How To Get Playlisted - Ditto Music

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How to Get

Playlisted
By Ditto Music

A complete guide to getting your music playlisted


on Spotify, Apple Music and more.

Home Search Your Library


CHAPTERS
Intro 3
What are your streams worth? 5
Artificial streaming - don’t take the risk. 7

Pitch for official Spotify playlists 8


Claim your Spotify Artist Profile 10
Submit for playlists with Spotify for Artists 11

Pitch for independent Spotify playlists 13

Land on algorithmic Spotify playlists 16


Release Radar 16
Discover Weekly 17
Viral Charts 18

Submit for Ditto Music playlists 20

What should you release? 21

How to stay on playlists 23

Playlisting on other platforms 25


Apple Music 25
Amazon Music 26

2
INTRODUCTION
At Ditto Music, we’ve been helping artists get their
music heard since Daniel Ek first dreamt up Spotify
way back in the mid-2000s. With over one million
artists now on our roster, we want to share what we’ve
learnt with as many emerging artists as possible.

So how do you land a playlist spot that’ll send your


stream count into the stratosphere?

Spoiler alert: it ain’t easy.

3
INTRODUCTION

But it is possible!

In this guide, we’re going to show you the best techniques


we’ve helped artists apply to grab those much-sought-after
playlist placements.

We’ll help you navigate the fundamentals of Spotify playlisting


(as well as other major streaming services) to give your music the
platform it deserves.

Streaming has changed the way that artists look at, consume
and market music. So getting your tunes up on Spotify and the
other major streaming platforms is essential for artists to grow
their fan bases.

Let’s get into it.

Did you know ?

67% of global
music industry
revenue comes
from streaming
Source

4
INTRODUCTION

What are your streams worth?


It’s no secret that Spotify and the other streaming platforms only
pay out fractions of pennies for plays, but this doesn’t mean there
aren’t still thousands of artists making a living off of their streams
alone. And you can too.

On average, Spotify pays artists


something between $0.003 - $0.005
per stream. This works out as a rough
revenue split of 70/30 - with 70%
going to the artist or rights holders
and 30% going back to Spotify.

With that said, just how much money


can you realistically expect to make
from your Spotify streams?

The rights holders of a song


can include the publisher, the
songwriter(s), and the master Did you know ?
recording owners. This could be
“The number of
the artist and/or label if they’re
signed to one.
artists generating
$1M+, as well as
those generating
$10,000+, has more
than doubled over
the past five years”
Source

5
INTRODUCTION

Unsurprisingly, the exact amount artists generate from each Spotify


stream depends on a range of different factors – including where
your listeners are based and whether they have a paid or free
subscription.

It’s also important to consider that - while you may get more money
per stream on some streaming platforms than others - it’s the user
numbers that will ultimately drive revenue. Success on the bigger
platforms like Spotify and Apple Music has helped Ditto transform
many part-time artists into full-time musicians, allowing them to
focus completely on the music.

Our Spotify Royalty Calculator is a great place to get an estimate


of what you can earn from your Spotify streams.

These figures are


based on the average
royalties Ditto Music
has collected and paid
out to artists from
major stores.

6
INTRODUCTION

Artificial streaming - don’t take the risk.


It really isn’t worth it.

As tempting as it might seem, the negative consequences of artificially


boosting your stream count far outweigh any short-term benefits.

Fake streams totally undermine the integrity of the music industry,


distorting the true popularity of your work. This creates a false narrative
that can mislead both listeners and industry professionals - and one that
will only come back to bite you.

Spotify also has sophisticated systems in place, designed to detect


fraudulent activities, with dedicated teams actively working to remove
fake streams from their algorithms.

If caught artificially boosting figures, artists risk severe penalties -


including being banned from the platform, catalogue removal as well as
massive damage to their reputation.

On top of all of this, fake streams offer no genuine engagement with your
real listeners. Who, at the end of the day, are the very foundation of a
sustainable music career.

Ultimately, you should prioritise your music’s authenticity, organic growth,


and meaningful audience interactions, rather than resorting to deceptive
and risky practices like buying fake streams.

7
PITCH FOR OFFICIAL
SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
Whatever kind of artist you are, joining Spotify for
Artists and claiming your official artist profile page
is a must.

Spotify’s artist platform is filled to the brim with tools


to help you develop your career, get more streams, and
build out your music marketing strategy.

To claim your profile and access the


exclusive features, you’ll first need to make
sure your music is available on Spotify.
If it isn’t already, you can easily upload
it with Ditto Music.

8
PITCH FOR OFFICIAL SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

You’ll only be able to access Spotify for Artists if:

1 Your music is already available on Spotify. If your music’s not


on Spotify, upload it through Ditto here.

