The 14 Finest Spotify Promotion Companies in 2025 (Actual Knowledge)

Trying to strive Spotify promotion and undecided which companies are price it? I personally tried dozens of corporations to see which of them acquired actual outcomes. Primarily based on these campaigns, listed below are my high (reliable) companies:

1. Members Media
2. Indie Music Academy
3. YouGrow Promo
4. Two Story Media
5. Playlist Push
6. Moonstrive Media
7. Daimoon Media
8. Omari MC
9. Playlist-Promotion
10. SubmitHub
11. Spin Promo
12. SoundCampaign
13. SubmitLink
14. Groover

Every of the businesses up there supplied streams from actual folks, not bots. Whereas outcomes will fluctuate, I’d contemplate every firm above to be legit.

That stated, the checklist is fairly subjective; my ninth-ranked firm may’ve been the first-ranked firm, and so forth. Be happy to click on by and test all of those companies out for your self. Additionally, heads-up that lots of the hyperlinks up there are affiliate hyperlinks, which signifies that in the event you do click on one among them and take a look at a marketing campaign, I’ll get a small fee.

I’m not going to lie – testing this many Spotify promotion companies was a wild journey.

It was full with some attention-grabbing ups and a few fairly unhappy downs (sure, sadly, a few corporations I attempted had been complete scams). Over the remainder of this publish, I’m going to unpack the whole lot I discovered. I don’t often present a desk of contents for my posts, however this one is lengthy sufficient that some form of define is required.

Right here’s what I’ll be masking. (You possibly can click on any of those hyperlinks to leap to the corresponding matter.)

This can be form of so much.

For those who’re considering, “Yeah, that is beginning to really feel like a long-winded recipe weblog publish and I actually simply got here right here to choose an organization that gained’t rip-off me, to not learn your life story,” then be happy to click on a hyperlink above and skip to the half you’re most concerned with.

However if you wish to know my life story (and “life story” is simply code for “issues I’ve discovered from working 15 campaigns,” not essentially the whole lot that’s occurred to me since 1992), then thanks – and maintain studying.

Let’s begin with the numbers.

Spotify promotion companies by the numbers

First up, right here’s the info from every marketing campaign that I ran.

An vital be aware to remember as you evaluation these numbers is that every promotion ran with a unique tune from a unique artist.

I’m not a knowledge scientist or a physician, and this isn’t a tutorial research the place the whole lot was completely managed – form of the other, truly. So don’t pay an excessive amount of thoughts to minor variances. My purpose right here is to indicate the larger image, not essentially to say which firm is greatest on the idea of 1 marketing campaign.

With that stated, you may scroll by the spreadsheet under to see the entire numbers.

(And sorry… I couldn’t discover a prettier method to embed the Google Sheet. That first column is frozen within the sheet itself, and there are some feedback that aren’t displaying, too. If you wish to test it out for your self in its pure state, right here’s the hyperlink to view it in a brand new tab.)

Semi-important: I’ve put collectively a glossary of phrases to be sure you take the fitting that means from that spreadsheet.

Click on right here to learn it (worthwhile if you wish to dig into the info and really perceive what it means).

And when you’ve performed that, let’s paint a few footage with the info.

Fascinating, proper?

Admittedly, Playlist-Promotion’s 62,000-stream marketing campaign (which I don’t view fairly as favorably as you would possibly suppose) form of warps how the info seems; the primary gridline on the Y-axis is at 25,000 streams, and no different firm even got here near that mark. So although Omari MC generated ten occasions as many streams as SoundCampaign (1,246 vs. 188), the 2 campaigns appear like they share the identical dot.

Let’s check out the identical graph with out the outlier of the Playlist-Promotion marketing campaign.

You possibly can form of get a way for the campaigns that basically labored and those that basically didn’t, and you may definitely see how they stack up by way of gross price.

Right here’s a view that’s perhaps much more useful:

As I’ll get into shortly, even Value Per Stream doesn’t inform the total story, as a result of that quantity doesn’t take into consideration how related the streams are. You may have an extremely low Value Per Stream, but when it’s as a result of bots, it might truly be a adverse factor.

However the chart does allow you to see which campaigns had been inefficient. I feel you can draw the road proper after Omari MC – the whole lot to the left of that was comparatively reasonably priced, and the whole lot on the fitting of that most likely wasn’t well worth the spend (though as I’ll clarify under, I feel that due to the mannequin they use, Groover and SoundCampaign even have a reasonably excessive upside).

All proper, you’ve seen the info. Subsequent up, right here’s my checklist of the highest corporations.

The highest Spotify promotion corporations

Be mindful, once more, that this checklist is completely subjective. My first-ranked firm will not be the only option for you; I’d advocate clicking by and figuring out for your self which choice you suppose matches your objectives. I clearly haven’t ranked these companies by some easy metric like Value Per Stream or Estimated Complete Streams. As an alternative, I’ve simply tried to go by how I really feel about every service given my experiences, accounting for the truth that every marketing campaign used a unique tune and that there are a couple of completely different promotional fashions in play.

Perhaps a greater method to clarify my methodology: The next checklist evaluations my general perspective on every firm, quite than providing some tried rating of every one-off marketing campaign.

For every firm, I’ve supplied:

• A short on the corporate as an entire
• Data on the service mannequin they use
• A fast breakdown on how every marketing campaign went
• An image of marketing campaign information (be aware that I’ve tried and sometimes failed to offer three month intervals and that the crimson field is the place the marketing campaign was energetic)
• A couple of professionals and cons

I’ve additionally written standalone evaluations of most of those companies, in case you’re concerned with studying extra a few particular one.

