Spotify Launches Feature to Help Artists, Labels Submit Music to Playlists

Spotify on Wednesday announced a new feature designed to make it easier for artists and labels to submit unreleased music to the Spotify editorial team for playlist consideration. The feature, which is launching into beta, will be modified based on partner feedback before a full rollout.

“The number one question we get from labels, artists and their teams is: who do I speak to to get on Rap Caviar, Hot Country, ¡Viva Latino!, Ultimate Indie or other Spotify playlists?,” said Nick Holmsten, VP of content & global head of shows & editorial, Spotify. “We’ve listened to feedback from the creative community, and developed a new feature that enables them to easily submit unreleased music for playlist consideration to our entire worldwide team of playlist editors.”

The playlists are created by “a team of over 100 editors around the world — music experts and cultural ambassadors whose job is to spread the joy of music discovery everywhere from Brazil to Japan to Turkey,” according to the announcement.

As for how the process works, “log into your Spotify for Artists account or, if you work at a label, head over to Spotify Analytics. There, you’ll have the option of selecting one unreleased song for playlist consideration and submitting it to our team,” the announcement reads in part. “It’s important to give us as much information about the track as possible — genre, mood, and other data points all help us make decisions about where it may fit. You can note the instruments on it, whether it’s a cover, and the cultures you or the song belong to. The data you share will be complemented by what we already know about you — what else your fans listen to, what other playlists you’ve appeared on, etc.

“Editors will be searching through submissions based on the information you share to find unreleased music to consider for their playlists,” it continues. “The song and all the info you add about it will also impact our personalized recommendations. For example, as long as you tag and submit your track seven days in advance, the song you select will automatically appear in every one of your followers’ Release Radar playlists. This way you have control over which single you’re promoting to your fans.”

The announcement also notes: “We want to make something crystal clear: no one can pay to be added to one of Spotify’s editorial playlists. Our editors pick tracks with listeners in mind. They make these decisions using data about what’s resonating most with their community of listeners.”