Is Spotify playlist pitching worth it? (2026)
Short answer: our data can't settle it, but it can tell you three things before you spend. As of October 24, 2026, 70.1% of the 70,365 playlists in PlaylistMap's catalog had no track addition recorded within the last year (69.7% with an older recorded date, 0.4% with no usable date), the 17% with a track added in the last 90 days have a median of 1,568 followers against 650 for those with an older recorded date, and 80% of the playlist records contain an email address. None of that measures whether a pitch gets read or added; it describes the lists in this catalog. This page is published by PlaylistMap, which sells curator-contact access, so we show the counting and the costs of every route, ours included.
What our catalog shows (as of October 24, 2026)
| Measure | Value | Of | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playlists tracked | 70,365 (today: 70,365) | our catalog | Our catalog, not all of Spotify; it skews to playlists whose curators post contact details |
| Curator records | 37,048 (today: 37,048) | distinct owners | Records, not verified people; one curator can run several playlists |
| Updated in the last 90 days | 11,937 (17%) | 70,365 | Roughly one playlist in six shows recent activity |
| No track addition recorded within 365 days | 49,329 (70.1%): 49,075 with an older recorded date, 254 with no usable date | 70,365 | Most lists show no recent recorded addition; this doesn't show whether the curator still reads submissions |
| Median followers: all / track added ≤90 days / older recorded date | 808 / 1,568 / 650 | respective groups (70,365 / 11,937 / 49,075) | The recently updated group has a higher median follower count than the group with an older recorded date |
| Follower distribution | <500: 37.6% · 500–999: 17.5% · 1,000–4,999: 29.2% · 5,000–19,999: 11.3% · 20,000+: 4.5% | 70,365 | Most playlists in this catalog are small (percentages are rounded and may not total 100%) |
| Fewer than 30 tracks | 13.8% | 70,365 | Thin lists exist; check the track count before pitching |
| Playlist records with an email address | 56,320 (80%; today: 80%) | 70,365 | Direct pitching is possible for most lists without a broker |
| PlaylistMap usage, last 90 days | 754 pitch campaigns created by 484 artists, averaging 29.8 matched playlists per campaign; separately, 1,849 contact unlocks by 431 users | our users | Behaviour on our tool, not an outcome measure |
Snapshot taken on October 24, 2026 at 07:59 UTC (one read of the catalog table) and refreshed quarterly; the "today" figures are live. Method under "How we counted" below.
What the numbers mean for your pitch
Recent activity is a research consideration
- With 70.1% of lists showing no track addition recorded within a year, a recent track addition is one thing to check before pitching; it doesn't tell you whether the curator monitors submissions or maintains the playlist in other ways.
- The recently updated sixth of the catalog has the higher median (1,568 vs 650), so the two measures point the same way in this catalog.
- Routes that show you the playlist first (SubmitHub's curator list, Daily Playlists' marketplace, the contact databases) let you look at activity yourself; managed campaigns select recipients, and their freshness criteria weren't verified for this comparison.
Expect small lists and no promises
- 37.6% of playlists in this catalog have under 500 followers and 4.5% have 20,000 or more. These proportions describe only PlaylistMap's catalog; other routes' recipient pools weren't measured.
- No route promises a place on a curator's playlist, and Spotify says services that claim guaranteed placement for money violate its terms; Spotify's one stated commitment is Release Radar for your followers when an eligible unreleased song is pitched at least 7 days before release.
- Guaranteed-response rules exist only on paid broker tiers (SubmitHub premium, Groover, Daily Playlists premium, SoundCampaign); direct email and free tiers carry no guaranteed response.
Decide what you're paying for
- Brokers sell a delivery, sometimes with a rule: from about $0.80 to $1 a SubmitHub credit (1 to 5 per curator), 2 Grooviz a standard Groover contact, about $2 a Daily Playlists premium credit (1 to 3 per review), from $280 for a Playlist Push campaign, or a SoundCampaign budget you set.
- Databases sell the address: artist.tools $15 a month, PlaylistMap $9.99 a month for 20 unlocks (3 free first), PlaylistSupply $24.99 a month.
- Spotify's pitching page lists no fee; for an eligible unreleased song (pitched by an Admin or Editor of the artist profile; not compilations or featured tracks) it is the obvious first step.
What these numbers can and can't tell you
- They can tell you what you'd be pitching: how many lists in this catalog show recent track additions, how large they are, how many carry a public email, and what each route charges per pitch.
- They can't tell you whether pitching pays off: PlaylistMap doesn't measure replies or placements, nothing here is a return on spending, and a dormant date doesn't show whether a curator still reads submissions. Managed campaigns and brokers may select recipients on criteria we didn't verify.
- Questions worth asking before you spend: does the route show you the playlist first, or select for you; does it publish the price per pitch; what happens to your money when nobody responds; and is anyone promising a placement (if so, Spotify says that violates its terms).
