per user, artist followers, and more.
Spotify does not disclose their algorithm, so this is based on artist research.
Editorial Playlists
Editorial playlists are the type of playlists that are created by Spotify's editorial team. They are seen as the best Spotify playlists, as they have the biggest number of followers. The most popular playlists appear as the first choice when you are searching for a playlist because Spotify placed them there, That's why users listening habits tend to stream these playlists. Most of the songs on these playlists are hits, popular tracks, or new songs by well-known artists, for example Billie Eilish, kendrick Lamar, Tove lo, or Michal Jackson.
Here are some examples of editorial playlists:
Today’s Top Hits: 31 Million Followers
Are & Be has 5.8 million followers.
Coffee Table Jazz: 2.3 million followers
Funky Heavy Bluesy: 800,000 followers
Hot Country: 6.7 million followers
These playlists can make a massive difference for an artist who manages to get his song placed on one of them; it can dramatically change his or her music career.
How do you get your song onto a Spotify editorial playlist?
There are a few ways to do this:
Using user-generated playlists and algorithmic playlists
You will need to get your song onto a user-created playlist and start generating plays for your music, as well as saves and likes for your song. The bigger the playlist, the better. The more playlists you land on, the more plays you get, therefore increasing your chances of getting noticed by Spotify algorithmic playlists. Once your song is on algorithmic playlists, it is up to your song to gain attention from different listeners. If your song is catchy and has hit potential, Spotify editorial teams will notice it and add it to the editorial playlists on Spotify.
Submit for editorial consideration.
There’s another way to submit unreleased tracks to Spotify editorial playlists for consideration. It involves a different process of submission for your artist. Spotify profile.
After your song is distributed to Spotify (not live yet), you will be able to submit it to Spotify editorial playlists. Your song needs to be on your "Spotify upcoming songs list at least one week before your chosen release date. This will require some sort of time management for your single release.
Once your song has arrived on your artist’s dashboard, you will see it under the "upcoming" tab. Your song will disappear from this tab once it goes public on Spotify.
It is important to understand that for your song to be considered for an editorial playlist, it must be unreleased. You can only submit one song at a time on Spotify, wait until it is released, and then submit another song.
Check out our blog on How to Get on Spotify Editorial Playlists.
To be honest, we haven't heard about an artist who managed to get his song on the editorial playlist using these methods, but since it's a free process, there's nothing to lose, and it's worth a try.
Final words:
It's not a sprint; it's a marathon. The core of your success as an independent artist is to create great music that is catchy and unique. Persistence and learning from your mistakes are the key factors.
These are great times to be an artist in today's music industry. All the tools to be a successful independent artist are available to you; some are free and others are paid, but success is available to every artist who is willing to put in the hard work in the process.
Good luck
Read more:
Music Marketing Strategies for independent artists.