You have unreleased music that’s approaching its drop date and want to make sure its week-one streams hit it out of the park. Ever considered submitting your music for playlist consideration? Getting a new track added to Spotify playlists and Apple Music playlists can change the game entirely. In this article, we’ll focus on Spotify and their playlist process. Let’s walk through the steps necessary to submit an unreleased song for playlist consideration.
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Key Takeaways
- Set up and familiarize yourself with Spotify for Artists
- Make sure your track as high-quality audio
- Write a captivating description and select appropriate genre tags
- Accurate metadata and timely submission can significantly influence Spotify’s algorithm
- Submit your track at least seven days before release to increase your chances of playlist consideration
1. Getting Started with Spotify for Artists
Spotify for Artists is where you’ll be submitting your tracks from. The interface will serve as the entry point for presenting your music straight to the editorial teams at Spotify and monitoring how well your track does. Therefore, understanding it is essential.
Begin by creating an account and familiarizing yourself with the various features available on its dashboard. You’ll be able to customize your artist page, track your music’s progress, view listener demographics, pitch unreleased music for consideration once it’s been submitted to distributors, and more. Remember, you cannot submit an unreleased song to playlists as a featured artist – you must be the primary artist to do so.
Creating Your Spotify for Artists Account
Here’s how to do it:
- Visit the Spotify for Artists website and select the ‘Get Access’ option.
- To confirm your artist profile, claim it via your music distributor or link it directly if you distribute your own music. Providing accurate information can help Spotify’s algorithm better understand and promote your music.
- As part of verification as an artist, you will be required to share information about both yourself and your musical works.
After completing verification, you’ll acquire full control over your artist profile and receive a verification badge alongside your name on Spotify. This will boost your credibility and unlock additional functionalities and analytics that can assist in submitting songs to relevant playlists on Spotify.
The dashboard on Spotify for Artists is equipped with numerous functionalities – within the dashboard you have capabilities enabling you to:
- Delve into detailed stats concerning your audience
- Track the performance and streaming results of new music
- Assess trends over time
- Set up campaigns to promote your music
- Create a merch tab for in-app sales
- Add visuals to your artist page
2. Preparing Your Unreleased Track for Submission
Make sure you’re prepared before submitting unreleased music. You’ll need high-quality audio, a fitting description of your track for reviewers to read, and accurate metadata for the algorithm.
High-Quality Audio
The initial perception of your music is crucial, and it’s highly influenced by its audio quality. To guarantee the best possible sound, upload your tracks on Spotify using FLAC or WAV formats. This is important because Spotify converts these files into multiple formats for different levels of audio quality, so starting with a high-quality source file is essential. High-quality audio is also crucial for successful playlist pitching, as curators are more likely to feature tracks that sound professional.
To maintain uniformity in playback volume throughout their service, Spotify employs the ITU 1770 standard when measuring track loudness. By providing a superior audio file upon submission, you can markedly enhance how listeners experience your music on the platform – don’t cut corners here!
Distribute Your Track
This is arguably the most necessary step of the preparation process, as it’s impossible to pitch a song that has not been submitted for distribution yet. Whether you are signed to a label or are independent, the only way your unreleased song will show up in your Spotify for Artists page is if your distributor has submitted it for release.
If you are using a digital distributor and don’t see your track avaiable yet, fear not. It can take a few days, sometimes a week or two for the song to show up. This is why early submissions are best. It’ll give you, the distributor, and the editorial team the time to do things correctly.
Track Description
Crafting an engaging track description is key to grabbing the attention of playlist curators, enhancing your odds of securing a spot on their playlists. This section should be used to underline certain aspects of your song, incorporating genre-specific keywords and explaining the narrative behind your music along with any marketing strategies you have in place. A compelling track description can also positively influence Spotify’s algorithm, increasing your track’s visibility.
Maintain brevity and captivation in your description. 500 characters is the limit, so be concise. Accentuate what distinguishes your music from others and don’t be afraid to use imagery.
Here is a pitch example that landed “Superficial” by Victor Mechanik in 3 editorial playlists on Spotify:
Selecting the Right Genre and Mood
Choosing the correct genre and mood for your track is crucial to ensuring it reaches the intended audience. When using the submission tool, you are asked to pick one primary genre along with a maximum of three subgenres that most accurately depict your music.
