How can you submit music to Spotify Playlists efficiently as an independent artist?
We have reviewed a dozen of playlist curators with free Spotify playlist submission and here are 12 awesome curators that give value to artists. All musicians can submit to these curators for free.
Playlist pitching should be a part of all independent artists’ marketing strategies. One of the best ways to get streams and income as an independent artist is getting into a Spotify Playlist. Or Deezer, Apple Music, Tidal etc.
But finding contact details and submission forms can be hard. Guaranteed Paid Placements is a big no which is why it is important to be able to submit your music for free.
That’s why we created a shortcut for you.
But before we start…
In this article, we discuss legitimate ways for Paid Playlist Pitching.
It’s also good to know that it’s a very low chance to be considered by Filtr, Digster and Topsify. Not because your music isn’t great, but these are owned by the majors (Sony, Warner & Universal) which means they’re very unlikely to feature independent music!
We recently made an analysis of all the tracks within the 3 major playlist platforms where we also give some recommendations on how to get into Filtr, Topsify and Digster playlists.
So here’s where you should focus:
Indie friendly Spotify Playlist Curators worth pitching to:
Spotify Editors
In the summer of 2018 Spotify opened their submissions to their editorial playlists. This is a must in your playlist strategy.
Followers:
Several Playlists with more than a million followers.
Genres:
All kinds.
Music Services:
Spotify (of course).
When to pitch:
A couple of days after you have distributed your song, but at least 1 week before the release.
How to submit music to Spotify Editors:
You will just need a little preparation.
- Claim your Spotify Artist Profile and get verified at https://artists.spotify.com/
- Distribute your song as usual (for example through DistroKid). Make sure to pitch at least one week before the release to appear on Release Radar with your chosen song.
- The song will appear as an upcoming song on your Spotify for Artists Homepage
- Just fill in the form according to instructions, and make sure to submit at least one week before (we recommend a lot longer than that).
Indiemono
One of the early independent Spotify curators. From Spain with lovely graphic design and beautiful artwork.
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 100 000 followers.
Genres:
- Sad/Love
- Indie/Alternative
- Hip Hop/Rap
- R&B
- Pop/EDM
- Happy
- Folk
- Latino
- Discovery
Music Services:
Spotify
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to Indiemono playlists:
- Go to Indiemono’s Music Submit
- Choose the appropriate genre box
- Follow some playlists, artists and Indiemono
- Fill in the form
You can also see if you have submitted correctly by going to their automatically updated submission playlists. Recently you were able to submit through their patreon, but as of July 2021, they revealed that they would stop this service and focus on other things.
Kolibri Music
An independent curator focusing on ALL kinds of genres. Both mainstream and very niche. Their mission is to find all the hidden music nectar in the world. Just awesome!
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 10 000 followers.
Genres:
All kinds.
Music Services:
- Spotify
- Deezer
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to Kolibri Music playlists:
- Go to their Playlist Submission
- Fill in the detailed form. Make sure to get the most relevant moods, contexts and genres. Don’t overdo it but don’t under do it. 4-5 moods if relevant. They will rank your song on those genres and then automatically assign you to all the relevant playlists matching those criteria.
- You will get an email with the progress which is rarely the case with any music curator.
Soundplate
Soundplate is a record label and electronic music plattform.
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 10 000 followers.
Genres:
Mainly electronic music.
Music Services:
- Spotify
- Deezer
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to Soundplate playlists:
- Go to soundplate.com
- Find some relevant playlist to your genre
- Click on Submit Music
- Analyze if your track is a good fit with their Track Analysing tool
- Choose whether to pitch to Spotify or Deezer playlist
- Follow Soundplate and a couple of playlists
- Fill in the form
Work Hard Playlist Hard
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 1 000 followers.
Genres:
- Fashion Store Sounds
- Fresh Picks
- Funky/Disco
- New Electronic
- Fresh Hip Hop
- Wine Bar
- Poolside Jams
Music Services:
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- Deezer
- YouTube
- Napster
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to WHPH playlists:
- Go to https://workhardplaylisthard.com/submit/
- Sign in with you Spotify account
- Follow a couple of playlists
- Fill in the form
If you don’t have a Spotify account, you can also pitch via this form:
https://workhardplaylisthard.com/tghjvkhgo8ysd7trtkjgjfhkfgyhvhkbj235t43
Daily Playlists
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 2 000 followers.