2 You’ve uploaded your first release to Ditto Music and it’s been
accepted by Spotify ahead of your release date. You’ll know it’s
been accepted when you receive your Ditto Pre-Save SmartLink.

If your music is already live on Spotify: If your music hasn’t gone live on Spotify,
but your first release is in the system:
• Visit artists.spotify.com and click on
“Get Access.” • You can find out your Spotify URL by
• Choose “Artist or Manager” and click emailing [email protected]
“Continue.” after uploading your first release to
us and receiving your Ditto Pre-Save
• Search for your Artist Name or paste SmartLink.
your Spotify Artist Link into the
provided box. • Your Spotify URL should look
something like this: spotify:artist:
• Select your Artist Name and follow 1anyVhU62p31KFi8MEzkbf.
the instructions to verify your profile.
• Follow the previous instructions
• To find your Spotify Artist Link, go to but paste your Spotify URI into the
your profile on Spotify, click the three search box to locate your profile.
dots below your artist name, select
“Share,” and click “Copy Artist Link.”

Tip
It’s best to claim your
Spotify for Artists
account before your
first release date so
you can submit it for
official Spotify playlist
consideration.

9
PITCH FOR OFFICIAL SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

Claim your Spotify Artist Profile

How to submit to official Spotify playlists with


Spotify for Artists

Now you’ve got access to your Spotify for Artists account,


you can start pitching your music for features on official
Spotify playlists.

You can only submit UNRELEASED music for official Spotify


playlists - so bear that in mind when planning your next release.

Once you’ve uploaded your track to Ditto


and it’s been accepted into Spotify’s system,
click the MUSIC tab of your Spotify for Artists
account and head over to your ‘Upcoming’
releases.

From here, you’ll be able to find your


upcoming releases and have the option to
submit them for official playlist consideration.

Both musicians and labels can submit


music directly to Spotify’s editorial teams
for consideration. By opening up playlist
submissions to everyone, Spotify has
formed a direct route for unsigned artists
to land spots on the platform’s official playlists.

This doesn’t guarantee you’ll get featured, but the


process is pretty simple. If you’re uploading music
to Spotify anyway, you may as well give it a go.

10
PITCH FOR OFFICIAL SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

Submit for playlists with


Spotify for Artists
1 2
Login or sign up to Spotify for Choose the unreleased track
Artists using a desktop computer. you’d like to submit from this
You’ll find your unreleased music section of your dashboard.
within the ‘Music’ section of your
artist dashboard under ‘Upcoming’.

3 4
If it’s an album or EP, choose one Complete the playlist submission
track to submit. form, providing as much
information as possible about
the track.

11
PITCH FOR OFFICIAL SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

So you’ve got your release ready and you’re about to submit your music.
Take a quick moment to just double-check a few important points:

Only unreleased tracks can be considered for playlists. That means


you will need to distribute your music and then pitch them for
playlisting between the time of delivery and your release date.

You can only submit one track at a time. Only after that track has
been released can you submit another unreleased song.

You must submit your track at least 7 days before your release date.
The more time in advance, the better.

Offer as much info and insight into your music as possible. Spotify
wants plenty of data to help them match your music to the right
playlists. Editors will be searching for new music based on the data
you provide, so make life easier for them and give yourself a better
chance by including details on genre, mood, and anything else
relevant to your track.

Keep your release date in mind and factor in your release date timings
into your music marketing strategy.

Tip
Even if you don’t manage to secure a
spot on a Spotify editorial playlist right
away, you’ll still be placed on your
follower’s Release Radar playlists when
your music drops. All the more reason
to encourage your fans and listeners to
follow you on Spotify.

12
PITCHING TO INDEPENDENT
PLAYLISTS
Alongside pitching your tracks directly to Spotify yourself,
you should also look to submit your releases to independently
curated playlists.

The first step in doing this is tracking down suitable and


reputable playlist curators. Independent playlists can be
owned by music bloggers, industry pros, media companies, as
well as just regular old Spotify users and music fans.

Some of the best blogs and magazines that want to hear your
music and potentially add your music to their playlists include:

13
PITCHING TO INDEPENDENT PLAYLISTS

Once you’ve found some independent playlists that match your


style and sound on Spotify, make a note of playlist owners and try
to find their contact details.

Tip
Search ‘gmail.com’ or @hotmail.com’ in the Spotify search bar and check
the Playlists tab to find independent playlist owner contact details.

With a bit of online research, you’ll probably find emails or social


info for your shortlisted playlists.

Create a spreadsheet with all of the potential playlist contacts


you want to reach out to. Keep it somewhere safe and repeat the
process for your next release.

Contacts shortlisted. It’s time to reach out.

Make sure that your message is polite and friendly, but also
informative and to the point. Your message needs to contain clear
links to all of your tracks on Spotify and include your artist info
and contact details. Link your social media handles too.