Okay, sufficient stated. First up:

The transient on the corporate: These guys was referred to as Partnered Initiatives, however lately rebranded (the marketing campaign I attempted with them displays the outdated title). I truly hadn’t heard of them in any respect till early 2023, when Andrew Southworth instructed me that he was working with the group to run advert campaigns in tandem with playlisting campaigns. I’ve acquired a excessive opinion of Andrew, so I bookmarked these guys to take a look at. I ended up working a reasonably profitable marketing campaign with them and having a very good dialog with Dalton, the founding father of the corporate.

From what I perceive, the company was initially launched by a advertising and marketing group geared towards larger-scale artists (suppose: main labels) quite than indie acts. Dalton confirmed me a few of the greater campaigns they’re working, and truthfully, I got here away impressed. However they’ve since expanded to supply companies to indie artists, too.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different Spotify promotion fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Members Media: I acquired a free trial of a marketing campaign that may’ve price $189. It resulted in two playlist placements that generated 10,275 streams at a Value Per Stream of $0.02. It’s exhausting to inform, however I feel the true variety of streams this marketing campaign triggered is far greater; the monitor was at round 3,000 streams after being out for a yr, and after a month of playlisting, it reached 23,000 streams because of a bunch of non-credited playlist provides.

This marketing campaign is just too current for me to indicate you a three-month timeframe, however right here’s what it appears like in Spotify for Artists for the time being.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of the Members Media marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Members Media

• They’re reasonably priced at a cost-per-stream stage and by way of complete price; packages begin at round $50.
• You don’t pay till they’ve authorised your tune. I’m an enormous fan of that strategy.
• They provide a minimal assured variety of streams. (They don’t promise particular lists, however they’ll pitch till they get sufficient placements.)

Cons of Members Media

• They reject a variety of songs. (They rejected the primary tune I attempted to ship them.) This isn’t actually a con by way of outcomes, to be truthful, as a result of it ensures they’re solely working with artists they might help. But it surely’s a con in your probabilities of working with them.
• I don’t wish to generalize this, as a result of issues fluctuate from marketing campaign to marketing campaign, however I do wish to be aware that the algorithmic traction from my trial marketing campaign has been decrease than I’d anticipated.

The underside line: For those who get accepted by this firm, you’ll get to work with a crew that has a ton of Spotify advertising and marketing expertise. These guys are legit. If you wish to give them a shot, right here’s the button:

The transient on the corporate: Ryan Waczek (the founding father of IMA) works actually exhausting to generate high-engagement playlist placements and keep an above-average hair aesthetic. His exhausting work exhibits in his ends in each areas.

One factor I actually admire about Indie Music Academy is the corporate’s clear communication about their course of and philosophy. Click on by to lots of the different websites listed right here, and although they might do good work, a variety of them don’t talk very nicely about how they do it. Typically, it’s exhausting to find out what’s actual and what’s simply jargon. Ryan’s white paper on his firm’s strategy to playlisting, alternatively, represents the other. It’s among the finest examples of clear considering and transparency that I’ve seen on this house.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of Search engine optimisation-built playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different Spotify promotion fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Indie Music Academy: I trialed a $537 marketing campaign that generated 12,079 streams from three highly-engaged playlists for a Value Per Stream of $0.04. Outdoors of credited placements, attribution is troublesome, however this was an artist that began from near-scratch and ended up with 31,000 actual streams within the month after the marketing campaign. I feel it’s seemingly that just about all of these resulted from IMA’s work.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of an Indie Music Academy marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Indie Music Academy

• They place you on extremely engaged, wholesome playlists.
• They’re comparatively reasonably priced on a cost-per-stream foundation.
• They’re very clear and I like the best way they give thought to playlisting.
• They provide a assured variety of streams, so any cash you spend will certainly get outcomes. (They don’t promise particular placements, they only provide a refund in the event that they don’t hit their marketing campaign goal.)

Cons of Indie Music Academy

• Search engine optimisation-based playlists are much less prone to be high-fit by way of style.
• Whereas they do comparatively nicely at a cost-per-stream stage, they’re costly by way of complete price; their entry bundle begins at $297.

The underside line: For those who’re trying to construct streaming numbers by way of playlisting and wish to be sure you actually are getting natural numbers, Indie Music Academy is a high choice, and Ryan’s a stable man. For those who’re , you may…

The transient on the corporate: YouGrow’s form of a do-it-all company; along with their Spotify playlisting, additionally they provide TikTok promotion (which I’ve reviewed right here), YouTube promotion (which I’ve reviewed in short right here), and Instagram influencer promotion (which I’ve reviewed right here). I’d contemplate all of their companies to be reliable, however truthfully, their Spotify promotion is my favourite factor they provide.

They’re good at it.

I’ve run a number of Spotify campaigns with them and have seen constantly stable outcomes. Their playlists are engaged, and whereas they don’t particularly say that they aim Search engine optimisation-built playlists, the overwhelming majority of the placements I’ve gotten with them have proven nicely in Spotify search.

Additionally, I’ve talked to a bunch of individuals on the firm they usually’ve all been good. In order that’s a degree of their favor.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different Spotify promotion fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with YouGrow: I’ve run a bunch of campaigns with these guys, however my most up-to-date price $247 and generated 15,797 streams throughout two playlists at a Value Per Stream of $0.02. This artist had some streaming traction already, however the marketing campaign supplied a pleasant bump that hasn’t but died down. A plus was that the playlists had been first rate matches for the style of the tune.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of the YouGrow Promo marketing campaign right here.

