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?
Though it may not seem like it, Spotify is in itself a form of social media. 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. For emerging artists, getting noticed by a music blogger or influential playlister will help grow their fanbase. Playlisters across all genres are accepting submissions 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 to playlisters who specialize in your music style!
Editorial, algorithmic, and user-generated playlists are the 3 types of Spotify playlists that exist and are a huge boost in pushing your tracks to new listeners that enjoy similar genres, moods, or themes. Both emerging and established artists benefit from playlist adds, as the algorithm values them more than most other metrics. Here is everything you need to know about playlists along with some strategies for how to get picked up by the Spotify algorithm.
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A Crash Course on the Algorithm
Understanding the Spotify algorithm will help you immensely in pitching your music to playlists. The algorithm reads a song’s performance data based on user engagement and decides whether to push it to more listeners through algorithmic playlists such as Discover Weekly.
The metrics it values are:
- playlist adds
- saves
- streams
- skips
- likes
- shares
The algorithm’s goal is to deliver a more tailored and enjoyable music listening experience for each user, but this can only work if it understands how to categorize music properly. The most important and heavily weighted engagement metric is the playlist add – the algorithm will learn what type of music to group a song with (regarding genre, mood, tempo, etc) when it is added to a playlist with other songs. This, along with the metadata an artist provides when submitting a song for distribution and/or pitching it to an editorial team, will give the algorithm a well rounded amount of information to work with for user recommendations and suggested playlists.
For artists, there are ways to boost your visibility on Spotify and get the algorithm to “notice you”. Releasing music consistently, keeping your profile up to date and complete, getting frequent page visits, and gaining followers and streams (with minimal skips) are all positive data points for the algorithm. 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
User-generated playlists are those created by Spotify users like you and me rather than by Spotify’s editorial team or algorithm. Some Spotify users will make playlists just for personal use, while others have managed to grow a following thanks to their curation skills and music taste. These “playlisters” are the invisible hand of the industry, often being the source of many people’s new finds. Popular playlists can be made by individuals or brands, music magazines or even record labels, and offer tons of exposure to smaller artists.
Collaborative playlists are a type of user-generated playlist that allow multiple Spotify users to create a single playlist together. This can be practical for get togethers and special occasions, but can also be seen as a creative way to grow your fanbase if you’re an artist. Creating a public collaborative playlist with another artist can be a great way to bring two fanbases to one place to increase reach for both artists.
To get added to curator playlists, try finding their contact information and pitch your upcoming release to them my email or DM. You can also submit music to music blogs and online radios that accept submissions.
2. Algorithmic Playlists: Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Radio
Algorithmic playlists are the playlists generated by Spotify’s advanced recommendation algorithms based on a user’s listening history, preferences, and behavior on the platform. These playlists are highly personalized, either grouping already-saved music by genre and mood or introducing users to new music based on old favorites. Here are some of the top algorithmic playlists on Spotify:
- Discover Weekly: One of Spotify’s most popular algorithmic playlists – updated every Monday and delivers a selection of songs based on your listening history and preferences
- Release Radar: Updated every Friday and highlights new releases from artists you follow and ones you’ve listened to before. Make sure to ask your fans to follow your Spotify profile so your new releases show up here!
- Daily Mixes: There are multiple types of Daily Mix playlists, each dedicated to a specific genre or mood. These playlists combine familiar tracks with new music based on your listening habits.
- Period Playlists: Playlists that group your music into different time periods or decades. Examples include Your Top Songs for a certain year and Decade Wrapped.
- Radio Stations: When you create a radio station based on a specific song, artist, or genre, Spotify’s algorithms select songs that are related to your original choice, adapting them based on your feedback (likes and skips) as you listen.
As you can probably guess, you can’t submit music to algorithmic playlists. To boost your chances of getting your music in these playlists, we recommend inviting your followers on other social media networks to follow your Spotify profile so your new releases show up in their Release Radar. The more personal playlist adds you get, the better.
| Read also: How to get on Spotify algorithmic playlists?
3. Editorial Playlists: The Ultimate Goal for Emerging Artists
Of the 3 types of playlists on Spotify, editorial playlists are 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 new songs and artists of each genre. What sets editorial playlists apart from the rest is their huge followings and accessibility the platform. One quick search on “rap” and you’ll be brought to the biggest genre playlist on Spotify.
In order to get a release added to an editorial playlist, you must pitch your track directly to the editorial team by using your Spotify for Artists account. Here are the 10 most followed editorial playlists:
- Today’s Top Hits: 35.1 Million Followers
- Top 50 – Global: 17.1 Million Followers
- RapCaviar: 16.1 Million Followers
- Viva Latino: 15.3 Million Followers
- All Out 2000s: 12.4 Milllion Followers
- Rock Classics: 12.3 Million Followers
- All Out 2010s: 10.4 Million Followers
- All Out 80s: 11.5 Million Followers
- Songs to Sing in the Car: 11 Million Followers
- Baila Reggaeton: 10.8 Million Followers
As you can see, landing a track in one of these playlists can automatically skyrocket your streams. Remember that streams also equal royalties, so a placement is also very financially beneficial. While lots of editorial playlists round up the best of mainstream genres, many focus on emerging artists and true discovery. This means that independent artists absolutely have a chance of landing their track on an editorial playlist – it happens all the time!
Conclusion: All 3 Types of Playlists on Spotify Are Important to Grow a Fanbase
Editorial playlists may seem like the best path to success, but inclusion on user-generated and algorithmic playlists are a big part of what will increase your chances of landing in one. Any playlist add is a win, given that the algorithm favors these over any other form of engagement, so don’t underestimate your listeners and their ability to boost your streams by adding your music!
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