How to get on Spotify playlists: editorial, algorithmic and independent

The rules about pitching, Release Radar and paid services come from Spotify for Artists’ help pages, checked on October 13, 2026. Spotify changes these tools often: if the app shows something different, the app is right.

The three kinds of playlists

The three feed each other. A song that listeners save and replay looks better to editors and to the algorithm; a good editorial or curator placement brings new listeners to the rest of your catalog.

Editorial playlists: the pitch

You can’t buy or request a spot on an editorial playlist. What you can do is pitch the song, and Spotify’s pitching help page sets the rules:

• You pitch from Spotify for Artists, with a song that is not released yet. Once it is live, it is no longer eligible.
• Deliver the release to your distributor so it reaches Spotify at least 7 days before release day, so the editors have time to listen. Earlier is better.
• One song pitch at a time. When that song goes live, you can pitch the next one. Compilations and songs where you are only a featured artist can’t be pitched.
• Anyone with Admin or Editor access can view and edit the pitch. Labels can make a pitch “label-only”: the artist sees the song and who pitched it, but not some details.
• You can edit the pitch until release day, but the editors may not see the changes.
• Pitching does not guarantee a placement, and the editors may choose a different song from the release than the one you pitched.
• Spotify is also rolling out pitches for official music videos and performance videos, separate from song pitches.

After release, look at Music → Playlists in Spotify for Artists to see where the song landed.

How to write the pitch

Spotify’s page says it plainly: more detail gives the song a better chance. Editors read many pitches a day, so be concrete:

1. Tags that are true. Genre, mood, instruments and culture tags that describe this song, not your whole career. Two precise genres beat five vague ones.
2. What the song is about, in one or two sentences. The story behind it, if it adds something.
3. Where it fits. The kind of listener or moment it is for (a workout, a late-night drive, a scene in your city).
4. What is behind the release. Music video, shows, press, radio, a campaign with clips on TikTok, Reels and Shorts. This is where a release plan shows.
5. Something about you that is checkable. Recent shows, a notable collaborator, press. No inflated numbers.

The text you prepare for the pitch is also the base for your press release and the update to your EPK.

Release Radar and This Is

Two placements depend on you more than on the editors:

• Release Radar. If you pitch an unreleased song at least 7 days before release, Spotify adds it to your followers’ Release Radar. That is the one playlist placement that is guaranteed — and the reason to pitch every single, even when you don’t expect an editorial playlist. Every follower you gain makes this placement bigger.
• Pinning to This Is. Eligible artists can pin a pitched song to their “This Is” playlist. According to Spotify, the pin takes about 3 days after the song is out, you can have one pin request at a time, and pinned songs stay up to 28 days after release.

For albums and EPs there are also Countdown Pages with pre-saves: see how pre-saves work.

Algorithmic playlists: what you can influence

Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, radio and the rest of the personalized playlists are built for each listener. Spotify does not publish a formula and there is no form to get in. For what Spotify says it does use, see how the Spotify algorithm works. What you control is how people meet the song and what they do after:

• Send people to the song, not just to your profile. A link in every post on release week, in your bio and in your smart link.
• Ask for the actions a fan does anyway: follow the artist, save the song, add it to their own playlists. Followers also grow your Release Radar.
• Keep the song alive after week one. Many songs vanish because there is nothing new to post after release day. A few clips a week from the song, the video, the studio or a live show give people new reasons to look it up; TONTRIA Clips cuts them from your material with the lyrics on screen.
• Use the Canvas. The looping video behind the track; Clips makes it from your cover in Spotify’s format.
• Read the data. In Spotify for Artists, see which sources and cities bring listeners, and point the next campaign there.

Independent curators

Playlists made by listeners, blogs, labels, brands and DJs can be small and very well targeted. To find them, look at who already playlists artists similar to you (Spotify for Artists shows the playlists your own songs are on), search Spotify for the genre plus a mood or a city, and check the curator’s profile or bio for a contact.

When you write:

• Listen to the playlist first and pitch only where the song really fits.
• Keep it short: who you are, one line about the song, the Spotify link, and why it fits that playlist.
• One message, one follow-up at most. No attachments; a private link if the song is not out yet.
• Say thank you when they add it, and share the playlist: curators remember artists who bring listeners.

Paid placements: what Spotify says

Spotify’s help page on third-party services is direct: paid services that guarantee streams aren’t legitimate, and any service that claims to offer guaranteed playlist placement in exchange for money breaks Spotify’s terms and shouldn’t be used. Many of these services use bots to inflate streams.

The consequences listed by Spotify include withholding the royalties for those streams, removing the song from playlists, warnings from your distributor and, in serious cases, removing your content or suspending the account. Spotify also charges labels and distributors per track when it detects flagrant artificial streaming.

Red flags: a guaranteed number of streams or followers, a price per placement, playlists with large follower counts and no clear audience, and anyone who asks for your Spotify for Artists login. Some distributors warn that the penalties can apply even when a friend or an outside promoter bought the service without telling you.

A timeline for one single

The full plan for a release — distributor, codes, assets, press and content — is in the release planning checklist. If you want the smart link, EPK and release plan in one place, see TONTRIA for artists.

Sources

checked October 16, 2026

• Spotify for Artists: Pitching music and videos to playlist editors