Execs of YouGrow

• YouGrow is likely one of the most reasonably priced choices on a cost-per-stream foundation and one of many extra reasonably priced choices by way of complete price; their packages begin at simply $77.
• Their playlist community appears to be wholesome and engaged – whereas they don’t declare to concentrate on Search engine optimisation-built playlists, all of the lists I’ve seen are performing nicely in Spotify search.
• They provide assured streams. (They don’t assure particular placements, however they’ll pitch your music till they get outcomes.)
• Apparently they plant timber whenever you purchase from them. I like timber.

Cons of YouGrow

• The highest location for the tune we promoted ended up being Brazil. For those who’re advantageous with worldwide streams, that’s not likely a con. However in the event you’re targeted on so-called “Tier 1” nations, it could be.
• Their campaigns have resulted in streams-per-listener numbers which can be decrease than I’d ideally wish to see. It’s not at a worrisome stage, but it surely could possibly be improved.

The underside line: I’d contemplate YouGrow Promo to be a fantastic choice in the event you’re a playlisting beginner. They don’t have the ceiling of Playlist Push and their playlist community isn’t my absolute favourite, however their lists are wholesome and also you don’t should spend all that a lot to get a pleasant return of assured outcomes. For those who’re so inclined…

The transient on the corporate: Truthful warning to begin off – that is my firm, so I’m clearly tremendous biased and it’s best to take the whole lot I write under with a grain of salt.

With that stated… personally, I feel we’re nice, and my mother agrees.

Additionally, we’re markedly completely different than any of the opposite playlisting companies on this checklist in that we don’t pitch your music to a community of curators in any respect. As an alternative, we run Meta advertisements to playlists that artists create themselves.

I truly had the concept for this form of service after doing the majority of the analysis for this publish. Having tried a bunch of different campaigns the place I’d had music pitched to curators, I believed to myself, “Huh, wouldn’t or not it’s good if I had been the curator?”

Some great benefits of being your personal curator are fairly simple. First, quite than seeing your streams spike again down after a marketing campaign, you may maintain your music by yourself playlist for so long as you’d like. Second, you additionally get to make sure that you’re on a playlist that’s an absolute excellent suit your music. Third, you may add a number of songs to your playlist, so you may unfold your promo round your catalog extra simply.

The downside to this strategy is that it tends to not be fairly as cost-effective as working with the largest playlist networks; these companies have already performed the work of constructing massively widespread playlists, in spite of everything. However the longer-term advantages are fairly interesting.

The mannequin they use: Constructing a well-liked playlist for you with Meta advertisements. (See a breakdown of the completely different Spotify promotion fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Two Story Media: I demoed this technique for my very own monitor, “Every little thing,” constructing a playlist referred to as “Chill Worship” that price $459 and drove 9,622 for a Value Per Stream of $0.05. Engagement was barely greater than I’ve seen for many different playlisting companies, and streams maintain coming in over time (as a result of I’m not taking my tune off of my very own playlist, clearly).

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can see a video breakdown of how the marketing campaign went right here.

Execs of Two Story Media

• You personal your personal widespread playlist, which is a pleasant ego increase
• Longer-term streaming outcomes, since, once more, you personal the playlist and don’t have to ever take away your songs
• The playlist is assured to be an ideal match in your music, which tends to result in barely greater engagement charges (though playlists nonetheless are usually passive listening experiences)
• You possibly can add a number of songs to your playlist, so it’s simple to unfold your promo throughout your catalogue
• My mother thinks they’re nice

Cons of Two Story Media

• It’s barely extra pricey on a cost-per-stream foundation than the massive playlist networks, particularly within the shorter time period.
• It takes just a little extra work to construct your personal playlist.

The underside line: I truthfully suppose it is a nice choice for benefiting from the facility of playlisting whereas minimizing a few of the tactic’s drawbacks. It’s legitimately efficient and it really works over the longer-term, which is why I take advantage of it for my very own music. However – yet another time – I’m closely biased, since that is my firm. That stated, in the event you’re so inclined…

The transient on the corporate: Playlist Push has, in my expertise, the best ceiling of any of the Spotify curator submission platforms. The reason being that they pay curators greater than rivals like SubmitHub, in order that they’re in a position to appeal to greater playlists – and, in contrast to fashions that supply assured streams, they gained’t cease pitching after they attain their promised threshold. I’ve run two campaigns with them which have generated actually zero placements, however when a marketing campaign does do nicely, it has the potential to do very nicely.

On a semi-related be aware, I’ve run a number of campaigns with this firm which have coincided with a rise algorithmic exercise. I feel it’s because, basically, Playlist Push does a reasonably good job of producing high-fit playlist placements.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to an open community of Spotify curators. You pay to undergo curators. (See a breakdown of the completely different Spotify promotion fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Playlist Push: My most up-to-date marketing campaign with these guys price $289 and drove 7,915 streams throughout 13 playlists for a Value Per Stream of $0.04. It was for an artist that already had some streaming traction, which makes it harder to find out attribution, however we did see some Uncover Weekly streams are available in shortly after working the marketing campaign.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of an earlier Playlist Push marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Playlist Push

• I feel they most likely have the best ceiling out of any firm on this checklist.
• In my expertise, they have a tendency to get high-fit placements.
• I’ve seen a number of campaigns with this firm which have correlated to longer-term algorithmic development.