Genres:
- Electronic
- Hip Hop/Trap
- Indie
- Pop
- Rock
- R&B
Music Services:
- Spotify
- YouTube
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to Daily Playlists:
- Go to submit a track
- Search for your genre
- Click Submit on the playlist you would like to submit to
- Follow a couple of playlists
- Follow the instructions
For The Love Of Bands
Followers:
A couple of playlists with more than 500 followers.
Genres:
More indie and band driven
- Rock
- Alternative
- Americana
- Country
- Folk/Roots
- Indie
- Punk
- Singer-Songwriter
- Ska/Reggae
Music Services:
Spotify
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams. Music submissions that are older than 3 months will not be accepted.
How to submit music to For the love of bands:
- Head over to their submission page
- Choose the option for Spotify playlist consideration
- As a bonus you can also submit your track for review (do this as well)
- Fill in the form
Tunemunk
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 5 000 followers.
Genres:
All kinds
Music Services:
Spotify
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to Tunemunk:
- Go to https://tunemunk.com/submit-music/
- Click on the playlists you would like to pitch your music to
- Follow the playlist
- Fill in the form to contact the playlist curator
iMusician
iMusician is a Digital Distributor & Playlist Curator.
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 10 000 followers.
Genres:
All kinds.
Music Services:
Spotify
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to iMusician:
- Go to this page
- Choose relevant playlist
- Submit the form
Top Playlists
A lovely mainstream playlist and radio site from Spain with high quality playlists.
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 10 000 followers.
Genres:
Mainly Pop and Commercial music.
Music Services:
Spotify
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to:
- Click on their “Submit Your Music” button on their website: http://topplaylists.es/
- An email address will be revealed. Make sure to add a clear subject, a short pitch/bio and your Spotify link, then send the email!
SpinGrey
A lovely playlist curator with cool artwork designs and a distinct brand.
Followers:
Several playlists with more than 5 000 followers.
Genres:
A wide range of contexts.
Music Services:
- Spotify
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to:
- Add your tune to their drop collaborative playlist here.
Neon Collective
A music marketing and promotion agency helping musicians get heard. They have a free submission with a strong foothold in alternative and indie pop
Followers:
A cumulative total of around 4500 followers on Spotify with the largest playlist garnering ~1500 followers. However, don’t misjudge on the size of the playlist since even small following count can get you a lot of streams in the end if it is a quality list.
Genres:
Primary Indie and alternative pop.
Music Services:
Spotify.
When to pitch:
On release day or when your song has gathered a couple of thousand streams.
How to submit music to:
Submission can easily be done by visiting their website: https://www.
Nice to know:
They are also blogging regularly with helpful free tips and resources and feature a group of stand out artists every month.
Other ways to submit music to Spotify playlists
Find relevant private playlists
Sometimes a playlist curator adds their contact information to the description of the playlist. It could be their Instagram or email address. You would need to search for relevant genre and mood keywords relevant to your song in Spotify, browse the playlists and read the playlist descriptions in order to find the contact info. This can be a tedious process and luckily there is a service for finding playlist contacts relevant for your song called Push Play that will save you a lot(!) of time and also give you a hint if a curator might be using dubious tactics.
Team up with a record label
If you find playlisting hard or if you already have pitched to these curators without success, sometimes all you need is someone speaking for you. If you have already released music via DistroKid and didn’t reach out as much as you would hope for, we can license your music to reach out. Read more.
Consider Legit Paid Playlist Promotions options
Here you need to be careful, but we’ve made an article discussing the different paid options that we see legit.
Create your own playlists
This might be an overlooked area. But if you create your own playlists, you can actually promote it on your Spotify Profile, add artist friends when they release new material, who might add you in return when you have a newly released track. Steer your related artists in the right direction and boost algorithmic streams.
Good luck!
