Getting your songs onto popular playlists on Spotify is one of the best ways to expose your music to new audiences. It gets you in front of people who haven’t heard your music yet, and introduces you to places you’ve never been to.
But to get the best results, you need to know which playlists to aim for. Getting familiar with the people behind some of the most popular playlists on Spotify is the key.
Five benefits of getting on the most popular Spotify playlists
Here’s a quick overview of some of the biggest advantages of getting your music added to playlists.
1. Take advantage of the snowball effect
As more and more people hear your music, the Spotify recommendation algorithm recognizes this and recommends your music to more potential listeners. This means getting your music on playlists not only exposes you to the playlist’s followers, but it also serves as a springboard for greater exposure through the algorithm.
2. Increase your fanbase
New fans begin as new listeners. Your future fans are out there waiting, and your music can reach them through playlists. By getting your songs onto the most relevant playlists, you can directly introduce your music to those who are most likely to love it. Therefore, a presence on popular playlists can make your fanbase increase faster.
3. Build a robust artist profile
Your Spotify artist profile includes all the playlists that contain your songs, in addition to the standard list of your songs and albums. Appearing on playlists makes your profile look fuller and more developed, and creates quick routes to more pages on Spotify.
4. Create strong connections and be a part of the industry
Once you’ve opened that door, get a foot in it. Establishing relationships with curators can make it easier to pitch future songs, and sometimes lead to even stronger, more valuable connections. If you manage to create real ties with curators, it may have a significant uplifting effect on your exposure and PR within the platform.
5. Gain exposure and recognition
Appearing in popular playlists on Spotify makes you coveted—it makes you an artist worth collaborating with and being connected to. When your music is exposed to thousands of people on popular playlists on Spotify, you will organically build up your audience, which motivates other artists to collaborate with you. You could even find yourself working with really big names, who will eventually get you even more listeners, followers, and fans.
Who are the curators behind popular playlists on Spotify?
Of course, Spotify’s editorial playlists are the most popular. But they are extremely hard to get into. Spotify editors are flooded with pitches every day—it’s unlikely that they listen to even half of them.
The good news is there are tens of thousands of other playlists, curated by individuals or other independent groups, some of them with over 50K followers! These popular Spotify playlists represent a huge pool of potential listeners.
So, who’s behind the scenes?
1. Labels
Well known labels curate some of the most popular playlists on Spotify. Most of these only contain the songs that were released by the label, but some of them also open doors to songs from other artists. Although these playlists may be more exclusive, it’s still worth pitching your music to them.
Some of the most popular label-curated Spotify playlists:
Car Music Bass Boosted by Tribal Trap
Gaming Music 2021! by CloudKid
Armada Music Top 100 by Armada Music
2. Musicians
Many musicians have at least one playlist where they share their favorite music or new cool songs they’ve recently discovered. Artists’ “Collections” often mix some of their own songs with other artists’ music, and these are meant to boost their songs among others. Sometimes, their fans can also take part in shaping and curating the playlist, which fosters the musician’s engagement with listeners.
Cool playlists curated by musicians:
Post Malone’s posty’s playlist
Frank Ocean’s Blonded
Homemade Dynamite by Lorde
tell me what you’re listening to by Courtney Barnett
3. Bloggers and influencers
Bloggers and influencers also curate popular playlists on Spotify. While some of these playlists simply share the curator’s favorite music, others—often run by bloggers—focus more on songs with a specific sound or element. If you spend some time researching relevant bloggers and influencers, you can create a shortlist of those who promote music similar to yours, and pitch them your songs.
Here’s a glimpse of those playlists:
Billboard Hot 100 by Billboard
Eva’s Work Out! by Eva Gutowski
Jams by Tyler Oakley by Tyler Oakley
4. Brands
For brands and retailers, popular playlists on Spotify are an interesting marketing technique. Playlists represent the opportunity to engage more people on more platforms, and establish a sound in addition to a look. You can take advantage of those popular playlists and get to the fans of these brands by pitching them your music. Also, many times you can find these playlists played in actual stores, like Urban Outfitters. This means a huge exposure of your music to customers of these stores.
Popular Spotify playlists curated by brands:
Nike Run Club by Nike
Urban Outfitters | In-Store Music by Urban Outfitters
Mixtape 4: Glossier You by Glossier
Prada Spring/Summer 2020 by Prada
How to get on popular Spotify playlists
Manually searching for the right playlists and the curators’ contact info can be frustrating and time consuming. By using PlaylistMap, you’ll be able to easily narrow down a list of relevant playlists that fit your music and choose the ones you wish to submit your music to. Then, you can unlock the contact information and instantly access the curators.
PlaylistMap also equips you with professionally written email templates to help you create personal, unique messages and get noticed. Customizable templates allow you to save valuable time and craft a well-written message.
Knowing the power of playlisting, you can now start using this game-changing tool, and get your music on the playlists that will lead you to success.