Cons of Playlist Push

• They provide no assure. The nice aspect of that is that they don’t cap outcomes at a sure threshold, however the draw back is that you can spend $300 or extra and get actually nothing again.
• Whilst you can see suggestions, you’ve got restricted means to work together with curators – in contrast to on SubmitHub or SoundCampaign, you may’t chat with them, so it’s more durable to determine relationships.

The underside line: Playlist Push doesn’t assure any outcomes, however they only might need the best ceiling out of any firm on this checklist. For those who’ve by no means tried playlisting earlier than, it’s possible you’ll wish to begin with a lower-stakes spend (like SubmitHub or a mannequin the place a return is assured).

However in the event you’re extremely assured that your tune will do nicely by way of playlisting, Playlist Push can provide you a ton of bang in your buck. If you wish to give it a shot, use code CXUFDQ2 and also you’ll get 7.5% off your first marketing campaign.

The transient on the corporate: Moonstrive Media is likely one of the newer gamers within the Spotify promotion house (they’ve solely been providing their service beneath this brandname for a few years), however that reality belies their expertise. As Janik from the corporate instructed me, the crew at Moonstrive has truly been resold by different playlisting corporations for some time, because of the power of their Search engine optimisation-based playlist community.

And that’s the important thing worth these guys provide: Moonstrive completely offers placements on Search engine optimisation-built playlists. Different corporations on this checklist blur that Search engine optimisation line a bit, however in speaking with Janik, it’s clear that he genuinely believes within the worth of it as a playlisting strategy. I respect that – and I’ve seen it work.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of Search engine optimisation-built playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Moonstrive Media: I acquired a free trial of a bundle that may’ve price $339. It resulted in 16,934 streams throughout 10 playlists for a Value Per Stream of $0.02. Whereas not the entire playlists had been as focused genre-wise as I’d’ve appreciated, they had been all wholesome and solidly engaged, they usually all ranked in Spotify search outcomes.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of the Moonstrive Media marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Moonstrive Media

• Their Search engine optimisation-built lists are wholesome and extremely engaged.
• They’re reasonably priced on a cost-per-stream foundation and on a complete price foundation. (Packages begin at $134.)
• They assure you’ll get on playlists which have a sure complete variety of followers. (They don’t assure particular placements.)

Cons of Moonstrive Media

• Search engine optimisation-built playlists are usually less-targeted towards particular genres.
• They’re not the perfect at speaking about their work ha. Janik admitted that he thinks that is the largest problem they’re going through; he thinks their outcomes evaluate favorable to anybody, however stated that they’ve all the time struggled to market themselves successfully.

The underside line: I like that Janik and his crew keep on with their weapons in focusing on Search engine optimisation-built playlists. Whereas I feel the strategy has its drawbacks, I additionally suppose it’s a great way to guarantee that playlists are wholesome. All in all, Moonstrive Media is a stable choice. Right here’s the button to test them out:

The transient on the corporate: Daimoon Media is an organization that doesn’t characteristic the phrases “develop” or “playlist” or “promotion” of their title, which, on this house, is a daring transfer. Don’t fear, although. Daimoon Media does provide playlist pitching (along with YouTube promotion and Soundcloud promotion). And, based mostly on my expertise, they do it nicely.

I are likely to suppose that they’re greatest at working with extra mainstream genres – suppose pop, EDM, hip hop, or rock – they usually’re most likely the perfect match for artists who want to construct a world viewers. But when these two qualifiers describe you, then they’re price trying out.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Daimoon Media: I’m truly in progress with my newest marketing campaign, so these stats will most likely be up to date over the subsequent month or so. However, after a few month of run-time, the marketing campaign has generated 8,887 streams from three playlists for a Value Per Stream of $0.03.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

Once more, the plan is to replace with extra particulars pending the completion of my most up-to-date marketing campaign. However for now, you may learn my evaluation of a earlier marketing campaign with Daimoon right here.

Execs of Daimoon Media

• Whereas they don’t particularly goal Search engine optimisation-built lists, lots of their playlists do carry out nicely in Spotify search outcomes.
• Relatedly, all of the lists I’ve seen from them are wholesome and engaged.
• They’ve reasonably priced entry-level packages (the bottom begins at $57).

Cons of Daimoon Media

• As with different Search engine optimisation-focused corporations, they don’t all the time generate the highest-fit placements by way of style.
• They drive a excessive proportion of worldwide streams. My most up-to-date marketing campaign drove probably the most site visitors from Mexico. (This isn’t a con in the event you’re constructing a world viewers, clearly.)
• I had a bizarre fee difficulty with them the place their system wouldn’t course of my bank card. I talked to Tom, the founder, and he stated that occurs to lower than 1% of shoppers as a result of system they use. Their crew ended up taking fee by way of bill, so it labored out, however I figured I’d be aware it.

The underside line: Daimoon Media is one other firm that has a stable community of largely Search engine optimisation-built, wholesome lists. For those who’re in a mainstream style and are concerned with producing worldwide traction, they’re a stable choice. Hit the button in the event you’re concerned with giving them a spin.

The transient on the corporate: You might be accustomed to Omari in the event you’ve ever used the web – the man is in every single place on-line, and it’s not an accident. Omari’s one of many playlisting OGs. Really, his was the primary Spotify promotion service I ever tried, again once I was satisfied I may rap and play the ukulele. (I’ve since found I can do neither.)