You can also use platforms like SubmitHub or MusoSoup to help


connect you with playlist owners.

They specialise in getting your music


in front of the right audience, putting
you in touch with independent playlist
curators who may be able to get you
Spotify placements. Think of them as an
address book that can connect you with
thousands of playlist curators.
MORE FEATURES,
LIKES & LISTENERS.
GUARANTEED.
Whatever stage you’re at. Whatever music you make.
Work with us to raise your profile.

PLAYLIST PITCHING ONLINE PRESS SOCIAL STRATEGY

CUSTOM GRAPHICS
+ VIDEOS AD CAMPAIGNS

Launch a high-impact, budget-friendly music marketing


campaign managed by our industry pros.

CHOOSE YOUR CAMPAIGN


LAND ON ALGORITHMIC
SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
Algorithmic playlists like Release Radar and Discover Weekly offer
personalised experiences for each and every user on Spotify.
Instead of being manually picked out by Spotify editors, these
playlists are made by sophisticated AI algorithms.

Learn more about AI


AI Tools for Music Production
AI Tools for Songwriting
AI Tools for Album Artwork

Release Radar

Getting placed on a listener’s Release Radar playlist is pretty


straightforward. All you need to do is get your existing fans to follow
you on Spotify. When you release new music, your latest track will
automatically pop up in the Release Radar playlist of all your followers.

If you’ve built up a good amount of followers, then the good news is that
every time you release something, these people get notified by Spotify.

Spotify also sends emails to its users based on their listening preferences.
So if someone is regularly listening to your tunes, it’s likely they’ll receive a
Spotify notification letting them know you have new music out.

The potential impact of Release Radar shouldn’t be underestimated, with


top Spotify directors even alluding to the fact that this playlist generates
a greater number of streams than any of Spotify’s internally curated
playlists. And the best thing? You don’t even have to do anything extra.

16
LAND ON ALGORITHMIC SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

Discover Weekly

Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist feeds your music to users with


similar listening preferences.

If a listener is streaming 10+ artists non-stop – and you’re one of


them - and another user also listens to the majority of the same artists,
Spotify’s algorithm will put 2 and 2 together and assume that these
listeners will also probably enjoy your music too, adding your tracks
to their Discover Weekly.

Here’s what Spotify execs themselves have to say about their algorithm:

“ “We look at what you’ve been listening to. And what are the
songs playing around these songs that you’ve been jamming
on, but that we know you haven’t heard yet on Spotify.”

“Let’s say you’ve been playing a song by The Killers and a


song by Bruce Springsteen a lot. Algorithms look for how those
songs are played and ordered in other Spotify users’ playlists.
If it turns out that, when people play those songs together in
their playlists, there’s another song sandwiched between
them that someone has never heard before, that song will
show up in your Discover Weekly.”

Put simply, getting on Discover Weekly


is kind of a big deal.

17
LAND ON ALGORITHMIC SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

Viral Charts

Spotify Viral Charts however are entirely data-driven and only capture
the hottest songs gaining the most buzz on Spotify. Viral Charts
placement is based on a few different internal and external factors:

• If a song’s recently seen a sharp rise in plays


• How often listeners are sharing the song
• How many people recently discovered the song

Charts like Spotify Viral Charts or Apple Music Charts take


everything into account - from regional streams to online traction
from TikTok, Instagram and coverage from music blogs.

If you are trying to hit the charts, the main thing to remember is
to direct as much traffic as possible to these music platforms.

18
LAND ON ALGORITHMIC SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

Drive your audience through from social media, YouTube, or Vevo


videos. The more people arriving at and listening to your music
positively influences the reaction and engagement that the editorial
teams at Spotify see.

This positive data will encourage them to support you on the spaces
they curate. The higher the demand for a song, the easier it becomes
for them justify your case for inclusion on playlists.

Streaming services want to see you pushing your fans to their


platform. Getting your listeners to follow your links, share your music,
add your tracks to their playlists, and listen all the way through are all
positive data points that can help you break out.

• Spotify Viral Charts are based on streams, social shares, and


media traction.

• Release Radar is unique to each Spotify user, based on the


artists they follow and listen to most.

• Discover Weekly exposes your music to new fans that enjoy


similar artists.

19
SUBMIT FOR DITTO
MUSIC PLAYLISTS
At Ditto, we also love showcasing the best independent and
emerging artists through our very own exclusive Spotify playlists.
We’re also an Official Spotify Tastemaker, so our in-house
playlists help lead the way for new music discovery.

Whatever your music style, our team listens to all your track
submissions, with our favourites being featured on our Spotify
playlists - each with thousands of followers worldwide.

Find out more about our Ditto Music playlists and


submit your music today.

