Over the previous few years, playlisting has grow to be the music advertising technique everybody within the unbiased music scene talks about. It was overvalued as one of many golden keys to Spotify.
The momentum behind playlist advertising created an entire economic system round playlisting. Curators who as soon as made playlists for enjoyable started turning them into aspect hustles (or full-blown companies).
Some took the excessive highway: operating adverts, constructing actual communities round their playlists, and genuinely supporting indie artists. Others? Not a lot. Bot farms, shady practices, and faux streams began creeping in underneath the radar. Some playlists with a whole lot of hundreds of followers had been ghost cities, inflated by bots that will drive low-quality site visitors from cities the place followers didn’t exist.
At this level, many artists have been burned by shady playlists or intermediary companies charging per submission. They paid for placements, obtained sketchy outcomes, and ended up with inflated numbers that didn’t convert into actual followers. This will even end in artists having their music faraway from Spotify solely. The overall recommendation? Don’t pay to be added to a playlist. Interval.
However that doesn’t imply playlisting is useless, removed from it.
Like most issues in music, the distinction lies in the way you strategy it and understanding the nuance.
The damaged mannequin: what went mistaken
The playlisting gold rush taught everybody a lesson. Artists began seeing playlists as a get-rich-quick scheme. Pay $50 right here, $100 there, and count on hundreds of streams to roll in in a single day. However actual followers don’t present up once you deal with advertising like a merchandising machine. Actual followers come from real connections with listeners and the folks serving to share your music.
The fact is, many of the points folks face with playlisting occur as a result of they approached it transactionally. “What number of streams can I purchase for $100?” is the mistaken query.
The higher questions are: “Who curates music my followers would love?” and “How can I construct an actual relationship with them?”. The purpose ought to all the time be to construct a devoted fan base, not simply growing streaming numbers.
How to consider playlisting in 2025
In case you deal with playlisting as a advertising trick, it’s useless. In case you deal with playlisting as a relationship-building software, it’s extra alive than ever.
Whereas chilly emails can work, it requires composing outreach that stands other than the everyday “Add me to your playlist…”. What’s way more efficient is reaching out through social media as a substitute. Touch upon their posts. Ship a considerate DM. Ask questions. Share pleasure about their playlist. Present up like an actual fan earlier than you ever ask for something. Curators receiving DMs additionally get an opportunity to stalk your social media profile and study a bit about your inventive journey, which will help lots in reframing the everyday “transactional” strategy. When you get a placement? Don’t cease there.
Right here’s what try to be doing:
- Provide to advertise their playlist in your socials – tag them, thank them publicly, and present help the identical method you wish to obtain it!
- Ship them unique, unreleased tracks – make them really feel like they’re in your inside circle and spotlight that their style is vital to you exterior of simply discovering new followers.
- Ask for his or her opinion – everybody likes to be seen as an knowledgeable.
- Guestlist them at your reveals – in the event that they’re native, invite them out.
- Provide to listing their playlist in your Spotify Artist Profile underneath “Artists Choose”.
That is the way you construct an actual neighborhood round your music, beginning with curators. Not simply streams however actual relationships that may develop your profession long-term.
DIY Playlisting Technique (That Really Works)
In case you’re doing this DIY, a software like PlaylistSupply could be a complete game-changer.
Right here’s a easy plan you’ll be able to observe:
- Use PlaylistSupply’s Natural Search and seek for artists much like you. Take a look at the playlists they seem on. These Found On playlists are gold as a result of they’re algorithmically related to fan discovery.
- Filter by Well being Rating so that you don’t waste time on junk playlists with faux numbers. Deal with playlists that present robust natural site visitors.
- Test the Follower Historical past Chart! This helps you see how a playlist’s follower depend has modified over time. A wholesome curve alerts actual progress; sudden spikes or drops is likely to be a pink flag.
- Construct an inventory of round 100 playlist contacts. This provides you with sufficient quantity with out being overwhelming.
- Attain out personally as a substitute of utilizing a typical copy-paste “Hello playlist curator” template. Make it private. Present that you just hearken to their playlist and that your music is related to it!
- Purpose to safe 10-15 placements! In case you can lock in even 10 high quality placements, you’ll have a powerful basis for brand spanking new listeners and algorithmic momentum.
- Monitor your outcomes! Monitor your stats in Spotify for Artists and examine your Found-On part (open.spotify.com/artist/yourartistID/discovered-on). See which playlists drive actual site visitors and concentrate on constructing deeper relationships with these curators.
Some Additional Ideas:
- Prioritize style and temper matches. Simply because a playlist has 10k followers doesn’t imply they’re your 10k subsequent followers. Area of interest genres and extremely specialised playlists could have the perfect outcomes!
- Search for energetic playlists. Test when the final music was added. Does the curator add tracks solely chronologically, or do they swap out the primary tracks inside the playlist usually?
- Don’t chase follower counts blindly! A playlist with 2,000 energetic listeners is healthier than 20,000 bots.
So… is playlisting useless?
No. Unhealthy playlisting is useless.
Shady playlisting. Transactional playlisting. Pay-to-play playlisting. These fashions are dying out – and truthfully, good riddance.
What’s thriving is genuine, relationship-driven playlisting. The place you and a curator work collectively to construct one thing actual. The place getting added to a playlist is the start of a partnership, not the tip of a transaction.
In case you shift your mindset, concentrate on actual connections, and deal with curators like collaborators and never merchandising machines, playlisting can nonetheless be one of the crucial highly effective instruments in your progress as an artist.
Last Thought:
Constructing a music profession has by no means been about shortcuts. It’s about constructing a neighborhood and discovering devoted followers. Playlisting, when finished proper, might be an extension of that community-building and get your music to the precise folks.
Instruments like PlaylistSupply assist make that potential – supplying you with the information and perception to seek out curators who can truly transfer the needle for you.
Use them properly. Deal with folks proper. And preserve making nice music!
Your future followers are on the market – ready to find you.