I’ve talked to Omari a couple of occasions over Zoom, and I’ve all the time come away impressed by his big selection of music advertising and marketing information. His crew works on just about each advertising and marketing channel beneath the solar, they usually work with a powerful quantity of purchasers every month. There’s no denying that they know their stuff.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to an open community of playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Omari MC: My most up-to-date marketing campaign with Omari price $147 and resulted in 11 playlist placements and 1,246 streams for a Value Per Stream of $0.12. That’s on the upper finish of the spectrum, particularly for closed-network corporations that promise some stage of outcomes. Engagement charges had been just a little under common, too, however the playlists had been reliable.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my evaluation of an earlier marketing campaign with Omari MC right here.

Execs of Omari MC

• One of many OGs on this house. This firm has run a ton of campaigns; they know what they’re doing.
• I really feel like Omari just about coined the time period “natural streams” ha, and it’s truthful to say that his playlists are wholesome and never constructed with bots.
• They’re comparatively reasonably priced to get began with; their entry-level bundle is $77.

Cons of Omari MC

• Outcomes will fluctuate, however my final three campaigns with Omari have generated comparably excessive prices per stream. None of them has crested 5,000 streams, both.
• They don’t settle for “specific” songs. Truthfully, I don’t suppose it is a con (I respect that Omari sticks to what he believes) however in the event you’re making specific music, it’s a con in your probabilities of working with the corporate.

The underside line: I don’t imply this in an offensive approach ha – I contemplate Omari MC to be just like the Walmart of Spotify promotion. They’ve been round for some time, they’re not notably thrilling, they provide just a little little bit of the whole lot to lots of people, and the standard perhaps isn’t what you’d get in the event you spent twice as a lot.

But in addition, precisely what you’re going to get.

For those who’re serious about making an attempt promotion for the primary time and wish one thing low-risk, these guys are a very good choice.

The transient on the corporate: For those who regarded on the graphics up there, you most likely seen that Playlist-Promotion drove an absurd quantity of streams (about 62,000, which was far and away probably the most from any marketing campaign). They focus primarily on Search engine optimisation-built lists and there’s no denying that they will get tremendous spectacular outcomes – but in addition, some context is important.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to an open community of playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Playlist-Promotion: The corporate supplied me a free trial of their “100K follower attain” bundle, which might usually have price $350. The marketing campaign resulted in 23 playlist placements that drove 62,939 streams at a Value Per Stream of $0.01. Once more, this was by far probably the most reasonably priced marketing campaign on a per-stream stage, and it was additionally by far probably the most streams I noticed from any marketing campaign.

So yeah… it labored.

However I’m additionally fairly satisfied that the outcomes my marketing campaign acquired aren’t consultant of what artists ought to anticipate, on common, from this firm.

Right here’s why: The bundle I trialed guarantees 3-10 playlist placements with an estimated supply of 8,000 to twenty,000 streams – but our tune was positioned on 23 playlists totaling 1.5M followers. Usually, the companies that work on this mannequin cap a marketing campaign when it reaches the fitting variety of playlists, however these guys supplied an unimaginable surplus on anticipated supply. And I feel it’s as a result of the corporate knew I’d be writing a evaluation of the expertise. I don’t blame them for proving their chops, however I’m additionally uncertain that my expertise was regular.

Make of it what you’ll. One factor you may’t deny is that these guys have huge playlists that may drive a powerful quantity of streams.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of the Playlist-Promotion marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Playlist-Promotion

• As I stated, there’s no denying these guys have very energetic playlists. All of the lists regarded wholesome, too.
• On a associated be aware, this firm supplied probably the most streams I’ve ever immediately acquired from a playlisting marketing campaign. Respect.

Cons of Playlist-Promotion

• As talked about a number of occasions on this publish, huge Search engine optimisation-based playlists have a tendency to not be the tightest style matches.
• Perhaps this shouldn’t be a con, however the marketing campaign was nearly too good. Whereas these guys definitely have the aptitude to ship, I wish to be aware that you just most likely shouldn’t anticipate the identical outcomes that I acquired.

The underside line: Whereas I don’t suppose my unimaginable outcomes from Playlist-Promotion are typical, there’s no denying that these guys have the aptitude to offer excessive numbers of streams from wholesome playlists. With campaigns beginning at $250, they’re on the higher-priced aspect of the spectrum, however they definitely have the firepower to again that up. If you wish to test them out…

The transient on the corporate: I’ve acquired SubmitHub down right here at quantity 10, however they’re primary in my coronary heart. For those who’re simply getting began with Spotify playlisting, that is most likely the primary firm I’d strive.

That stated, these guys are far more than a Spotify promotion firm; they’re what I consider as a “music submission platform.” You pay for credit that assure curators will hearken to your music, permitting you to get weblog write-ups, influencer placements, and a bunch of different stuff. (Relatedly, as of 2023, I contemplate SubmitHub the gold commonplace for indie press campaigns.)

On the Spotify aspect of issues, particularly, they boast a big community of about 800 curators, most of whom run extremely focused playlists quite than huge, Search engine optimisation-built lists. That’s by design – Jason Grishkoff, the founder, believes that the purpose of playlisting ought to be to coach Spotify’s algorithm with average numbers of focused listens, quite than to generate huge spikes in streams from a broader viewers and threat muddying your information.

