In today’s music industry, Spotify playlists have reshaped the way we discover and consume music. The rise of music streaming services has made it easier for more independent artists to release their own music online, making it available everywhere from Apple music and Tidal to Amazon music and more. However, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. How do you get new fans to listen to your music out of the millions of songs available? Spotify playlists can be a huge boost in pushing your tracks to new listeners that are listening to music in similar genres, moods, or themes. Both emerging and established artists can benefit from landing their tracks in Spotify playlists. What are the different types of playlists that exist and how can you get your music into them? Here is everything you need to know, along with some strategies to get noticed by the Spotify algorithm.
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Introduction: how does the Spotify algorithm work?
Before we dive into the types of playlists, let’s first briefly explain how the Spotify algorithm works and why it’s important. In short, it is a complex system of technologies that provide personalized music recommendations to users by collecting data and examining listening patterns. The algorithm’s goal is to deliver a more tailored and enjoyable music listening experience for each user. They want to keep Spotify users coming back for more, whether that means introducing them to different types of music or the musical genres and favorite songs they already know and love. If you listen to a lot of electronic-music, the platform probably won’t be proposing you folk or classical music playlists. If you’ve been listening to a lot of disco, you’ll probably get some soul-music or funk suggestions to keep the boogie going.
For artists, there are certain ways to boost your visibility on the Spotify platform and get the algorithm to “notice you”. Releasing music consistently, keeping your profile up to date, gaining followers and streams (without skips) are all positive data points for the algorithm. Having your music added to Spotify playlists is another key way to keep the momentum going. Think of it like a snowball effect: the more people that listen to your music and engage with your profile, the more Spotify will be able to then push your tracks to listeners with similar habits. Ever notice that section “Fans also like” on an artist’s profile? If you’ve just started releasing music, you probably won’t have this because there are not enough data points to associate you with other artists. Once you start creating some buzz, the algorithm will be able to associate you with similar artists in your genre or subgenres that your fans listen to, and thus push you to new listeners.
1. User-Generated Playlists and Collaborative Playlists
For starters, check out the LinkedIn post from Spotify’s founder and CEO highlighting the importance of independent and third-party playlists ⬇️
User-generated playlists on Spotify are playlists created by Spotify users, rather than by Spotify’s editorial team or algorithms. Though it may not seem like it at first, Spotify is a social media in addition to being a music streaming platform. Music lovers can share what they are listening to, follow their favorite artists and other Spotify users, and curate and share different types of playlists with their community. Some Spotify users will make playlists just for personal use, while others have managed to grow a following for their curation skills and taste in music. These “playlisters” share their favorite artists and discoveries, and sometimes have large followings. They can be individuals or brands, music magazines or even record labels. Playlisters are like DJs specializing in certain musical styles, often creating playlists of the best music they’ve discovered that month to share with their subscribers.
For emerging artists, getting noticed by a music blogger or influential playlister will help you grow your fanbase. Playlisters across all genres are also accepting submissions here on Groover to find new music to add to their playlists! You can filter by country and different genres to find the right people to submit your music to. Make sure to submit your music to the right playlisters in your music style– you’re wasting your time if you make indie-rock music and submit it to an EDM or electronica playlister!
Collaborative playlists are a type of user-generated playlist that allow multiple Spotify users to create a single playlist together. These playlists can be shared among friends, family members, colleagues, or anyone you choose to invite. This can be practical for getting together for special occasions, but can also be seen as a creative way to grow your fanbase if you’re an artist. Let’s say you’re an emerging hip-hop artist in Brooklyn. Why not make a collaborative playlist with fellow up and coming artists in your community to share your own music and what you’re currently listening to? These types of playlists can be a great way to share what kind of music is inspirational for you and expand your fanbase.
TIP: Be careful about paying for playlist promotion. A lot of Spotify “playlist promoters” are offering paid playlist placement to up and coming artists to boost their streams. This can actually be counterproductive in multiple ways. Firstly, paying for playlist promotion or buying streams goes against natural organic growth and building a real following of loyal fans. Secondly, if your music is placed in a playlist that isn’t targeting the right audience or music genres, this could hurt you if it leads to skips. Imagine that you make pop music and you end up in a heavy metal playlist! It doesn’t matter if a playlist has a lot of listeners if those listeners are just going to skip over your song. When a listener skips a song, this is a negative data point for the Spotify algorithm, pushing your music back down to the bottom.
