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How do I get onto and benefit from algorithmic/editorial surfaces (Release Radar, Discover Weekly, Radio, pre-saves, metadata)?

TL;DR - Pitch early to the humans, engineer early engagement for the robots

Algorithmic vs editorial
  Surface: Release Radar
  Gatekeeper: algorithm to your followers
  Primary trigger: pre-saves and profile follows
  Hot window: day 0–1

  Surface: Discover Weekly
  Gatekeeper: collaborative filtering
  Primary trigger: high saves, low skips, playlist adds
  Hot window: day 7–21

  Surface: Editorial playlists (e.g., New Music Friday, Fresh Finds)
  Gatekeeper: human editors plus data
  Primary trigger: early, well-written pitch and buzz
  Hot window: day-0 refresh and weekly

  Surface: Spotify or Apple Radio
  Gatekeeper: algorithmic
  Primary trigger: engagement velocity and related-artist graph
  Hot window: continuous

Prerelease setup (T-30 to T-14 days)
  • Upload final master: give editors time and prevent last-minute errors; aim ~-14 LUFS loudness, hook by 0:25
  • Metadata hygiene: correct genre, moods, BPM, key, contributors
  • Pre-save campaign: guarantees Release Radar reach; target 500+ pre-saves
  • Canvas / motion art: reduces skips; add a 6–8 second loop

Editorial pitch (≤500 characters)
  • Hook line, story, social proof, marketing plan
  • Submit at least 7 days ahead; earlier (T-14 to T-28) earns more eyeballs

Crush the first 48 hours
  • Direct track URI links in socials
  • KPI: saves per day — benchmark 800+
  • IG or TikTok Reel with “Save on Spotify” overlay
  • KPI: save-to-stream % — benchmark 10%+
  • Discord “save squad” leaderboard
  • KPI: streams from “Other” — keep under 20%
  • Fan playlist seeding (friends’ lists)
  • KPI: playlist-adds per listener — benchmark 3%+
  • Pull the track from any playlist delivering <3% saves or >50% skips

Sustain momentum (days 3–21)
  • Day 3: collab duet or stitch with feature artist to add new follower-graph edges
  • Day 5: “behind the song” YouTube Short to raise watch time and seed Radio
  • Day 7: indie-curator push via SubmitHub, Groover, One Submit batch to feed Discover Weekly
  • Day 10: meme reposts + IG Story sticker poll to refresh Release Radar via external shares
  • Day 14: acoustic or remix drop for second-wave saves and editor re-add chance

Monitor and react — early-warning dashboard
  Save-to-stream
  • Green: 10% or higher
  • Yellow: 6–9%
  • Red: under 6%

  Skip rate at 30s
  • Green: 25% or lower
  • Yellow: 26–40%
  • Red: over 40%

  Streams from “Other”
  • Green: under 20%
  • Yellow: 20–35%
  • Red: over 35%

  Playlist follower jumps
  • Green: under 5% daily
  • Yellow: 5–10%
  • Red: over 10% indicates bot risk

  Green → scale promo; Yellow → tweak creative; Red → remove placement or revise targeting

Common mistakes and quick fixes
  • Pitch sent <7 days before release
    • Fix: upload earlier next release; editors need lead time
  • Wrong genre or mood tags
    • Fix: update metadata and re-pitch; wrong bucket ≈ near-zero chance
  • Long intro (hook at 0:45)
    • Fix: edit a radio cut with hook by 0:25 and re-upload
  • Buying guaranteed streams
    • Fix: pull track and demand refund; bots kill discoverability
  • One-and-done marketing
    • Fix: schedule weekly micro-content for 21 days

Key takeaways
  • Early pitch and clean metadata open the editorial door.
  • Pre-saves and a front-loaded hook secure Release Radar reach.
  • Save rate and skip rate decide Discover Weekly and Radio fate — monitor daily.
  • Stack genuine playlist adds and social proof in days 3–14 to keep algorithms firing.
  • Remove bad placements fast and document every metric so future releases climb higher.

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