The mannequin they use: Do-it-yourself pitching to an open community of Spotify curators – though Jason needs me to let you know which you can additionally hit a button to make it extra of a done-for-you expertise. You pay to undergo curators. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with SubmitHub: I’ve run a ton of campaigns on SubmitHub; some have labored very well and a few have generated subsequent to nothing. However the marketing campaign I’ve listed on the spreadsheet above price $120 and resulted in 9 playlist placements and 1,130 streams for a Value Per Stream of $0.11.

And since I acquired to hand-select every curator and playlist that I pitched, every of these 9 placements was a really related style match.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn our full evaluation of SubmitHub right here.

Execs of SubmitHub

• I feel this platform might be the one greatest method to goal high-genre-match playlist placements.
• It’s actually reasonably priced to get began with SubmitHub. Jason recommends making an attempt a small pattern of curators to check whether or not your tune will resonate earlier than leaping into a much bigger spend, which signifies that, for like $20, you can begin to see outcomes.
• I feel that is most likely probably the most clear playlist pitching platform on the earth. Every little thing you’d care to see a few curator is on show.

Cons of SubmitHub

• The largest knock towards SubmitHub is that the curators with the largest playlists are likely to gravitate towards different platforms, as a result of SubmitHub doesn’t pay as a lot per evaluation as a few of the different networks on this checklist. Meaning it’s very uncommon to see a marketing campaign that ends in tens of 1000’s of streams.
• It’s just a little extra time-consuming to pitch on SubmitHub than it’s to pay a done-for-you pitching service. (However in the event you care about genre-fit, it’s well worth the little bit of additional effort.)

The underside line: That is most likely the perfect firm to get began with in the event you’ve by no means performed playlist pitching earlier than. It’s additionally most likely the perfect playlist pitching platform for coaching Spotify on the style of your music.

That’s as a result of campaigns begin at super-affordable prices, and you may select to focus on solely the lists on which you wish to be included. Ethical of the story: For those who can stand to listen to some tone-deaf suggestions from curators, there’s actually no purpose to not give SubmitHub a shot.

The transient on the corporate: I first heard about Spin Promo once I began getting emails from Matt, their founder. Over the course of a few months on their e-mail checklist, I got here away satisfied: These guys are actually good at e-mail advertising and marketing, and I wished to pay them cash.

A part of the attraction was that, on the service mannequin aspect of issues, the corporate advertises an attention-grabbing tactic: Spotify advertisements retargeting playlist listeners. Right here’s how they put it: “Run native Spotify advertisements to retarget your largest listeners, based mostly on reside playlist viewers information.”

The upshot is that they get you playlist placements after which do a bit of labor to translate these placements into longer-term engagement. Fairly cool-sounding thought, proper? I believed so, at the very least.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to an open community of Spotify curators. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Spin Promo: I ran a $299 marketing campaign and noticed my tune positioned on two playlists that drove a complete of 5,862 streams for a Value Per Stream of $0.05.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of Spin Promo right here.

Execs of Spin Promo

• As an idea, I believed the retargeting factor was actually cool.
• The playlists they added the monitor to had been legit – good follower development, good engagement, and a wholesome variety of streams.

Cons of Spin Promo

• Truthfully, I used to be dissatisfied within the precise outcomes of the retargeting. I simply couldn’t see any form of influence within the information. My speculation, as I wrote in my evaluation is that Spotify advertisements simply aren’t a brilliant efficient tactic, although the concept is cool in precept.
• I used to be additionally barely underwhelmed by their customer support. They don’t have a portal to trace outcomes (as of this writing, at the very least), and whereas they supplied to reply for assist by e-mail, I didn’t hear again from them after a attain out.

The underside line: I feel these guys are reliable, however I additionally suppose they’re nonetheless understanding a few of the kinks of their enterprise mannequin. The concept of retargeting is absolutely interesting, though it didn’t translate to notable ends in actuality. I’ve acquired them penciled in to strive within the close to future. Within the meantime, they do have some engaged playlists… and once more, their e-mail advertising and marketing is on level.

If you wish to give them a shot…

The transient on the corporate: SoundCampaign is an up-and-coming playlist pitching firm constructed on the open community idea.

I hadn’t heard of them earlier than 2022, however I’ve heard a good bit of hype on them extra lately, so I made a decision to offer them a spin as a part of my experiment. Nadav, the founding father of the corporate, has reached out to me a few occasions, however we haven’t been in a position to join but. From what I’ve seen from the skin and as a buyer, although, I like their strategy.

Whereas I don’t have them within the high half of the checklist for the time being, it is a firm I feel might be price watching over the subsequent few years.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to an open community of Spotify curators. You pay to undergo curators. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with SoundCampaign: I spent $188 on SoundCampaign to focus on an estimated 21 curators. That yielded two playlist placements that drove 188 streams for a Value Per Stream of $0.82 (which was the best Value Per Stream out of the entire corporations I attempted).

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

The outcomes had been mediocre, however I feel this firm has potential as a result of their mannequin is powerful. You possibly can see my full evaluation of the SoundCampaign expertise right here.

Execs of SoundCampaign

• Their playlists seem like legit – wholesome and constructed with actual listeners.
• There’s the potential to hit a homerun with this playlisting mannequin.
• I like which you can reply to curator suggestions on this platform. It’s a pleasant step towards extra significant relationships.

Cons of SoundCampaign

• I don’t suppose my mediocre outcomes ought to be taken as some overarching verdict on the platform, as a result of issues fluctuate wildly from tune to tune – however nonetheless, my outcomes had been fairly mediocre, in order that’s acquired to be a con.

