How to Get Music on Spotify Playlists: Secret Guide

Stories are told of how Spotify has transformed armature hip-hop artists into superstars with just a song or two on certain curated playlists.

The Yonaka's is one such case where just one song (Fired Up) making it to the Rock List, formerly the Rocked list, change their life and music career. Today, Yonaka is massively adored among Spotify's adored rock playlist such as Rock This and Women of Rock.

Getting on a Spotify playlist is a coveted step. And it's not an easy click-and-go thing. You must work hard because you can't cheat the system. Spotify's algorithm is so smart that it's able to detect any abnormalities and block your account.

So, getting to how to get your music to Spotify playlists, let's understand the types of playlists on Spotify.

Types of Spotify Playlists

There are 3 types of playlists artists can direct their songs to.

1. Personalized Playlists

Personalized playlists are curated by Spotify's algorithms based on the listener's taste. The algorithm reads the users behavioral characteristics and musical taste, their taste, actions, and creates a playlist that fits these aspects.

In some cases, Spotify itself groups listeners with the same and serves them the playlists. The whole process is automated but it's monitored by real people in the background. If you have a considerable following, you are likely to get on more playlists. If your song gets into a personalized playlist, your subscribers will get notified.

Personalized playlists are essential for your Spotify music promotion, and you can take advantage of Spotify Plays to push your songs into these playlists. An example of personalized playlists is Discover Weekly.

2. Editorial Playlists

Editorial Spotify playlists are created by the official Spotify curators who run the whole system. Curators are music experts and specialists gotten from around the world who have studied the behaviors and interests of various groups of people over the years.

Each curator handles a single genre and perfects knowledge of their audience. Each genre has a reserved group of feeder playlist, and editors test new music, monitor reaction of the listeners, and decide whether to add it to the official curated editorial playlist or not.

Editorial playlists combine the expertise of these expert curators and the power of Spotify’s algorithm. An example of an editorial playlist is Most Necessary.

3. Listener Playlists

These are playlists created by fans for the. Over the years that Spotify has been around, millions of playlists have been created by fans and shared across the platform. If a fan adds your music to their playlist, Spotify offers your music to other listeners with similar musical tastes as your fans and in the process, growing your popularity and putting your music at the verge of being added to editorial playlists.

So, how do you get your music into these playlists? The answer requires a combination of approaches, including the ones already discussed under how to promote your music on Spotify above. Below are more tips to get your music to these playlists.

1. Instead of just having an account, sign up for a Spotify artist account and get access to analytics and other tools to enhance your promotion.
2. Create your own playlists and add your music in there and share it with your fans. Assume you are one of the Spotify curators and look at what they consider before while creating a playlist like mood, activity, etc. and use such to create your playlist.
3. Make use of independent Spotify playlist curators and pitch your song to them. Do a background such and find the relevant playlist you want to target. Use keywords and such to identify these playlists.
4. Promote playlists that feature your songs. Support these playlists by all means possible using your social links and other sources you have.
5. Submit your music directly to Spotify playlists but make sure it’s unreleased with at least 7 days to the release date. Make sure you submit to all the rules.
6. Make use of music blogs and aim to be featured in most of them that fall in your genre. Pitch to bloggers, get reviews and you may be in their playlists next time.

And if all the above seems a lot of work, sign up for our Spotify playlist placement for all genres that you target with your music. We have enough talent in our team to get your music where you want to be and win you more followers.

How to find curators of Spotify playlists

Because you want your music to be featured on Spotify playlists, you’ll have to get in touch with Spotify playlist curators and pitch to them. Below are some of the ways or places you can use to find these curators.

• LinkedIn Search.  Use target keywords that combine Spotify + a few more like editor, editorial, A&R, artist development, label services, and shows. For example, search for "Spotify editor" Review the names you get and head to step 2.
• Come back to Spotify. Check out the names you shortlisted from LinkedIn. Ones you get them, check their public items, and you'll find a list of playlists that they either manage, like or created. You are closer to getting the first one.
• Get social. Now that you have identified a few leads, follow them on Spotify, and on all other social media platforms that you find them on, like their playlist and head to stage 4.
• Find their emails. Finding their emails is probably the hardest part but thanks to email mining tools available online either as free tools or subscription-based. You can start with Rocketreach to get their emails. If you are lucky to get their emails, it's time now to pitch to them about your music. Keep your emails short, 3-5 sentences. Tell them what's exciting about our career and how your music will help their playlists. You can find email bases on Demopoolbase and interact with your target audience directly. 

This is just one way of finding Spotify curators. Others have used the options below.

1. Start with the obvious ones - if you search for playlists that you are interested in on Spotify, you may be lucky to find some of the curators leaving behind their contacts either in their public profile, playlists description or nicknames. Some are even so generous to publish their full names on their profiles. Check out these people on other social profiles and get chatting with them, pitching the music ones you feel you have a conversation going on.
2. Use the Spotify community to find playlist curators and build relationships with them so that your music may land in their playlists.
3. Other areas where you can find curators and build relationships with them include:

• Reddit
• Submission sites like SubmitHub, SoundPlate, Promosoundgroup and Playlists.Net
• Connect with other artists, build a relationship with them, and see if they are willing to share the contacts of curators who have featured their music on different playlists.
• Use popular music blogs and magazines to find playlists and their authors and reach out to them.
• Use playlists username to search for playlists on Google. Instead of just searching ‘Spotify playlists,' use the name of the playlist like ‘Pitchfork -Spotify playlists.' This will ignore the results on the Spotify website and give you where there are mentions of the playlists and possibly find their authors.

And now you have an idea on how to get your music to Spotify playlists. Make sure you follow these, and more than you come across as you implement each strategy.

As an artist, you have a lot to contribute to the journey to success. A lot can be outsourced to music promo companies who the experts in their teams to help get your music to the world as well as place it in some of the best performing Spotify playlists.

Yet, there’s also more than you can do on your own. Get yourself ready by executing the following DIY steps and instructions:

• Create and verify your artist's profile so that you get access to unlimited marketing tools for your music.
• Record and release your music and place the same on Spotify. You cannot get to record playlists if you just have a song to boast about all year.
• Be noisy. Create some buzz about you by doing all you can to get the attention of people concerned with playlists. Hire some publicist or pitch to bloggers or do things to make them want to write about you and your music.
• Create your own playlists and promote it on Spotify and on your social profiles where your fans are most likely to listen to it and share with their friends.
• Use the data provided by Spotify to make decisions about your marketing strategies and plans.
• Educate your fans and friends on how they need to conduct because their actions matter and explain why they should follow you on Spotify and other places.

And just like that, you’ve put yourself in a perfect path for success on the Spotify platform. Make use of every tool at your disposal to better your chances of success.

We do hope with the information contained in this guide; you’ll be able to position your music for success. Use it to the very later and perfect every art you execute. All the best.