Find Spotify Playlist Curators: How to Get Placed on Spotify Playlists
Aug 24, 2021Playlists have become the easiest and most effective tool for new artists to get discovered, in the digital era of music. And yet the entire concept feels akin to witchcraft and wizardry for the uninitiated.
That is fully understandable because playlists and Spotify playlist curators and Spotify Playlist Curation can be rather confusing.
Here is everything you need to know about the different kinds of playlists, Spotify playlist curation, and how you can end up on each of them.
Types of Spotify Playlists
While we have written a dedicated blog post talking about Different Types of Spotify Playlists & How They Can Help You Grow, it wouldn’t be fair to not walk you through the basics of the type of playlists that exist, before we jump onto the curation process.
Spotify playlist curators create a variety of playlists on the platform. The three most common types of playlists are Spotify Algorithmic Playlists, Spotify Editorial Playlists, and Listener’s Playlists.
1. Spotify Algorithmic Playlists:
These playlists are created for the user specifically based on their listening habits. They are curated automatically for each Spotify user and are extremely personalized to their taste. Some common algorithmic playlists include
- Discover Weekly, 30 new songs that are unheard of by the user
- Release Radar, this playlist includes new songs released by artists that the listener already listens to
- Daily Mix, these are 6 playlists that include all the songs that a listener is familiar with
- On Repeat, songs that you have been replaying in the last month
- Repeat Rewind, songs that you have had on repeat in the past
Getting your songs included in Algorithmic Playlists, can help your song reach listeners who will most certainly like it. These playlists have a high reach and are likely to make listeners loyal fans. However, you can’t pitch to someone to end up on these playlists as they’re created automatically.
2. Spotify Editorial Playlists:
These are massively popular playlists that are made specifically by Spotify Playlist curators. These curators are in the editorial teams made by Spotify, and are music and genre experts. The playlists in this category can either be classified according to the genres or even made for certain specific situations. These playlists get a lot of followers and can help in highlighting smaller artists and make them massively popular.
While cuarting Spotify playlists such as Spotify Editorial Playlist playlists, Spotify Playlist curators usually try out songs by the smaller artists in smaller playlists first, and then if they gain traction, they are added to the playlists with a larger following.
Getting your songs on these playlists can prove to be a huge advantage, and increase your streams by a great margin. To get your song added to these playlists, you can pitch your track via the 'Spotify For Artists' dashboard at least a week or two before your release date.
3. Listener Playlists:
These types of playlists are usually made by the listeners for their own use, but sometimes celebrities, influencers, brands, and companies can also make these and have extensive reach and followers. Some well-known companies that make their own playlists are:
User-generated playlists can at times draw in huge numbers of followers and can produce a significant number of listeners and streams for an emerging artist. They also have the potential to influence Spotify’s algorithmic playlists: whenever a user adds your track to their playlist, it provides data to Spotify about the type of music they like. With enough data, Spotify can then recommend that track to other users who have similar listening habits, resulting in long-term audience growth.
Submitting Your Music In Spotify Playlists
Here's how you can help your songs get placed into playlists which are made by Spotify Playlist Curators.
1. Submit your song to Spotify
This is for Spotify's Editorial Playlists. Submit your songs to Spotify for consideration, at least a week before your release. A feature on Spotify's editorial playlists can really jumpstart a new musician's career. For a higher chance to be selected by Spotify Playlist Curators try to have a steady listener count and be specific about your music when you submit it. Make sure your metadata is filled properly.
2. Pitch Your Music to Listener Playlists
If you are a new musician, pitching your music to Listener Spotify Playlist Curators has a greater success rate as compared to pitching your music directly to Spotify. These curators usually charge a fee to listen to your music. Do note that no listener playlist will guarantee a playlist placement, since that is illegal.
You might feel reserved about spending money just to get your music heard, and think that if you wait around you will get discovered, but pitching to curators is really one of the most efficient ways for new fans to stumble upon your music. These curators are also excited to meet new musicians, so reach out.
We've actually made things very simple with our submission platform. The benefit of our submission platform is that it's an easy 1-click submission platform and all artists have to do is fill up a very basic form, as you can see below. There are no filters, no third-party activities, and no confusion in the process of this submission. Once you submit your music after filling out the form, the track will reach our A&R team
3. Categorize your music
Make sure you listen to a playlist before you pitch your music to it. When you are pitching your music, describe the genre, mood, type, and the works. This will increase the chances of your music being accepted. Don’t be afraid to paint a picture, like “Songs to listen to while driving” or “Songs for Rainy Days.”
4. Try to focus on your best song
While submitting your song to get considered for playlists, submit your best song or the song that you think has the highest potential first. This song should be catchy and get the attention of the listener, ideally in the first few seconds of the song. If you only submit quality songs to a curator, the curator is likely to remember it. The converse is true as well.
5. Keep your pitch short
When you are sending your song to playlist curators, keep your pitch short and sweet. Do your research about the playlists and make sure that your song will fit on the playlist. Tell them why you think it will be a perfect addition to their playlist. Be polite and brief, and never act entitled.
Getting on playlists is surely a great step that can help you get discovered, especially as a new artist. If you’ve been gaining a little success with your songs, it might be a nice idea to go on a tour. Here’s how you do it.
We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now!
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