How to Get Playlisted on Spotify And Maximize Your Playlist Exposure

Spotify, the largest streaming platform in the world, with 271 million monthly active users, has transformed how listeners find new music. It’s not just about the way music is accessed — Spotify has both launched a new music consumption model and created a massive discovery channel for artists all over the world. Don’t get me wrong, the old discovery channels like radio, press, and social media, but there’s now a big chunk of discovery that happens within the consumption platforms itself. 

In fact, most of the artists shouldn’t really treat Spotify — or any other streaming service — as a revenue source. Streaming services are, first and foremost, a promotion platform. One of the main principles of advertising is that you should place your ads as close to the purchase point as possible. That is why Google Search is one of the largest advertising platforms on the planet right now, serving ads to customers when they’re actively searching for a solution to their problem. That’s why you get targeted by lodging providers when you’re shopping for plane tickets. In that sense, Spotify is the best advertising platform for music, allowing you to reach potential fans right in the middle of their listening session, where they’re just one click away from your artist page.

There are three main ways Spotify introduces new music to its users: featured “premium shelf” (like the new releases section), algorithmic recommendation (autoplay), and, last but not least, editorial and generative playlists. And, while the first two channels can be hard to leverage, the doors of Spotify editorial are open to pretty much everyone with a Spotify for Artists account. 

So, today, we will focus on the latter, and give you some tips on how you can make sure that your music — or the music of artists you work with — has the best chances of getting on Spotify playlists. Here’s our simple step-by-step guide on how to get music on Spotify and considered for playlisting. 

How to get your music on Spotify playlists: 5 tips

Spotify playlists are an incredibly competitive space, so to have a decent chance at getting your music placed on one, you’ll have to do everything right. There are some simple steps you can take to give your music the best chance, and we walk you through them below:

1. Focus on your single most high-potential song

As much as you might love each song on your album, even the highest-profile artists don’t get their whole album included on a Spotify playlist: only the catchiest, hookiest, high-potential songs will make it. You’ve probably got that one song in mind that your fans love the most, and that’s also the song most likely to catch the ear of new listeners (or the Spotify editorial board). 

Even better, you might have data from multiple platforms indicating that your fans have a clear favorite song. Either way, choose carefully and focus on getting just that song featured on a playlist. 

2. Don’t overlook metadata

If you want to be properly credited and earn revenue for your music, then it’s critical that each song has accurate and complete metadata. This is doubly true if you’re trying to get that song featured on a Spotify editorial playlist: Spotify says themselves when submitting a song for consideration that “the more info we get, the better chance it has.” Accurate metadata will also ensure the song links to your Spotify account, earning you more listeners, not to mention the streaming revenue that will come (if you wrote the song). 

3. Submit the song at least one week BEFORE you release it

The Release Radar is a Spotify Playlist that features weekly new releases of a listener’s favorite artists. Music from your new releases will automatically be added to the Release Radar of your followers, but only the newest, unheard music gets included. By submitting your song one week before it’s release, you can ensure it gets included on the Release Radar of your followers.  

4. Build your story outside of Spotify 

The Spotify editorial board doesn’t just draw from your performance on the Spotify platform: the bottom line is, the more established you are as an artist and the better your name recognition, the better your chances of getting accepted. That means boosting your profile on other platforms like YouTube and Facebook, building a high-quality website, and getting your name out there as much as possible via marketing and promotion. 

5. Get verified 

Back in the day, if you wanted to get verified on Spotify, you needed at least 250 followers, but they’ve since made it easier: you just need to create an account on Spotify for Artists. This is a simple but critical step towards eventually getting onto Spotify playlists. 

The 3 types of Spotify playlists 

Spotify playlists can be divided into 3 categories: algorithmic playlists, user-made playlists, and editorial playlists. Getting your music on any of them is valuable, but they’re not all created equal either. We give you the breakdown below:

1. Personalized playlists

These are the playlists that Spotify’s algorithm puts together for each individual user based on their listening preferences. There are a number of different playlists that fall under this umbrella: Discover Weekly, which helps listeners find new artists and music, Release Radar, which compiles new releases from their favorite artists, and two newer playlists, On Repeat, which compiles your favorite current music, and Repeat Rewind, which compiles your favorite music from the past.

