Uploading music to Spotify and getting on playlists is a hugely important strategy for independent musicians. Throughout this guide, we'll explore some key tips to secure coveted spots on Spotify's most sought-after playlists.

Despite ongoing concerns about artist compensation, Spotify remains the dominant force in music streaming and with well over 575 million music fans using the platform every single month, it’s not hard to understand why.

This guide is brought to you by Ditto Music. Ditto is one of the biggest music distribution, publishing and artist services companies in the world and has helped over 1 million independent artists and labels worldwide.

Understanding Spotify Playlists

Spotify playlists fall into two main categories: editorial and algorithmic.

Editorial playlists are curated by Spotify's in-house experts, featuring trending tracks from across international charts and social media.

Spotify’s algorithmic playlists are composed of recommended tracks based on the platform's analysis of your musical preferences. The Spotify algorithm will take into consideration which artists you already follow and the songs you’ve liked.

Some of the most popular Spotify playlists include:

• Discover Weekly
• Release Radar
• New Music Friday
• RapCaviar

Optimising Your Spotify Artist Profile

It might sound basic, but you’d be surprised how many artists try to submit their music to Spotify playlists without first completing their Spotify artist profiles.

This will help you stand out to both Spotify and listeners, making your account look way more professional. Here are some of our tips to make your profile pop:

• Include eye-catching artwork
• Link out to social media
• Write out an artist bio

Even if you’re only just starting out and have 1 or 2 songs uploaded, having a complete profile with an engaging bio and cool artwork can set you apart when vying for playlist spots.

Building Your Fan Base

Basics out the way, you can now turn your focus to promoting your tracks on Spotify. Effective music marketing is critical if you want to build a loyal fan base.

Start by promoting your Spotify profile across all of your social media platforms, encouraging fans to follow you and pre-save any upcoming releases. Increasing your Spotify followers enhances your visibility and improves your chances of playlist consideration, so you need to invest quality time into developing your following.

Releasing Quality Music

It might well be great to have a solid online presence, but the most pivotal part of gaining playlist spots is releasing high-quality music.

Everything you upload to Spotify and the other digital streaming platforms needs to be well-produced, fine-tuned, and expertly mixed & mastered to stand out in 2024’s uber-competitive market.

You can also think about releasing your music on certain days of the week in order to align with playlist schedules to maximize your track’s reach.

Pitching to Spotify Playlists

There are 2 main ways that you can pitch your music to Spotify playlists. You can send your music directly to Spotify for Artists or you can choose to approach independent curators who can help you instead.

Spotify for Artists

The most common way to pitch to Spotify is to use Spotify for Artists to send any upcoming and unreleased songs to their team of playlist editors. The platform is really easy to use, but there are a few requirements you need to follow in order to be eligible for playlisting. Here are the main points you need to follow:

• Only submit unreleased music - once a song is live, it’s no longer eligible
• Only one track per release can be pitched
• Submit at least 7 days before your music’s release date

You’ll also only be able to pitch tracks where you are the main artist. Other than that, you’re pretty much free to pitch whatever you choose, so make sure you send in your best possible submission to maximize your chances of being playlisted.

Independent playlist curators

The other main way of getting added to Spotify playlists is by pitching to independent playlist curators.

These playlists can be super helpful to your music career and help you catch the eye of Spotify editorial teams.

It’s vital you take care when submitting your pitches though. Identify relevant playlists to your sound and style and pick which ones to send your music to carefully, making sure not to come across too spammy in your approach.

Once you’ve built a list of playlists that you’d like to submit music to, make sure you follow all of their submission guidelines. Some independent playlists receive thousands of submissions so if you’re not providing the owners with all of what they’ve requested, you’ll probably get tossed onto the rejection pile.

Spend some time tailoring each pitch to each playlist too. You’ll want to provide clear links to your social media from within your submissions, also including your artist bio, band website, and EPK.

Conclusion

There’s no two ways about it. Securing placements on Spotify playlists is hard. If you do manage to land on some though, you’ll be in a great position to take your career to the next level.

For more information on uploading music to Spotify, explore Ditto Music's free 30-day trial.