The underside line: As with different open-network platforms, SoundCampaign presents the possibility to hit a homerun with a playlisting marketing campaign, since they (ostensibly) gained’t cap your pitches when you hit a sure variety of placements. As a result of my very own marketing campaign outcomes had been mediocre, I’ve a tough time rating them alongside trade heavyweights like Playlist Push. However nonetheless, I like this firm, and I feel they’re price keeping track of. If you wish to trial them your self, right here’s the hyperlink:

The transient on the corporate: If SoundCampaign and Orion Promotion are challengers to Playlist Push, then SubmitLink is a challenger to SubmitHub. Consider it as SubmitHub Lite, however geared particularly towards Spotify playlist curators. As on SubmitHub, you pay for credit and get to handpick which curators you wish to ship your music to, with the assure that they’ll pay attention and reply.

Whereas it’s not an enormous participant within the house but, I’m a fan of SubmitLink, partly as a result of I’ve talked to Aaron, the founder on the firm, and admire his ethos. Like Jason at SubmitHub, it’s clear that Aaron is engaged on this as a labor of affection. He’s continuously making enhancements and soliciting suggestions, and it exhibits within the development of the platform over the previous a number of years.

The mannequin they use: Do-it-yourself pitching to an open community of Spotify curators. You pay to undergo curators. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with SubmitLink: This was my most cost-effective marketing campaign by way of complete price; I paid $27 and acquired two playlist placements that introduced in 467 streams at a Value Per Stream of $0.06. We acquired a good bump in algorithmic traction after the marketing campaign, too.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

For those who’re concerned with listening to extra about my expertise with SubmitLink, I wrote a full evaluation of the marketing campaign right here.

Execs of SubmitLink

• Like with SubmitHub, you may handpick which curators you pitch, so you may make sure you get high-genre-match placements.
• It’s tremendous reasonably priced to get began – my marketing campaign price $27.
• It is a very clear platform; you get a variety of element on the curators and playlists.

Cons of SubmitLink

• The largest con is that SubmitLink’s curator community simply isn’t that huge but. You possibly can solely pitch so many individuals right here, and there aren’t as many area of interest style matches as there are on SubmitHub. However the platform is rising, so that is changing into much less of a weak point over time.

The underside line: That is one other nice choice in the event you’re getting began with playlisting, since you don’t should pay a lot and also you get to handpick the curators to which you’re pitched, so the chance of dangerous information is low. Think about using this as a complement to a SubmitHub marketing campaign; spend $20 on each platforms and also you’ll nonetheless come out under what you’d spend with most different corporations on this checklist.

The transient on the corporate: Groover is one other music submission platform the place you should purchase credit to submit your tune to blogs, playlist curators, and music trade professionals. Two Euros will get you two credit, that are good for one submission. The corporate was based in 2018, they usually’ve grown quickly since then, with an particularly spectacular presence of curators in Europe.

As with SubmitHub, I used to be initially hesitant to qualify Groover as a service, seeing as they function on the same credit-based mannequin. However, as earlier than, I’ve determined to screw the semantics.

The mannequin they use: Do-it-yourself pitching to an open community of Spotify curators – though you may as well use pre-sets that make it extra of a done-for-you expertise. You pay to undergo curators. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The transient on my marketing campaign with Groover: I’ve run a number of campaigns with Groover, however my most up-to-date marketing campaign price $273.59 and resulted in 18 playlist placements and 460 streams for a Value Per Stream of $0.59.

Right here’s what it regarded like in Spotify for Artists.

You possibly can learn my full evaluation of a earlier Groover marketing campaign right here.

One be aware on the expertise: Within the aftermath of the marketing campaign, the tune acquired auto-added to a playlist by WAVR.AI that seems to be constructed with bots (that’s that bizarre spike after the marketing campaign within the picture above). This isn’t Groover’s fault; the 2 corporations aren’t affiliated in any approach. For what it’s price, WAVR appears to be an organization that scrapes different playlists to be a focus for artists by boosting their streams. Extra on them later.

Once more, not Groover’s accountability (I’ve seen DistroKid artists who haven’t used Groover get added to WAVR lists, too) but it surely’s an annoyance price noting. Right here’s hoping Spotify takes WAVR down quickly.

Execs of Groover

• Their submission course of is absolutely streamlined. For those who’re the form of one who finds SubmitHub’s filter complicated, it’s possible you’ll like Groover’s course of higher. The management is rather less granular, but it surely’s a really fast and clear setup.
• There are good curators on the platform – and there are so much of curators on the platform. (I’m not fully positive, however in talking with lots of the corporations on this checklist, I feel that by way of the sheer variety of curators Groover is probably going the most important submission platform on the earth.)

Cons of Groover

• As I famous with SubmitHub, these platforms don’t pay curators as a lot per evaluation, so greater curators typically go elsewhere.
• You don’t have a variety of means to filter by the style of your tune. Whilst you can nonetheless comb by for good playlist matches, this makes it just a little more durable.
• The curator community leans European, which, in fact, shouldn’t technically be a con, however ought to be meals for thought in the event you’re in search of development in different geographies.

The underside line: I’d use Groover in the event you’re a European-based artist in search of focused placements or in the event you’re trying to complement a SubmitHub marketing campaign and attain different curators.

Whereas this isn’t my high choice for a excessive variety of streams, it is a rising platform that has all kinds of curators, and you may get began with a small spend and little threat. If you wish to strive it, use the code TWOSTORYMELODYVIP to get a ten% low cost on credit.

