Speaker 1: If you're an artist and you feel like you're not getting the streams you deserve on your songs and that Spotify's team is ignoring them and they're not getting added to the editorial playlist, I got good news. As an artist myself, I wanted to understand what artists can do to increase their chances on getting on those Spotify editorial playlists and triggering that algorithm. So we went directly to the source.

Speaker 2: Across 2020 and 2021, we playlisted 150,000 artists for the very first time. That's what motivates an editorial team.

Speaker 1: That was Selena Ong, who's a 15-year music industry veteran who also just happens to be the head of global, of editorial at Spotify for the last three years. And so she knows a thing or two about getting songs playlisted. So today, her and her team are gonna give you some valuable tips on how to increase your chances of getting your songs playlisted. And some of these I have never even heard before, especially that last one. It really is gonna change the game on getting on editorial playlists. You're not gonna hear this stuff on other videos about advice on triggering the algorithm or getting on editorial playlists. This is straight from Spotify. So get your pad and pen ready, watch these in order, and make sure you don't miss any of these because it's gonna be a game changer if you want Spotify to add your songs to editorial playlists, you don't wanna miss these. So let's jump into this right now.

Speaker 3: So you can find the playlist submission tool on Spotify for Artists. So we recommend at least seven days before the release date because that helps us not only on the editorial side of programming, but also it helps you get into the personalized playlist like release radar.

Speaker 1: So that means when we plan to release a new song, we need to give ourselves at least two weeks minimum so that we can pitch it to the Spotify playlisters. And remember, when you upload your song to your DSP like TuneCore, Distrokid, or CD Baby, it takes at least 24 to 72 hours before it even shows up in your Spotify dashboard, which then you can pitch it. And did you see what she also said? You, when you pitch it to them, you also trigger the release radar, which is Spotify's algorithmic playlist, which you can get the most amount of streams. So you don't wanna miss out on that opportunity as well. So plan ahead.

Speaker 4: So a lot of people think you have to know someone at Spotify to be added on the playlist. And that couldn't be more than not true. In this role, I've never ever found anything off of a DM ever, ever, which is crazy. The best way for me to be across music is via the pitching tool because that's my inbox. Like I read more pitches than I do emails. We have like tools designed to find these pitches and like find these tracks out of nowhere.

Speaker 1: Well, I don't know about you, but that's good news. Knowing that they can find tracks out of anywhere and then they check their messages on the tool more than they check emails and have never found a song DMing someone. So that's good news to me that we don't wanna waste our time DMing them and just use the playlist tool to our best ability. I will say though, you could DM an independent playlist. I have personally got on playlists independently, but that's different than the Spotify editorial playlist.

Speaker 3: We try to check everything that comes through and I mean, we as a global team. So it's very important for us to understand the context and also as much detail as we can when we see something submitted in the tool. So we check genres, we check location, we check language. There's also a lot of deep fields like instrumentation, if it's a cover, if it's a remix. So it depends on what type of work you're doing as an editor, but we do have access to everything. And I think the most interesting part of it is the description.

Speaker 1: So when you're pitching your song, everything matters. So you wanna make sure that you take your time and that it's accurate. But what do you put in the description?

Speaker 4: Some people just leave it blank. Don't leave it blank. There's no like set way to how to write a pitch. I do love it when they tag their social media though, cause it's like when you hear something that you're like, wow, who's this? When you go to their social media and you kind of like find out more about them, it's like adds more interest. If you feel like you know who your audience is, tell us. And we'll make sure we get it to the right editor. If you have playlists in mind that you feel like your music sits alongside, you can put it in the description and we can tag it to the relevant editor and see if it works.

Speaker 1: I thought this was so huge and good to know that they actually go and check your social media links. Like if they like your song, they go and check you out and learn more about you to see what you've got going on. Cause you gotta remember, these guys and gals are artists too and they just love music. I've never put my social media in there before. But what I also loved is that it's like, hey, if you know a Spotify playlist that you think your song would be a good fit for, well then add that, let them know. And so that's one thing I also have never done before is actually like, I do know what Spotify playlists I would like to be on, but I've never actually suggested that in my description.

Speaker 2: So I think this is so good. Many people discover older music, songs that have been released in the past as new. And for example, I think Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill is a really great example of a sync on Stranger Things that really triggered the imagination of new listeners. And we saw that really early. We started testing and playlists and it really took on a life of its own. That song is a bigger hit now than it was 37 years ago. And it's been introduced to an audience that have never known Kate Bush before, which was really inspiring and interesting to see.

Speaker 1: I love this because it means you can breathe new life into old songs, especially ones that are like 30 something years old. We even had an eight year old song that almost got in a Doritos commercial last year. And it's eight plus years old. We had another song 10 plus years old. So that's what you need to look at as your music career as a real long term plan and not this short term. And you wanna make decisions based on the longterm because you're gonna be in this game for a long time and your songs can be working for you for years. And just because a song is old to you, doesn't mean there aren't millions of people that have never heard that great song. So I hope that inspires you.

Speaker 2: As editors, we are looking at many things in terms of a performance of a song or when to move a song into a playlist. That includes both looking at listeners' reactions in the playlist, how many people are listening to the song organically on Spotify, but also looking outside of Spotify and looking at wider culture, at social media, is the artist performing in a particular city? How did that concert go? We think about all of those things when we're curating.

Speaker 1: I love what Selena said about listeners' reactions. Like, are they saving it? Are they skipping it? Are they listening to the whole song? Are they sharing it or adding it to their own personal playlist? Like, all this stuff matters and they're looking at it, but most importantly, are they getting organic streams and not botted streams? This is why you should never do bots and only hire legit Spotify promotion playlists or run Spotify ads or run Facebook and Instagram ads. I'll talk about that in a different video at the end.

Speaker 2: So by genre, every week, editors from around the world come together and they talk about the music that's coming from their local cities, from the countries that they live in, and they advocate and champion for artists and tracks that they really believe in, that they know have an audience, that are reacting well, gaining momentum. And that inspires, for example, an editor in London to listen to a track that's coming out of Johannesburg. And that cross-pollination of ideas, of sounds, is really core to how we curate.

Speaker 1: So there's your behind-the-scenes look of how Spotify curators really play songs on editorial playlists. So I hope that's gonna better your chances of getting on those. But now, what about the songs that you already have released? What about that back catalog that they were talking about? What can you do to promote those songs? Well, that's where Spotify ads come into place, which is totally legit for you to promote a song, a playlist, or have an ad go right to your profile. And I have a video right here that you can watch right now that goes step-by-step on how to run Spotify ads to promote your songs that are already out. Don't forget to hit like, subscribe, and if you haven't joined our Spotify challenge or got our Spotify ad templates, all the links are below there. Cheers.