The key to getting onto these personalized playlists is accurate recommendation metadata so that when users who enjoy your style of music look for new artists, Spotify adds you to their personalized playlists. 

2. Listener playlists

These are playlists made by Spotify users: some of them grow extremely popular, but for the most part, people make them for themselves or small groups of friends. So, while placement on these playlists can be valuable since it indicates a base of popularity, getting your music on them should be a mid-level priority.

3. Editorial playlists

These playlists are the most treasured spots on Spotify: curated by Spotify music experts and listened to by millions of people. Unlike the two above types of playlists, you can only get on Spotify playlists by submitting your music for consideration. In the next section, we tell you how to do this. 

Submit your music to Spotify in 3 steps

Submitting your music to Spotify is simple, but all the steps must be taken on a desktop: they don’t accept submissions over the mobile app. 

1. Log in to Spotify for Artists on desktop

This requires an account on Spotify for Artists; if you don’t have one, get one! You can’t submit your music without it. 

2. Go to “Upcoming” under the “Music” tab or “Submit from next release” under the “Home” tab

There are two ways that you can submit your unreleased music to Spotify (again, both must be from a desktop, NOT the mobile app): 

1. Navigate to the “Home” tab and click “Submit from next release”
2. Navigate to the “Music” tab and click “Upcoming,” then select “Submit a song”

3. Select one song and fill out the recommendation metadata

Artists can only submit one song from their profile at a time, and it’s critical that you fill in all the fields in the song’s recommendation metadata as completely as possible. The more info is missing, the lower your chances of getting on a playlist. 

How to approach Spotify Playlists to grow your career 

Placement on Spotify editorial playlists can provide massive exposure and potentially generate millions of streams. Groover is a music platform that helps independent artists connect with industry professionals for feedback and promotion. Artists submit their tracks, and professionals guarantee a response, offering a direct way to gain exposure and opportunities. You can also look into Playlist Push's promotion campaigns to connect with independent playlist curators. But the important question is, how many are going to become true fans: the type that consistently streams your music, follows you on social media, go out to your concerts, and buy your merch? 

Think beyond playlists

Spotify is a great way to connect with new listeners, but Spotify playlists are also just one promotional channel of many available to artists. Editorial Spotify playlists can spike your stream count, but streaming numbers alone shouldn’t be your endgame. How useful is placement on editorial playlists if yours is just another name on a massive list for the playlist’s listeners? 

Build your brand

That’s why building a brand outside of streaming platforms is so important. Your brand is what singles you out amongst the crowd, it’s what fans connect with and what keeps them coming back. And the bigger your brand, the better your chances of getting picked up by Spotify’s editorial team. 

Focus on your following 

Overall, following from fans is more important than simple spikes in streams on Spotify. Getting mentioned on a popular Spotify playlist is great for temporary growth, but really long-term success is dependent on loyal fans, on Spotify, and beyond. Think of getting on Spotify playlists as only one of the many ways to drive plays! 

Find a distributor that will help you with trade marketing

Besides putting your music on Spotify, the right distributor can also help you be more visible on the platform — both in terms of the featured section and editorial playlists. Such dedicated distribution partners are a bit different from the aggregator services like TuneCore or CDBaby. Usually, they work with selected partners and take a cut of the streaming revenue that goes through them. But if you manage to land that distribution deal, it might go a long way in growing your career — especially if the playlists are a vital component of your promotion strategy. 

Conclusion 

No cheat code will get you on Spotify playlists: your best asset is a dedicated fan base, one that will follow you from platform to platform, bring attention to you as an artist, and create a demand for your music. That being said, you can get a leg up on many of the artists vying to get on Spotify playlists (editorial or otherwise) just by doing simple things like getting your metadata straight and being strategic with how you select and submit your music. 

Learn more about Spotify playlists curation on Groover