To get on Spotify playlists you pitch your song to the editors before release day, approach independent curators who run real playlists, and build real listeners who push you into the automated ones. Our music release checklist puts the pitch and the upload on the right dates, which is where most artists miss out. And stay well clear of anyone selling guaranteed placements or streams. It’s part of our release planning guides.
1. Pitch to the editors before release day
Editorial playlists are pitched through your Spotify artist profile. You pick a song from your upcoming release and tell the editors what it is and who it’s for.
The catch is timing. The pitch has to go in before release day, so the music has to be uploaded and delivered well before then. Upload the day before release and you’ve lost the chance.
Most pitches don’t land. That’s normal. It costs nothing, so do it for every release.
2. Approach independent curators
Plenty of playlists are run by people, blogs, labels and brands, not by Spotify. Some are worth being on; plenty aren’t.
- Find playlists where artists like you already sit, and check they have real listeners: activity, comments elsewhere, a person behind them.
- Contact the curator directly and keep it short: who you are, one song, one link, why it fits.
- Paying a submission service for a curator to listen is a judgement call. Paying for a guaranteed placement is not. That’s the trap below.
3. Avoid the paid-playlist trap
Services that promise placement on “big playlists” or a set number of streams can deliver them with bots. The FADER reported that some companies place songs on playlists and add bot streams without the artist knowing, and the artist can end up penalised for streams they never bought.
The consequences are real:
- Devi McCallion had tens of thousands of dollars of 2024 royalties withheld by DistroKid over a streaming-fraud investigation, which she denies. DistroKid told her the investigation was over hours after the FADER asked it for comment.
- Benn Jordan had his music pulled by TuneCore in February 2024 over “abnormal streaming activity”. It was restored within days, and TuneCore blamed an internal error.
- Hypebot reported in November 2023 that, from early 2024, labels and distributors would be charged €10 per track when more than 90% of its streams are fake. Your distributor pays that, and it has every reason to act fast on anything that looks suspicious.
Real plays matter for the money too. Under Spotify’s 1,000-stream rule, a track with fewer than 1,000 streams in the past 12 months earns no recording royalties.
4. Grow your own listeners
The automated playlists are built from how real people listen. You can’t buy that, but you can build it:
- Put up a pre-save link before release; see how to make a pre-save link.
- Send the link to your email list and post it where your fans actually are.
- Play live and point people at the song from the stage.
- Release regularly, so the people who found you last time get something new.
5. Give fans one link that works everywhere
Not everyone listens on Spotify. If your bio links to one service, everyone on another service drops out. A smart link is a single page that lists every service, so each fan picks their own and one link does the job in your bio, posts and emails. Your distributor probably builds one for free,. If you can’t find yours, here’s how to find your song links.
6. Make your own playlists
Your own playlists give you something to send people to. They also give you something to trade.
- Build one around your sound, with your releases among tracks by artists you rate, and update it regularly. A playlist that’s only your own songs gives people little reason to follow it.
- Name it for the mood or genre, not just for yourself, so people searching for that sound can find it.
- Message artists you’ve included. They’ll often share it, and may add your track to theirs in return.
- Put the link in your bio and email, and add each new release when it lands.
It won’t replace editorial or curator playlists, but it’s free, you control it, and it keeps working between releases.
Next step
Put your release date into the music release checklist to get dated reminders for the upload, the editorial pitch and the pre-save. Once the song is out, send your link to every curator you’ve contacted.
