Content:
Get your music on Spotify editorial playlists
A little bit about Spotify editorial playlists
How do you get your music on editorial playlists?
Submit your music to editorial playlists.
Steps to get your song onto a Spotify editorial playlist
Get your music on Spotify Editorial Playlists
Spotify is currently one of the biggest music streaming platforms in the world. There are currently over 400 million Spotify users, which includes 180 million paying subscribers. Within these users, there are many Spotify playlist curators.
If you release music with a music streaming service, like the Spotify Platform, via a music distribution service, Spotify offers a playlist submission option that might interest you. Spotify provides an amazing opportunity for any up-and-coming music artist who wants to expose their music. This opportunity is free, and it's great for Indie artists as their old and new music can be placed on the largest and most popular Spotify playlists through the submission feature, which could lead to a higher number of Spotify streams and expand your Spotify audience.
A little bit about Spotify editorial playlists
There are three types of playlists that you can submit music to on Spotify:
Editorial playlists, algorithmic playlists, and user-generated playlists.
Editorial and algorithmic playlists are two of the three playlists that are curated by Spotify itself. Spotify Algorithmic playlists are Spotify playlists such as Release Radar, Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, Music Friday, or Spotify Radio. Your song placement in these playlists is determined by the Spotify algorithm.
One of the most popular and largest Spotify playlist consideration platforms is Spotify's editorial playlists. Placing your song on a Spotify playlist is the equivalent of the exposure you would receive if your song were to be played on the radio. The bigger the playlist, the more exposure you'll get.
An Editorial playlist is the type of playlist that is created by Spotify's editorial team of curators from around the world. These playlists have the largest number of followers and usually appear as the first choice when searching for a playlist.
Basically, if you're releasing music, Spotify's algorithmic playlists and the editorial playlists won't pick up your song. You'll need to start climbing your way through the user-generated playlists and try to trigger Spotify's algorithmic playlists to notice your song. From there, if you're successful enough, you'll make it to the playlist editors ears and hopefully to Spotify's editorial playlists.
But there's a way to submit directly to Spotify's editorial playlists.
Here's how:
Your first step will be to create a Spotify for artists account so that you will be able to submit all your music to Spotify. This will help you send your music to Spotify playlists, not just independently curated playlists.
How do you get your music on editorial playlists?
It is important to note that currently, the only way to upload your song to Spotify is through using a digital distribution platform. Examples of such platforms include CdBaby, Distrokid, and Tunecore. Once you have uploaded your unreleased music onto one of these platforms and selected a release date for your song, you will need to wait for your digital distributor to upload your song onto Spotify. Prior to uploading your song onto a digital distribution platform, research how long it will take for your song to be placed on Spotify.
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.
Submit your music to editorial playlists
To get your song submitted for playlist consideration, go to your music dashboard under - https://artists.spotify.com/
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 vital to understand that for your song to be considered for a place on 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.
Steps to get your song onto a Spotify editorial playlist:
The required information is as follows:
Select your hometown
Select up to 3 genres for your song (Pop, Rock, Dance)
Select up to 2 music cultures (e.g Latin, Hindu)
Select up to 2 moods (Sad, Chill)
Select up to 2 song styles (Acoustic, Holiday)
Describe what instruments are used on the song (Optional choice)
Provide a description of your song
Once you have completed these steps, you have one last thing to do, which is provide a pitch for your song. Your pitch should include your motivation behind the creation of your song, as well as what it means to you and the meaning behind the song. Writing a great pitch can possibly help you get on one of Spotify's very own playlists.
Once you have completed all the necessary steps, all you need to do now is check your Spotify profile, keep an eye out for any Spotify playlist placements being added to your artist dashboard, and watch out for your song. Hopefully the Spotify editorial team will listen to your song and might get you onto Spotify editorial playlists, algorithmic Spotify playlists, or Spotify's release radar, or you might end up with nothing. At least you did your best to push your music career.
Overall, this option is one of the best submission options on Spotify for indie artists to promote their music with algorithmic playlists and editorial playlists. If you already released your music to streaming services and you want to submit your own tracks to independent playlist curators for playlist consideration, feel free to use One Submit, We help artists get onto Spotify playlists created by Spotify curators, YouTube channels, blogs, radio stations, TikTok influencers, and more.
Get On Spotify User Generated Playlists
These are playlists made by regular Spotify users like you and me. Anyone can make their own playlist and choose to keep it private or share it publicly.
Most folks make playlists just for fun, organizing songs by genre, theme, mood, etc. But some users make playlists for more professional reasons—think bars, restaurants, exercise, brands, that kind of thing. The more followers a playlist has, the more exposure your song can get if it's added. Spotify manages some great playlists, but user-generated ones are in high demand these days.
Now, some of these user playlists are totally legit with real followers. But others might have fake or bot followers. It's important to tell which is which. We can chat more about spotting fake playlists another time!
So how do you get your song on real user playlists that fit your genre?
There are a couple options:
First, you can do research and contact the curators directly. Look up playlists in your genre, find the right contact, and ask them to add your song. The more popular a playlist, though, the less likely they'll respond—conservators get tons of emails!
Some ask for payment to add songs, but avoid those; they're usually fake followers. Paying for placement rarely works out. Going direct can take a lot of time with little payoff.
Instead, you could use a music submission service like ours! We connect artists to real Spotify curators, YouTube channels, blogs, and more. We analyze playlists to confirm they're legit and a good fit.
Once you submit through us, curators listen and decide whether to add your song. Either way, you get valuable feedback. It saves you time while targeting real fans!
The key is getting your music to genuine, popular curators whose playlists fit your sound. Fake followers don't help. But submission services give you efficient access to those valuable placements. Let me know if you need any more details! I'm happy to explain.
Read our blog article, "how to get on Spotify playlists"
Check out the best music promotion services in 2024 how much does Spotify pay per stream Check out our Spotify promotion plans.
Good luck!