With 381 million active users, 172 of them paying, Spotify is the most important streaming platform within the music industry. A statement that, even at the risk of being obvious, is still necessary. Nowadays it is an absolutely essential space if you want to build a musical career. That’s why we have decided to dedicate an article on our blog to it. Although we will specifically be talking about Spotify playlists. Because the question is not why as an artist you should incorporate them into your marketing plan, but why are you waiting to do so.
Spotify Playlists: How many types are there?
As always, and as recommended, let’s make first contact with the issue. Spotify has three types of playlists and their differentiating element is who has created them. Let’s take a look case by case.
–Customized: its creation is carried out by the Spotify algorithm. This type of automatic playlists are generated according to the tastes of each of the users. They are built, therefore, based on the behavior of the listener, which artists or genres they listen to and which could be similar. This means that they are different for each person and that there may be several. We are referring to weekly discovery playlists, news radar, daily mix …
–Listeners: users create them: private individuals, magazines, journalists, influencers, labels and even artists. Each person can create as many playlists as they want and, most interestingly, they can choose to make them public or private. As an independent artist, the ones that interest you are, obviously, those that are open to the public.
–Editorials: their creation is carried out by Spotify, but not by its algorithm, but by its human team. These types of official playlists are divided by genres, moods, weekly news, etc. They are the most listened to Spotify playlists in the world, and therefore, the ones you should try to add your creations to. But they are also the ones that have a more arduous and complicated access process.
Editorial Spotify playlists: How do you get in?
Some time ago the platform created the service Spotify for Artists, where in addition to making claims or managing the profile, you can pitch music to. By pitch we mean the presentation of a song for its inclusion in one of these official playlists. An action that you can personally undertake as an independent artist or leave it in the hands of your record company or a third party. Once done, the team of curators will assess your proposal, decide if you enter and if so, in what position.
The process for the pitch is as follows:
1. Upload the song to Spotify. Important: upload, do not post.
2. Enter Spotify for Artists → Music → Upcoming → Submit a Song.
3. Choose the song that you would like to include in a Spotify playlistand select “Pitch a Song”.
4. Fill in the form that will help the curators decide if your proposal is suitable or not.
Important: this option is only available on the computer, you will not be able to access it from your phone.
Spotify playlists: tips to keep in mind if you want to have different options
-Only one song can be proposed at a time, so take time to carefully choose which one you think it should be.
-Whatever the song is, it must be unpublished, that is, it must never have been released.
-You can only choose to pitch the song if you are the main artist.
-The sound quality of the chosen song will be especially taken into account.
-Send the song you have selected at least 7 days before the release. In fact, if you have two weeks it is preferable that you do it with that margin of time.
-When approving your proposal, your Spotify profile is taken into account. Are you verified? Do you upload content on a regular basis making your account active? Do you have a profile photo and header? Have you written a biography? Have you linked your social networks? Pay special attention to all these details, you don’t want your candidacy to be lost because you forgot to add a photo.
–Fill in the form in detail but without being overwhelming or, of course, boring. Choose genre, subgenres and music culture. Indicate its nature, if it is original or a cover, if it is live or made in the studio; the more info, the better. Indicate where in the world your target audience is and in what language your song is. Provide the context of its creation: where, who, why. Do not leave any fields unfilled and keep in mind that they receive thousands of requests each day. Be creative, and most importantly, attractive.
-Remember that Spotify curators can choose to include the submitted song but can also opt for another song from your repertoire.
-Don’t focus all your efforts exclusively on the official Spotify playlists. Take into account those made by users, look for those with an interesting number of listeners that you think your track could fit into and write to their creators.
Pic ©bjornengqvist