Submit

20
WHAT SHOULD YOU RELEASE?
There’s no special trick or hack that guarantees you a spot on
Spotify’s playlists and keeps you there all year long. But there are
certainly ways you can better your chances of placement.

• Radio Edit – Consider releasing a radio edit version of your


track, designed specifically for airtime. Short and snappy
bangers can help you dominate.

• Song length – Try to keep things under the 4-minute mark.


You’ll want to grab your listeners’ attention quickly to avoid
dreaded early skips.

• The first 30 seconds – Get people interested right away.


Start with a catchy hook or beat to keep things
interesting from the get-go.

• Intro and outro length – Again, don’t drag


things out too much on either end of your track.
You want fans to listen to your full song and
not just the “fun” parts.

21
WHAT SHOULD YOU RELEASE?

These tips might help you get on – and stay on – some playlists,
but only follow them if you’re comfortable doing so. Remember,
you should still be making the music that you want to make. Your
music is YOURS!

That said, writing and releasing algorithmic-friendly music is only


going to benefit your career, so there’s no reason to not release
tracks that tick all the right boxes. Check out the video below for
some more songwriting inspo.

cl iCk to play

22
HOW TO STAY ON PLAYLISTS
While the majority of initial playlist additions are based on the
curator’s knowledge of a genre and how a track fits within a
particular playlist, editorial teams are open about the fact that a
song’s performance is ultimately the most important factor in its
inclusion.

If a curator loves a song, but the playlist’s thousands of followers


are alluding to something different, they’ll move that song down
the pecking order.

This doesn’t mean it’s a bad song though. Not in the slightest. It
just means that the other songs on that playlist – or songs on the
consideration pile – are performing better.

As an independent musician, the positive reaction to your song is


something you and your team can influence.

23
HOW TO STAY ON PLAYLISTS

If you’re in your car and a new song comes on the radio, you may
find yourself switching off after 30 seconds or halfway through.

However, once you’ve heard that song multiple times, whether


that’s in clubs, in a friend’s car, on TV, or in a viral TikTok video,
that familiarity can eventually lead to liking the record. So the
next time it comes on in your car, you might not turn it off.

The same principle applies to people listening to playlists.


If they’re familiar with your song when they land on it (and it’s
a good song), they may be more inclined to add it to their own
playlists, listen all the way through, and potentially re-listen, even
if you’re a new, emerging artist.

It’s important to remember that although landing a


spot on one of Spotify’s big names like New Music
Friday or Discover Weekly can be great for your
discoverability, you’ll only be on there for one
week. No matter how good your track is.

Landing a place on a top independent


playlist may actually end up being more
beneficial for your long-term stream count as
you’re more likely to keep your place for longer.

24
PLAYLISTING ON
OTHER PLATFORMS
Depending on where you’re based, there are several
options for playlisting other than Spotify. Apple Music,
Amazon Music and Deezer are all good options, with
Pandora and Tidal also offering amazing platforms
for you to build up your online fan base.

Apple Music
Unlike Spotify, Apple Music doesn’t offer you the chance to pitch
your own music. The Apple playlists that you see have all been
hand-picked by their team of editors.

So it’s pretty tricky to get your tracks featured - unless you have a
mate on their editorial team. It’s not all doom and gloom though.
There are still things you can do to improve your chances of
snagging a spot on one of Apple’s playlists.

cl iCk
to play
25
Playlisting on other platforms

You should start by making sure your Apple Music profile is


verified. This’ll help you look more credible on the platform
and also help you organically grow your following – both on
and off Apple Music.

Consider working with a well-established and networked


distributor like Ditto. Combining all of these steps will boost
your chances of getting playlisted by Apple’s editorial team.

Amazon Music
As with the other platforms, you’ll want to
make sure you’ve verified your Amazon
artist profile. This’ll give you access to a
full range of analytics and data about your
music’s performance, as well as giving your
account a more professional look.

In the same way that Spotify for Artists


provides artists with exclusive insights,
Amazon Music for Artists also offers insider
info on your stream counts and top songs.

It also highlights who your ‘superfans’ are


and where in the world they’re listening to
your tracks. All of this info helps you plan
for better fan engagement and lets you
plan out where you should visit on your
upcoming tour dates.

Go pitch to Amazon Music here

26
THAT’S A WRAP!
Thousands of new tracks are uploaded to Spotify every
single day, so try not to get too disheartened if you don’t
land a playlist spot right away. Instead, make sure you’re
following all of our advice laid out in this e-book and keep
on chipping away. You’ve got this.

For more tips and tricks on making the most out of your
music career, check out the Unsigned Advice musician blog
and the Ditto Music Instagram.

27
Make sure to also check out the
Independent Artist’s Handbook and
learn how to get your music heard.

Packed full of industry tips to help you


develop your music marketing strategy.

Download now

dittomusic.com

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