2. Algorithmic Playlists: Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Radio
Algorithmic playlists are the types of playlists generated by Spotify’s advanced recommendation algorithms, based on a user’s listening history, preferences, and behavior on the platform. These playlists offer a personalized and dynamic listening experience, introducing users to different types of music and helping them rediscover old favorites. Here are some of the top algorithmic playlists on Spotify:
- Discover Weekly: Discover Weekly is one of Spotify’s most popular algorithmic playlists. It’s updated every Monday and delivers a selection of songs that are tailored to your musical tastes based on your listening history and preferences. If you love rock-and-roll, this playlist will present you with similar styles of music and artists that you may not have heard before.
- Release Radar: Release Radar is updated every Friday and highlights newly released songs and albums from the artists you follow and ones you listen to. Make sure you ask your fans to follow your Spotify profile so that your new releases show up in this playlist!
- Daily Mixes: Spotify offers multiple Daily Mix types of playlists, each dedicated to a specific genre or mood. These playlists combine familiar tracks with new kinds of music based on your listening habits. If you’ve been listening to a lot of rappers or hip hop music, you may get a daily 50 Cent Mix in your suggestions.
- Time-Related Playlists: Spotify creates playlists that reflect your music preferences across different time periods. Examples include Your Top Songs for a certain year and Decade Wrapped. These can be super cool to track what kind of music you’ve been listening to and if it’s changed over time!
- Radio Stations: When you create a radio station based on a specific song, artist, or genre, Spotify’s algorithms continually select and play songs that are related to your initial choice, adapting based on your feedback (likes and skips) as you listen. If you create a radio station based off of a Mozart symphony, you’ll get more classical, orchestral, and maybe some baroque tracks to listen to.
As you can probably guess, you can’t submit music to algorithmic playlists. To boost your chances of getting your music in these types of playlists, we recommend inviting your followers on other social medias to follow your Spotify profile so that your new releases will show up in Release Radar. The only thing left to do is to generate streams and data points that will help associate you with other artists in your music genre!
| Read also: How to get on Spotify algorithmic playlists?
3. Editorial Playlists: The Ultimate Goal for Emerging Artists!
Out of the major types of playlists on Spotify, editorial playlists are often seen as the crème de la crème for emerging artists. They are curated and managed by Spotify’s in-house editorial team, made up of music experts who showcase the best and most relevant songs and artists. They are highly knowledgable about music trends and have both global and local focuses in their playlists. What sets editorial playlists apart from the rest is their large followings and how they are so easily accessible on the platform. Here are the current top 10 Spotify editorial playlists with the biggest followings:
- Today’s Top Hits: 34.2 Million Followers
- Top 50 – Global: 17 Million Followers
- RapCaviar: 15.6 Million Followers
- Viva Latino: 14.3 Million Followers
- Rock Classics: 11.8 Million Followers
- Baila Reggaeton: 11.1 Million Followers
- All Out 2000s: 10.9 Milllion Followers
- Songs to Sing in the Car: 10.6 Million Followers
- All Out 80s: 10.4 Million Followers
- Beast Mode: 10.2 Million Followers
As you can see, landing a track in one of these playlists can automatically skyrocket your streams. Don’t forget that streams also equal royalties, so landing in an editorial playlist can also be financially interesting for artists. While lots of editorial playlists will round up the best of mainstream genres, they can also focus on more niche or avant-garde musical styles. Maybe one of the curators may be focusing on the emerging dance-music scene in London or the new folk songs of American music. This means that emerging and independent artists do have a chance of landing their track on an editorial playlist! Though there are a lot of submissions, artists can pitch their track directly to the editorial team by using their Spotify for Artists account.
Conclusion: All 3 Types of Playlists on Spotify Are Important to Grow a Fanbase
In conclusion, the 3 major types of playlists on Spotify are all important to grow a fanbase. Editorial playlists may seem like the only way to succeed, but they also are super competitive and favor the most popular music already out there. Don’t underestimate the power of good user-generated playlists and also algorithmic playlists! If you’re an artist, try to look at it from the point of view of a music consumer. You want to easily find new artists to listen to, choose music to dance to at a party, simply put on some background music during dinner or find music for studying. Spotify makes this easier than ever with their playlists. In just a couple clicks, you have all types of music easily organized at your fingertips. Finding the right playlists that your music could fit into makes all the difference!
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