How to get on Spotify playlists: A hidden strategy

Artists are always asking, “What can I do to have more success on my releases? How can I go above and beyond? How to get on Spotify playlists?” There’s a checklist many artists go down. Quality music? Check. Assets and content to post on socials with the release? Check. Submit music to Spotify playlists via their official pitching tool? Check. Use Feature.fm to bolster your marketing? Check.

However, there's one thing that not enough artists are adding to their release-day checklist: Getting on playlists!

Now, I don’t mean getting on other people’s playlists, which is a topic for a whole other blog post. Rather, I mean creating Spotify artist playlists of your own. In this blog, I’ll give you three tips on leveraging artist playlists to engage your listeners and potential fans further.

1. Vibe playlist + catalog playlist

I always suggest that artists should start by creating two playlists on their Spotify profile. The first is a “vibe” playlist or a mood-based playlist. Think of this as an opportunity to show your listeners who your influences are, what you listen to daily, and a taste into your brand and you as a person. Fill it with your favorite songs, and make an awesome playlist cover.

The next playlist should be a catalog playlist, or a playlist full of all of your releases, in chronological order. This is a great way to allow your listeners to dive into your past work and also is an easy way to boost your streams; when one of your song ends, another one starts playing.

2. Trading: leverage the Playlister community

Let’s start with what trading is: Trading is a process by which two playlist owners agree to exchange a song on each other’s playlists. This practice is common because it’s a free and easy way to get on other playlists and find new music for your own lists! While many trades happen on Facebook and other social media sites, finding where to get started may be overwhelming. Luckily at Playlister.Club we have streamlined the entire trading process.

Our free trading marketplace allows you to identify which playlisters are actively open for trades and engage with them directly. The marketplace allows you to easily browse through thousands of opportunities through various filters, including Genre, Name, and Playlist Size. To propose a trade, it’s as simple as clicking the “Propose a Trade” button. Once this is done, the playlister will be notified via email, and the platform and the trading process will commence.

Once your playlist is big enough (the sweet spot to begin trading is generally 500-1,000 followers), you can strategically use trading to reach huge networks of new listeners

3. Connect with other artists

Anyone who has a playlist with a solid following can tell you that once the playlist gains some popularity, other artists will start reaching out, asking to get on your playlist. Though some may find this annoying, it’s actually a blessing in disguise. This is an easy way to get other artists to follow you on Spotify and keep an eye out for future releases. Think of each one of them as a potential fan that you can eventually convert!

On top of that, they are an easy way to find new artists to do co-writes, collaborations, or even features with. Remember: the music industry is built off of collaboration, so using your playlist as a lead generation tool is a fast track to success.

In all, you can see how having your own artist playlists are essential pieces to a successful digital marketing strategy. They're a long-term project that you should start investing time into sooner rather than later.

We are innovating how playlists can be used to create new fans for your music at Playlister.Club, where we share strategies like this and technologies you can leverage. If you want to learn more about how to get on Spotify playlists or have any questions about the above, contact danny@playlister.club.