Groover team
Think about how you discover music as a listener. Quite often, we engage with what is suggested to us. This can certainly be by word of mouth, but is increasingly being sourced back to social media platforms and streaming services themselves – i.e, viral song snippets and algorithmic suggestions.
No matter your level of success, having your music land on personal and professional playlists is one of the most powerful things that can happen for your career. It is an exceptional way of reaching people in the corners of Spotify and other streaming platforms that you’d otherwise never reach on social media as a small artist, and can help you find a true, dedicated audience.
There are a number of ways to get new music playlisted, and all of them are very accessible to independent artists. The following are the most proven ways to get more playlist adds and thus more streams, shares, and follows on streaming services.
Pitch to Playlists Yourself
Both Spotify and Apple Music host different types of playlists, and they can be sorted into 3 categories. The first is user-created playlists, where listeners like you and I create their own selection, the second is algorithmic playlists, which are created for users based on their listening preferences, and the third is editorial playlists put together by the platform’s team of curators. These usually have a large following and are updated regularly.
How to Pitch to Spotify and Apple Music’s Editorial Playlists
Pitching yourself is truly not as daunting as it may seem. Both platforms have a page dedicated to walking you through the process – nothing is gatekept. It requires a little planning ahead (both recommend pitching at least 7-10 days before your song’s release date) and a good understanding of how to categorize your song. For example, Spotify will give you multiple choice options to select for the following:
- Genre
- Music Culture
- Mood
- Song Style
- Instruments
- Cover or Remix
- Studio Recording or Live
- Instrumental Song or Lyrics
They will also ask you to describe your song and explain your promotional plan (playing shows, doing interviews, posting release-related content online, etc). You want to convince them that you, too, will be doing the legwork when it comes to getting your new music off the ground.
Find Spotify’s instruction page here, and Apple Music’s page here.
How to Pitch to Independent Playlists
User-generated playlists play a huge role in whether a streaming platform’s algorithm picks up your music. The music industry is being more and more influenced by independent playlist curators on Spotify as their playlists continue to garner hundreds of thousands of saves, so make sure to include them in your pitching process!
Start by scouring TikTok and Instagram – this is where curators promote their playlists the most. You’ll find that most curators have playlists based on either genre or mood, so make sure your new music fits into the tone they’ve set on their profile. Once you’ve targeted a few you like, reach out to them via DM or email. This information will either be in their social media or Spotify bios.
If you can’t find their contact information, you can try a music service that connects you directly to them. Groover is the most affordable and user-friendly of these options, and costs about $2 per pitch to any of the hundreds of playlist curators they’re partnered with. If the curator doesn’t respond within a week, you get your credits back to use on someone else.
In your message to them, make sure to keep it short and sweet. Curators get messages all the time, so remaining succinct will increase the chances of them reading your whole message. Introduce yourself, describe your song, and explain where you see it fitting in their playlists. Include links to your streaming pages and briefly mention any previous playlist adds you may have had to boost your credibility.
Focus on Week-One Streams and Adds
Arguably the most powerful type of playlist is the algorithmic ones, as they show up in users’ personal listening – they do not need to be following a curator or editorial playlist to discover the music. The most popular algorithmic playlists are “Discover Weekly”, “Release Radar”, and “Daylist”. In order to land on Discover Weekly, for example, Spotify takes into account week-one streams and playlist adds to understand how well your song is performing.
A great way to encourage initial streams is Spotify’s new Countdown Page, which allows you to promote your upcoming release directly on your artist page. This is a relatively new feature, so the platform will reward those who utilize it. Listeners will see a release countdown on your page, will be notified that you have a new project coming out, and will be able to pre-save it to their libraries. The pre-save will also land you on Release Radar.
Create Your Own Playlists
Playlist adds, no matter the type, will tell the algorithm to push your music to listeners with similar tastes and continue the positive playlist loop. This means user-generated playlists, including yours. Creating your own playlists that include your music alongside artists you believe to be similar to is a very wise way of teaching the algorithm who to associate you with. The more information it has, the better.
Making your own public playlists will bring more visitors to your profile as you build yourself a nice repertoire. Playlist followers trust the taste of their curators, so throw in one or two of your own songs to bigger playlists of yours to promote your project.
Build a Network of Curators
Indie curators are constantly looking for new material to share with their following, and once they find smaller artists they like (especially ones that have not blown up yet) they will keep them on their radar for new projects.
As an emerging artist, maintaining connections with playlisters is a great way to build a network of influential people within the music industry who genuinely want you to succeed. Always be friendly in your outreach and exchanges and let curators know when you have new music coming out. Remember to browse Instagram and TikTok for growing playlists that may suit you – they’ll be grateful to connect as well!
Let Your Music Breathe
Do not be discouraged if you don’t get the results you want right away. Songs take on a life of their own once they’re released and often find success much later than anticipated. Streams always come in waves, so let them! Avoid paying for streams as these services rarely target the right audience and often use bots, which significantly hurts your streaming performance in the eyes of the algorithm. Allow your songs to have their own trends over time and continue to promote them organically the way you always have. Trust the process!