When you correctly categorize your music, it aids Spotify editors in positioning your song on suitable playlists, thereby enhancing its likelihood of being found by listeners who will value it. Remember also to select up to two moods and two styles related to the song to better define your entry.
3. Submitting Your Music to Spotify Playlists
Now that you’ve prepared to the best of your ability, you’re ready to submit music for playlist placement. This process requires you to log into your Spotify for Artists account, complete the necessary submission form accurately and ensure that you time your submission appropriately.
You can find a detailed step by step walkthrough of the pitching process here.
Filling Out the Submission Form
To make a convincing case when submitting your music, it’s critical to complete the submission form with attention and accuracy. Opt for a single unreleased track that epitomizes your album or EP. Provide details about genre and mood, as these will become the metadata attached to the track that inform the playlist editors and the algorithm of what kind of song they’re working with.
Spotify enables you to pinpoint up to three genres from their curated list. Expanding upon optional sections such as:
- musical cultures
- moods
- styles of songs
- instruments used
Timing Your Submission
Ensuring your music is submitted with enough buffer time is crucial. Given that your track will be going through distribution and pitching processes, it’s best that you give the teams behind them enough time to consider your song without feeling rushed to come to a decision.
Refrain from submitting too close to the release date, as this can diminish the chance of securing a spot on desired playlists due to missed opportunities. By doing so, you can also ensure that your unreleased music will be included in your followers’ Release Radar playlists, enhancing engagement with your audience. We recommend submitting at least 3 weeks before your scheduled release date.
4. What Happens After Submission
Once you submit unreleased music, it enters a collection of songs awaiting evaluation by Spotify editors; you can monitor the progress of your submission using either the Playlists tab within Spotify for Artists, or through notifications sent to your email.
How Spotify Editors Review Submissions
The track you submit to Spotify is evaluated by editors who take into account the genre, mood, and cultural identifiers that are associated with it during the submission process to match your song with an editorial playlist they think it would fit well in.
Tracking Your Submission Status
You can determine whether your track has been included in a playlist by clicking on the Playlists tab on the Spotify for Artists page. If your song is chosen, you will also be notified via email from Spotify.
5. Increase Your Chances of Getting Playlisted
Several tactics can enhance the likelihood of your track being featured on editorial playlists. You should highlight the distinctive characteristics of your song, utilize social media platforms, and engage with playlist curators through networking.
Highlighting Unique Aspects of Your Track
When presenting your release to Spotify curators, it’s important to provide details they wouldn’t otherwise know, and cite the artistic inspirations that shaped your work. These experts want to know the story behind your song and why it’s worth sharing. Highlight sonic choices you made and why you made them. Explain the backstory of the track and how it informed the creative process. Tell the team why your track stands out amongst others. There are plenty of ways to showcase the uniqueness of your music.
Leveraging Social Media and Organic Growth
Social media is one of the easiest ways to grab attention and direct to your music. Whenever you release, let it be known! The Spotify team will take note of someone who is eager to promote their music and funnel people to their streaming pages – a win-win for you and Spotify. As you continue to grow your community and build excitement around your release, you’ll reap the rewards in the form of strong week-one streams, which will also boost your chances of getting a playlist placement. It is worth noting that playlist consideration does not end on release day; your track can still be added to an editorial playlist after it’s dropped!
| Read also: How to get more Spotify streams?
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I create a Spotify for Artists account?
Go to the Spotify for Artists website and select ‘Get Access’. There, you will be able to claim your artist profile or create a new one.
What audio format should I use for submission?
You should submit your tracks in WAV or FLAC formats for the best sound quality.
How do I know if my track has been picked for a playlist?
You can monitor the pitching process under the Playlists tab on your Spotify for Artists page. You will also receive an email if your track has gotten a placement.
What should I include in my track description?
Ensure that your track description includes genre-specific keywords, the narrative inspiring the music, strategies for promotion, and distinctive elements of the track.
Why is timing important for submission?
Submitting your track a minimum of three weeks prior to its release date is highly recommended. It allows Spotify’s editorial team ample opportunity to evaluate it and secure its placement in editorial playlists.
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