- Next steps: for an eligible unreleased song, Spotify's own editorial pitch lists no fee; then compare routes with our by-need comparison or the free routes.
How we counted
- Source: PlaylistMap's own catalog table, read once into a snapshot on October 24, 2026 at 07:59 UTC. It covers a fixed cohort of playlists indexed in 2021–2022 whose curators posted contact details, so it is not a sample of all of Spotify; the full figures and method are in our State of Independent Spotify Playlists 2026 report.
- "Updated" uses the date of the most recent track addition our crawler recorded for each playlist; "dormant" means that date is more than 365 days old or missing (254 records, 0.4%, carry no usable date). A dormant date doesn't establish whether the curator monitors submissions, maintains the playlist in other ways, or will reply. "Email" means the stored contact details contain an email address (the same test our site-wide counters use).
- Medians are the middle playlist by follower count within each group; percentages use 70,365 as the denominator unless stated. We don't track replies to artists' emails and publish no reply or placement rates.
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Questions
Is Spotify playlist pitching worth it?
Our data can't establish whether pitching pays off: PlaylistMap doesn't track replies or placements, and none of its catalog or usage figures measures either. What the catalog shows, as of October 24, 2026: 70.1% of its 70,365 playlists had no track addition recorded within the last year (69.7% with an older recorded date, 0.4% with no usable date), the 17% with a track added in the last 90 days have a median of 1,568 followers against 650 for those with an older recorded date, and 80% of playlist records contain an email address. A recent track addition doesn't prove a curator reads submissions, and an old one doesn't prove they don't; it is one research consideration, alongside the per-pitch costs below and the rules of whichever route you use. Separately, Spotify says paid placement guarantees violate its terms, so no route that promises one is worth paying for.
How many Spotify playlists are actually active?
In our catalog, 11,937 of 70,365 playlists (17%) had a track added in the 90 days before October 24, 2026, and 21,036 (29.9%) within the previous year; 49,075 (69.7%) had an older recorded addition and 254 (0.4%) no usable date. That is our catalog, not all of Spotify: it covers playlists whose curators post contact details or that our crawler tracks, so Spotify-wide figures may differ.
How much does playlist pitching cost per pitch?
Spotify's own pitch to its editors lists no fee (one unreleased song at a time). Among submission platforms, checked October 23, 2026: SubmitHub premium credits start at $1 (about $0.80 in bulk), 1 to 5 per curator; Groover charges 2 Grooviz per standard contact (labelled €2 or $2 depending on the page; confirm currency); Daily Playlists premium credits are $19.99 for 10, with 10 free standard submissions a week; Playlist Push campaigns start at $280; SoundCampaign budgets are set by you, and its published minimums disagree ($80 on its pricing slider, $60 in a blog post). Contact databases charge for access instead: artist.tools $15 a month, PlaylistMap $9.99 a month for 20 unlocks after 3 free ones, PlaylistSupply $24.99 a month.
Can I pitch Spotify playlists for free?
Yes, with limits: Spotify for Artists' pitch form, Daily Playlists' 10 standard submissions a week, SubmitHub's two standard credits every four hours, PlaylistMap's 3 one-time free contact unlocks for new accounts (not in a few paid-only countries), and reading playlist descriptions yourself, since 80% of the playlists in our catalog carry a curator email. Our free playlist submission page lists each route's catch.
Does PlaylistMap measure how often curators reply?
No. PlaylistMap records which contacts you unlock and when a pitch is marked as sent; it does not read replies to your emails, so we don't publish a reply rate. Platforms that quote reply rates measure replies inside their own systems: Groover reports 90% (self-reported) on its brokered submissions, for example. None of PlaylistMap's catalog or usage figures measures replies or placements.
Who publishes this page?
PlaylistMap, which sells curator-contact access and drafts pitches, so it has an interest in the answer. PlaylistMap LLC, the company named in our terms, has run the service since our earliest accounts in February 2021. The catalog figures above are our own, computed on October 24, 2026 and described under "How we counted"; competitor prices come from their public pages, linked at the bottom. We don't sell placements or streams and aren't affiliated with Spotify or any service named here.
Catalog figures are PlaylistMap's own, computed on October 24, 2026 as described above. Competitor prices and rules come from their public pages, checked on October 23, 2026: SubmitHub, Groover, Daily Playlists, Playlist Push, SoundCampaign; artist.tools and PlaylistSupply on October 4, 2026; Spotify's pitching page on October 24, 2026 and its policy on paid placements. Groover prices Grooviz in euros (1 Grooviz = €1, about $1.07), though some of its pages label the per-contact price in dollars; confirm the billing currency. PlaylistMap's operator is named in our terms. Prices change, so check each site before you buy. Spotify and all service names are trademarks of their owners; PlaylistMap isn't affiliated with any of them. Spot a mistake? Email support@playlistmap.com and we'll fix it.