It seems for music fans today that the only way to navigate the vast sea of new music found on streaming platforms to find the next hidden gem is through curated playlists. Members of the community and professional curators have become the music connoisseurs that listeners turn to for recommendations, and playlists have become the medium that best facilitates music discovery. When roughly 100,000 tracks are uploaded to Spotify every day, playlists with hand-picked songs that have been vetted by the curator are the go-to for users who wish to discover what’s new in the world of whatever genre, mood, or activity they’re searching for.

As an artist, getting music featured on a Spotify playlist can give you an enormous amount of exposure. Within Spotify, there exist editorial playlists, algorithmic playlists, and independent playlists. Editorial playlists are put together by Spotify’s editorial team, and algorithmic playlists function based on internal data. The processes surrounding these are relatively straightforward, so let’s focus on how to catch the attention of the independent curator, as it can vary by case and is ever-changing.

1. Where They’ll Find You

In order to figure out how to get your music noticed by playlist curators, you must first understand where they’re most likely to discover you. That way, you can optimize all your profiles and artist pages to not only catch but also retain the attention of any visitors. Remember that independent Spotify playlist curators are constantly on the lookout for new music to share and integrate into their selections. Thus, there are a number of different channels through which they may stumble upon their next favorite song or artist.

Spotify

Naturally, Spotify will be one of the main means of discovery – the ability to search the platform by virtually any tag is of great value to curators, and the algorithm takes their own music tastes into account just as it does for any other user. Independent playlisters are very good at digging for gold and will find exactly what they’re looking for when a song has been uploaded with the relevent metadata.

When preparing your release in Spotify for Artists, make sure to tag your song properly when asked about genre, mood, instruments, and more. This will be registered in Spotify’s database and your music will be grouped in with existing music with similar tags. Metadata is what drives the algorithm to suggest certain songs to listeners, create radios based off of artists or projects, and produce a user’s Discover Weekly based on their listening habits. Input your metadata properly to increase your chances of landing on a curator’s Spotify – it’s more likely than you think!

Social Media

Indie playlisters are often very active on social media because it’s one of the best ways to discover new talent. The more you release as an artist, whether it’s an official song or an IG reel of a cover, the greater your chances of getting the right eyes and ears on your music. On your social media profiles, make sure it’s clear that you’re an artist and have music out. Put your Spotify and Apple Music links in your bios, post about the music you have out, and proudly promote any upcoming releases. No matter how big or small your following, if you are consistent, the IG and TikTok algorithms will reward you by pushing your content out to more and more people. This is how virality works – all it takes is one post to blow up before you’re being reached out to, given opportunities, and placed on a playlist curator’s radar.

Word of Mouth

The oldest and most trusted form of music discovery is by word of mouth and personal recommendations. We spend time with those with whom we share interests, hobbies, and opinions, so it only makes sense that checking out an artist or song recommended to you by someone you think similarly to will often yield great results and an add to the music library. This is why artists should not forget that all the work they do to get their music out there is worth every second, because you may just reach someone who could pass your name along to the right person. This is a very small world, and you have fewer degrees of separation between you and powerful players in the music industry than you may expect, whether they’re executives or playlist curators. Trust the process!

2. Pitch Yourself

If you want to take the reigns and introduce yourself to an independent curator as opposed to having them find you, consider pitching your song to them via personalized message. Begin by finding the contact information of the curator whose playlist you think is a genre and mood match with your song. Often, their Spotify profile will include an email or social media username. Once you have a means of contacting them, create a short but concise pitch. This should cover who you are, what your song is about, why it would fit in the playlist you’re referring to, and links to your artist pages and social media. Be very clear in your messaging and keep it as simple as possible. It’s likely that your message will be one of many in their inbox, so an intriguing subject line along with a brief pitch and direct link to the song should do the trick.

3. Submit Your Music

Good news: many curators encourage artists to submit their music to them via contact page on their website or direct message. With contact pages, all you must do is fill out the given boxes about yourself and include a message. The message should be almost the same as the pitch we discussed above, save for the personal details the form will have you fill out. If you need a hand, starting a campaign on Groover will allow you to submit a song to any of the countless independent playlist curators available on the platform – you’ll be walked through the process step by step. If you know who you want to submit to, gather your assets and submit away!

4. Key Takeaways

We hope you feel more confident in your ability to get noticed by playlist curators and snag a playlist placement! There are truly are so many ways to get your name out there – make sure to:

• Upload your music to Spotify with relevant metadata
• Be vocal about your music on social media and post consistently
• Do not underestimate the power of word of mouth
• Pitch yourself to curators by writing a brief message about you and your song + include links
• Submit music directly through submission pages
• Trust the process

Written by the Groover team