In today’s music industry, creating a solid presence on streaming platforms and especially Spotify is an essential step for any aspiring artist. One of the most effective ways to build a loyal fanbase is by getting your music featured on the right playlists. While playlists are important across music streaming services such as Apple music, Tidal, Amazon music, Napster, Deezer, and more, Spotify remains the most popular platform for streaming music with around 515 million active users. If you land your track in a popular Spotify playlist, your listeners could skyrocket. The days of downloading music are fading away. We now primarily consume music through unlimited streaming, whether that be a free version of a music streaming service or a paid subscription. Getting your own music on Spotify is essential!
Nowadays, there are a lot of playlist promotion services out there and finding the ones that can actually help you build a real following can be daunting. Unfortunately, “botted” Spotify playlists do exist: playlists that are listened to mostly by bots who are programmed to generate streams, not encourage music discovery from real listeners. This can be harmful to the organic growth of independent artists, ruining your Spotify data. It can also lead to getting your music removed from the platform! If you’re like me, you’re probably skeptical whenever some new marketing company DMs you to pay for streams to get your music into a Spotify playlist. You’re totally right! There are, however, Spotify playlist services that are not scams and can help you grow a real fanbase by putting you in touch with the right curators. With transparency and across multiple budgets, these platforms work on one of two models: done-for-you pitching to their network of curators, or do-it-yourself pitching where you get to choose the playlist curators yourself.
Here is our selection of the top 6 best Spotify playlists services for artists to build a real fanbase and boost engagement on the platform.
1. Groover
Groover is an innovative platform that puts artists directly in touch with influencers in the music business, from booking agents and record labels to radio stations and playlisters. Groover’s strength lies in its worldwide development and its advanced technology, which enables artists to find the curators who are the most likely to like their music. Starting at 2 Grooviz, or 2 euros, you can pitch your track to the music professional of your choosing and get a guaranteed response within 7 days. You can filter your search by location, genre, and acceptance rate. If the curator doesn’t listen to your track in time, you get your Grooviz back to send to someone else! Groover wants to make it easier for artists to grow their fanbase organically rather than buying streams. You’ll be able to get real feedback from playlisters and hopefully find the curated playlists that are a perfect fit for your music. Out of all the Spotify playlist services that put you directly in touch with curators, Groover is definitely the most affordable option!
2. Spotify For Artists and Spotify Ad Studio
You may not consider Spotify for Artists as a playlist service at first glance, but they have a very important feature that can help artists grow a real fanbase. The playlist pitching feature allows artists to submit their unreleased music directly to Spotify’s editorial team for potential playlist placement. While it’s very competitive, if your track is selected, you will see your followers and streams grow significantly. Make sure you pitch your song correctly with the right genres and moods. Because there are so many submissions, try to pitch your track 4-6 weeks before release day to give the editorial team enough time to listen. Pitching your music to the editorial team on Spotify for Artists is a completely free-service!
Spotify Ad Studio is also affiliated with Spotify and is used by businesses, brands, and artists to promote and market their music on the platform directly. They help you run ad campaigns that range in budget and target audiences, promoting your music through audio ads, display ads, video takeovers and sponsored playlists. This can certainly help you stand out among the millions of songs available. Spotify remains a top platform where music lovers discover new music and then play it over and over again. However, keep in mind that the only audiences who will see the Spotify ads are free streaming, using the free trial and not paying subscriptions. Paying subscribers with Spotify Premium listen to music ad-free.
3. SubmitHub
Similar to Groover, SubmitHub primarily focuses on connecting musicians with bloggers, playlist curators, and influencers in the music industry on a do-it-yourself pitching model. You get to choose who you send your song to and how you pitch it! Some playlisters accept submissions at no cost and others will charge a small fee of around $2. You’ll be able to see what the playlister is looking for in terms of genre and mood to see if you could be a good fit for one of their playlists. Once again, there is no guarantee of playlist placement, but if the playlister likes your music they can offer you opportunities. This is important to getting real and organic growth!
4. SoundCampaign
SoundCampaign uses a done-for-you pitching model to their open network of Spotify curators. They offer artists an average Spotify promo campaign for around $150 which ensures that at least six curators from around the world will listen to your track. Their playlists have real listeners that encourage that organic growth and can help your presence in algorithmic playlists. During and after the campaign, you can track analytics and insights to see how your music is performing and better understand your audience. SoundCampaign has reliable customer support and offers personalized marketing campaigns to each artist, knowing that every project is different.
5. Indie Music Academy
Indie Music Academy is a very transparent playlist placement service that offers a guaranteed number of streams to real listeners. They offer support to artists who are even starting completely from scratch and independently with their marketing and SEO strategies. You won’t be pitching your tracks directly, but rather, they set up a campaign for you to their closed network of SEO-built playlists with real listeners. They offer artists a guaranteed number of streams, so any money you spend will get results. Their entry marketing package starts at $297, so they are a bit on the expensive side, but can offer quick results that could help trigger the algorithm and keep the streams coming.
6. SubmitLink
SubmitLink works similarly to Groover or Submithub where artists pitch their track directly to playlist curators of their choosing. It’s a smaller platform that may not lead to as many streams, but you will be able to get your song on real playlists with real listeners and not bots. You will get a guaranteed response within a week or your money back. Usually with these do-it-yourself Spotify playlist services, you’ll also get higher-fit placements in playlists, thus less skips. This means that the playlists and thus audiences will be a better fit for your song and genre. This is the first step in creating a loyal fanbase and can eventually lead to higher engagement on the platform!
Conclusion: Promote Your Music Beyond Spotify Playlist Services
Hopefully you can use these Spotify playlist services above to help boost your engagement on the platform, and eventually across other streaming music services. Playlists remain essential in how people find new music over the internet. For songwriters and artists who get lucky by landing bigger playlists, not only will they grow their visibility, but also their royalties and revenues. Even if a Spotify subscriber is listening to music on a playlist at random on shuffle, you’re still getting streamed. Hopefully, that song they listened to will lead them to your profile where they may just discover their new favorite music.
Keep in mind that it is important to promote your music beyond Spotify to grow your fanbase and also strengthen your reputation as an artist. Don’t forget to promote new releases across social media and make it easy for people to listen to your music at the click of a button. Nowadays, we listen to music online through Instagram and TikTok without even realizing it! But how do you get a one time listener to come back again and again to your music library? Release the best music you can and do it on a regular basis. Release music videos and encourage fans to play music directly from your Spotify catalogue. Send your track to your favorite local radio-station or online radio web player. Get creative- promoting your music is just as important as writing, recording, and producing it!
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