Spotify makes it easy for both music labels and artists to pitch music directly to their official curators for consideration in their playlists.
If you're an artist on Spotify, check our helpful guide here on pitching your tracks. The rest of this guide is for label managers, not artists.
In the past, music labels had a separate tool called Spotify Analytics to pitch their music, while Artists used Spotify for Artists. But in 2020, Spotify shut down Spotify Analytics and gave label managers access to a special version of Spotify for Artists.
Now, if you're a label manager, you can pitch feature requests via the Label Manager Edition of Spotify for Artists. If you don't have label manager access to Spotify for Artists yet, check our helpful guide here to get started.
I've got Label Manager access to Spotify for Artists. Now what?
Once you have label manager access, visit Spotify for Artists with your label manager account, then click the top right corner to switch to the artist you want to submit a feature for, like this --
After clicking the top corner button, the side bar will open. Look for the "Your Roster" button, which will take you to a listing of all the artists with upcoming releases on your label, with a button to submit a pitch!
What's the deadline to submit my pitch?
You can submit your pitch any time before the release date. However, if you want your music included in Release Radar then you need to submit at least 7 days in advance. If you can, submit at least 7 days in advance!
Pro Tips for Success
Submitting a pitch to Spotify will NOT guarantee placement in any playlist except Release Radar, but there are a few pro tips we've learned that might increase your chances.
ORIGINALS ONLY
Spotify generally does NOT feature remixes in their playlists. For example, Techno Bunker has over 60 tracks but rarely more than 6 remixes featured. Maximize your chances by only submitting pitches for original tracks.
KNOW YOUR PLAYLISTS
It can help to mention up to 3 specific playlists you're aiming for, as this will help get your pitch to the right curators. This won't guarantee placement in these playlists or even that the curators will see it, but we've had some success doing it this way. If you've been previously featured in specific playlists, mention those playlists by name! For an overview of the most popular electronic music playlists on Spotify, click here.
GROWTH FACTS
Spotify is very interested in knowing how fast you're growing in popularity, not just on Spotify, but other platforms like Instagram or SoundCloud. If you have gained a significant number of followers recently, then this is a good metric to share. For example, if you gained 1000 followers in the past month on SoundCloud, etc. Maximize your success here by listing specific facts about the rate of change. Don't tell Spotify how many followers you have, but how many you gained over a specific period of time.
Important things to know...
You can pitch any upcoming releases, as long as someone else hasn't already submitted one already for that release or artist. If the release is already out, then you won't be able to pitch any track unless you re-schedule the release.
You can only submit a pitch after Spotify receives your new release. After scheduling your release on Proton, you should see it appear within 4-5 business days in the "Upcoming" area of Spotify Analytics.
Only 1 song per release can be selected for a pitch. Even if your release is an artist album or compilation, you must select just 1 song!
Each artist can only have 1 pitch active at any given time. This means if you have 2 upcoming releases by the same artist, you must pick the release you want to pitch. Once the release date arrives, you'll be able to pitch another.
Guaranteed Placement in Release Radar: The track you pitch will be guaranteed placement in Spotify's personalized "Release Radar" playlist for fans of the original artist. At this time, it's not clear if fans of the remix artist will see the track in their playlist - let us know if you find out! :)
You're not the only one who can pitch your track. Artists also have the ability to pitch through Spotify for Artists. If the artist pitches before the music label, then the music label won't be able to submit one themselves - and vice versa!
If you make a mistake, you can edit your submission. To do this, hover over your submission in "Upcoming Releases" and click "View Submission" and then "Edit". If you change the selected song within 7 days of release, the change will likely not be reflected on Release Radar playlists.
Still have questions? Check Spotify's FAQ!
Spotify's pitching process is always evolving. Let us know if you see anything out of date on this page or have more questions.