Should you pay for Spotify playlist placements? It's a common question artists face these days.
There are many services such as Playlist Push, Boost Collective, Omari MC, etc.
They all offer paid placements... Is this allowed?
Let's talk about it!
There's a thing in music history called "payola."
This is where managers in the music industry used to PAY radio hosts to continually play their music.
They would make a killing from this payola scheme.
See, at the time radio was the biggest promotion channel in the music space.
The more radio exposure the artist had -would lead to consumers would purchase their records and CDs.
It was a money machine!
This was against the naturally competitive nature of the music industry.
The marketing world is pay-to-play in general, not just in the music industry.
Whoever has more money can get more paid promos will grow more followers, more fans will listen and more users will check out the singer in the long run.
The one difference between payola and paid playlist submissions is the fact that there is a curation process.
The money paid does not necessarily go straight to a guaranteed placement.
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Making playlists is not easy and there is a money expense involved.
Curators charge for many reasons:
These promoters are extending much investment to help aspiring artists get heard and generate more streams.
If you don't agree then I have a few questions for you:
Keep in mind that these are all necessary expenses that playlist owners have to account for.
This is the main reason why it may cost money to submit your music to organic playlists on Spotify.
To get your new music heard on Spotify you need to get on user-generated playlists.
User generator playlists or Spotify playlists created by an independent curator.
This curator is just a regular person - NOT a worker at Spotify.
Many third-party playlists are user-generated playlists.
These types of third-party playlists can be owned by:
The thing about user-generated playlists is that they're generally made for sharing.
This is why third-party playlists can get 10's to 100's thousands of followers!
I have good news.
You CAN get on an editorial Spotify playlist.
The bad news is that you cannot PAY to get on an editorial playlist though...
At least not directly.
This type of Spotify playlist is hand-selected by Spotify Curators from Spotify itself.
Regardless of how big your music promotion budget is...
Unless your new music is up to par you will not be able to convince these playlist curators to add your song.
(That's also the case for a Spotify playlist that is non-editorial.)
Fortunately, all hope is not lost in getting your music heard on the editorial lists.
It's 100% possible for an artist's song to get on the editorial list.
You just need to submit your music to the Spotify Curators directly.
To begin your playlist pitching to an editorial playlist just TAP HERE!
Keep in mind that playlist pitching to a Spotify Playlist that's editorial...
This is one of the hardest ways to get on a Spotify playlist.
Make sure that your expectations are baselined when you submit to this type of Spotify playlist.
If you feel like playlist curators are a waste of time and you can grow without them...
Just not that listeners follow the top playlist.
Also, that's where a label can break artists.
Major labels take their new artists and place their music into their other playlists.
Later on, the artist's song ends up on algorithm playlists - it's pushed within the Spotify platform and generates more streams.
The top record labels own these Spotify curators' accounts:
To compete and get your music business grown within the Spotify platform...
You absolutely MUST enlist the help of third-party playlists!
Fortunately, you can get further in the music industry in terms of playlisting.
If you struggle to get your music on a Spotify playlist...
No worries you can still get your songs heard!
Just make sure you are promoting your releases across social media to those fans as well.
You most likely have more followers on Instagram & more followers on Facebook than you do on your Spotify profile!
As long as you're getting feedback from your followers on social media, you'll be able to make the best music recording.
This can help your production as well as promotion efforts so fully utilize that platform!
Make sure you're posting continent on your social media account about your songs days in advance!
Then when your releases are ready you can put the song link in your bio.
You'll be able to get your song listened to by the followers on your social media account.
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Another strategy that you'll see a top label do is run an ad campaign toward their artist's track on Spotify.
It can be difficult and competitive to get on a top user-generated Spotify playlist!
Even if you use a third-party playlist website such as Boost Collective, it doesn't hurt to diversify the promo for your releases.
This is why artists are running Facebook ads toward their Spotify tracks.
Note: It can get expensive to promote a track through Facebook ads...
On the flip side, you're not begging playlist curators to put you onto their Spotify playlist!
A playlist creator is going to categorize their Spotify playlist based on two main metrics:
So where should you submit your music then?
In my point of view, you should take your songs and submit them to both a mood Spotify playlist and a genre Spotify playlist.
Genres as a whole are becoming an antiquated concept.
Fans hear songs that blend more than one genre to create an awesome experience.
For example: let's say you make a rap song.
It's worth it to submit into a rap genre playlist AND hit up playlist owners with a Spotify playlist that matches the song mood.
If you can get your music into playlists with other similar artists - you're gonna help yourself in the long run!
By getting your songs real listeners, the tracks are going to get essential Spotify streamer data.
This listener data is going to help you get in the algorithm playlist such as Release Radar and Discover Weekly.
An artist that doesn't wanna invest in their song's promo won't really go anywhere...
Don't forget that over 60,000 tracks are being uploaded by artists on Spotify every single day!
It's worth it to get into a good Spotify Playlist to stand out within the Spotify algorithm.
Of course, not every Spotify playlist is equally helpful.
Good news: any Spotify playlist that you get through Boost Collective is extremely effective!
They have amazing Spotify Curators. All playlist owners are 100% legitimate.
Some algorithm playlists such as Release Radar are 100% percent free.
Others may require using pitching services to get your song playlisted.
You can expect more upfront listeners from playlists that you get through pitching services but in the LONG RUN, you want more free playlists.
Extend your efforts towards getting Release Radar and Discover Weekly exposure.
But once you get the ball rolling and your tracks have great listening data from the users then you're good!
Fortunately, you don't HAVE to pay to get on a Spotify playlist!
There's more than one service to get your tracks heard with the help of a playlist curator. 😉
Bonus: Download the 3000+ Spotify Playlist curator contact list for FREE! 👇
Service such as Submithub requires you to pay to submit to a Spotify playlist, but not every playlist curator has the same standard.
Check out Boost Collective's free Spotify promotion here - our free-to-use platform is a must-join for all independent artists:
You're In the studio and making good music.
You can still pay to get on a wonderful Spotify playlist!
Just make sure that you do your background check on the playlist curator and create a good music recording to get heard!
There are many ways for an artist to promote their music to new fans without burning their budget.
Try some methods that are paid and some that are free - see what works for you!
I hope you enjoyed this article, and now have your answer to: should you pay for Spotify playlist placements?
It’s time you get your exposure and listeners up - playlisting by Boost Collective has been trusted by 50,000+ artists worldwide.
It’s easy: Search your song, get on playlists, and track your campaign.
What’re you waiting for? Tap in - and get added to playlists in 24 hours.
Join Boost Collective for free here.