How to Get on Playlists

Spotify editorial playlists, algorithmic playlists, independent curators, and SubmitHub — a complete strategy.

Playlist Placement Is One of the Highest-ROI Activities in Music Marketing

A single playlist placement on a mid-size Spotify editorial playlist (10,000–100,000 followers) can generate tens of thousands of streams and hundreds of new followers overnight. For independent artists without major label marketing budgets, playlists are one of the most accessible and effective promotional tools available.

There are three distinct types of playlists — and the strategy for each is completely different.

Type 1: Spotify Editorial Playlists

Editorial playlists are curated by Spotify's internal team of music editors. These are the big ones — "RapCaviar," "Most Necessary," "Feelin' Myself" — that can have millions of followers and make careers overnight.

How to pitch for editorial placement:

Distribute your music with any major distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby)
Claim your Spotify for Artists profile at artists.spotify.com
At least 7 days before your release date, go to the "Upcoming" section and pitch your unreleased track
Fill in the genre, mood, instruments, and cultural context fields as completely as possible
Write a compelling description of the song in your own voice — what's it about, what inspired it?

You can only pitch one unreleased track at a time, so choose strategically. Spotify editors look at listener data, so songs with strong pre-save numbers and early streaming activity get more attention.

The honest truth: Editorial placement is hard to get and largely out of your control. Most pitches don't result in placements. Focus on what you can control.

Type 2: Algorithmic Playlists

Spotify's algorithmic playlists — Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Daily Mix — are generated automatically by Spotify's machine learning system based on individual listener behavior. These are actually more impactful for many artists than editorial playlists because they are personalized and scalable.

The algorithm's signals are:

Save rate — what % of listeners who hear your song add it to their library
Stream completion rate — how many listeners hear the whole song vs. skip it
Playlist adds — listeners actively adding the song to their own playlists
Repeat listens — people coming back to play it again

The best way to "pitch" to the algorithm is to release music that people genuinely want to listen to all the way through and save. Simple. Hard.

Type 3: Independent/Third-Party Playlists

There are thousands of independently curated playlists on Spotify managed by bloggers, brands, YouTube channels, and music enthusiasts. These playlists typically range from 1,000–500,000 followers, and getting on them is significantly more accessible than editorial placement.

How to find relevant playlists:

Use Spotify's search to find playlists in your genre — search "trap 2024," "underground hip-hop," "new rap" etc.
Look for playlists curated by music blogs and YouTube channels in your genre
Use tools like Spotify.Charts, Chartmetric, or Playlistsupply to identify active curators

How to pitch:

Find the curator's contact info (often in the playlist description or their Spotify bio)
Send a brief, personalized email — no templates. Explain why your song fits their specific playlist
Include a Spotify link, a brief description, and your streaming history
Follow up once, politely

SubmitHub: The Efficient Pitching Tool

SubmitHub is a platform where you can pay credits (roughly $0.50–$1 each) to submit your music to playlist curators, bloggers, and YouTube channels. Curators are required to listen to a minimum number of seconds before accepting or rejecting, and must provide brief feedback on rejections.

How to use SubmitHub effectively:

Create an account and filter curators by genre, following size, and acceptance rate
Spend your first credits on curators with acceptance rates above 15–20%
Read each curator's submission guidelines carefully and follow them exactly
Use the feedback from rejections to improve your pitches and your music

SubmitHub is not a guarantee of placement, but it's the most organized and efficient system for reaching independent curators at scale.

What to Do Before You Pitch

No playlist placement will work long-term if the fundamentals aren't in place:

Your Spotify for Artists profile is complete (bio, photos, artist pick)
Your music has at least 3–5 tracks so new listeners have something to explore
You have a consistent release schedule so followers expect more music
Your cover art is professional and genre-appropriate

Key Takeaways

There are three playlist types: editorial (Spotify team), algorithmic (AI-driven), and independent (third-party curators)
Pitch for Spotify editorial placement in Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before your release date
The algorithm rewards high save rates and stream completion — these are more valuable than raw play counts
SubmitHub is the most efficient tool for reaching independent playlist curators at scale
Personalized, specific pitches to curators dramatically outperform generic templates

Glossary

Editorial Playlist: A playlist curated by a streaming platform's internal music team — the highest-visibility placement available on Spotify.
Algorithmic Playlist: A personalized playlist generated automatically by a platform's recommendation algorithm — like Spotify's Discover Weekly.
Save Rate: The percentage of listeners who add a song to their personal library — a key signal to Spotify's recommendation algorithm.
Stream Completion Rate: The percentage of listeners who hear a track all the way to the end without skipping — a strong indicator of song quality.
SubmitHub: A platform that facilitates paid submissions from artists to playlist curators, bloggers, and YouTube channels.