Bonus: Two Free Playlisting Platforms

Let’s wrap up the checklist with a few free choices, in case you’re not able to put down cash (which is comprehensible). Notice: Whereas you may get placements with the companies under, I’ve been instructed that lots of the lists on free companies get few if any streams; I feel that it’s most likely as a result of, for curators, the incentives for constructing wholesome lists aren’t as robust (and a few curators might even be making an attempt to make use of these platforms as stepping stones to paid networks).

Price being conscious of, however doesn’t imply submission isn’t price it.

Soundplate

With Soundplate, you submit your tracks to playlists and await the playlist curators to provide the huge thumbs up or down. It’s price mentioning that your tracks aren’t assured to land on the playlists to which you submit. For those who take the bulk-approach and undergo a bunch of viable playlists, likelihood is your tracks will safely arrive on at the very least a couple of playlists.

However be warned: this service is free, and for a couple of good causes. Soundplate doesn’t provide any steering, assist, or session in the event you determine to make use of their platform. The submission course of can also be recognized to be clunky at occasions. However in the event you like free stuff, it’s price a very good ole’ faculty strive.

Every day Playlists

Every day Playlists, like Soundplate, is free. Merely add your tune’s Spotify URL, manually choose the a number of playlists you wish to undergo, and observe these playlists to finalize your submissions.

It’s free, painless, and could end in further performs, followers, and all-around publicity. Or not.

However once more, it’s free.

Corporations You Ought to In all probability Keep away from

As I discussed on the high of this text, the unhappy fact is that there are some complete scams on the market. As you most likely know, a subsection of promo corporations depend on bots and click on farms to drive streams; in early 2021, these companies seemingly contributed to a bunch of songs being de-listed from Spotify. Watch out. Even worse, there are some pages arrange that can take your cash and ship nothing.

Right here’s a fast suggestion: Don’t pay for a service till you’ve had communication with that service. Be sure you hear again from an individual earlier than you ship them your cash. (This isn’t all the time potential, however in my view, it’s the best.) And with that in thoughts, I wish to provide a couple of extra particular warnings.

These are Spotify promotion corporations it’s best to keep away from:

Music Diffusion

This firm was one of many 15 I attempted at first of 2023. Sadly, they had been by far the obvious rip-off I’ve seen out of any marketing campaign I’ve run to date.

I’ve acquired a full evaluation of the expertise up right here, however right here’s the abstract: The tune I examined was positioned on 5 playlists. All the lists had been owned by Music Diffusion, they usually all confirmed indicators of bot exercise. Worst of all, the streaming information that our placements generated in Spotify for Artists regarded completely faux.

We ended up cancelling the marketing campaign a few week after we began it to attempt to decrease the harm. I’d advocate you cancel yours proper now, earlier than you begin.

Musicvertising

This firm was additionally one of many 15 I attempted, they usually had been by far probably the most complicated.

Lengthy-story-short, the marketing campaign we ran with them resulted in super-suspicious spikes in Spotify followers. Streams didn’t fluctuate all that a lot, however for a interval of a few week, followers jumped up by the very same quantity every day. Then a couple of weeks later, they spiked again down, step-by-step.

In case you’re questioning, that’s not what regular follower development appears like.

The streaming information wasn’t as clearly faux as Music Diffusion’s outcomes, so I truly went forwards and backwards with them just a little bit to strive to determine what was happening. The rep from the corporate insinuated that they use Taboola advertisements to drive site visitors to Spotify. I’m not fully positive, however my guess is that they’re utilizing the broadest geographic goal, in order that impressions get funneled to nations the place the clicks are the most cost effective – and often the place the clicks are the most cost effective, there are bot farms.

If this what they’re doing, then though they declare that they’re utilizing a legit type of promoting (and I suppose it’s potential that they may not be working botted Spotify accounts themselves), the result is mainly the identical.

If it’s not what they’re doing… nicely, I don’t know what’s happening, however clearly it’s sketchy.

Both approach, it’s best to most likely keep away from them.

Artist Push

An earlier model of this text listed Artist Push, however I’ve gotten a number of feedback suggesting that they’ve didn’t ship on campaigns (see under within the feedback ha). I haven’t had private expertise with this firm, however based mostly on what I’ve heard, I’d say proceed with warning – most likely get in contact with somebody earlier than paying, at the very least.

Artist Sounds

I’ve solely gotten one e-mail criticizing Artist Sounds, however that’s nonetheless an excessive amount of for me to advocate them as a service (and their course of appears sketchy, anyway). For those who’ve had the same (or a unique and extra constructive) expertise with this firm, attain out and let me know.

Orion Promotion

A earlier model of this text additionally listed Orion Promotion as a advisable firm (and also you’ll nonetheless see them within the Canva charts up there). That was based mostly on an actual marketing campaign that I ran with them, however sadly, within the months since, I’ve had confirmed from a number of sources that this service has develop into untrustworthy (and sometimes simply completely unresponsive).

I gained’t get into the entire particulars right here, however the quick model is that they’ve been very sketchy in paying their curators, which has snowballed into the whole lot else. Right here’s a TrustPilot evaluation that will get into a few of it.

Anyway, I’d advocate passing on this firm right now.

The several types of Spotify promotion

Nonetheless right here? Props. Hold studying, as a result of on this part, I’m going to unpack how the businesses I’ve listed above match into the broad scope of Spotify promotion. I feel that’ll be useful as you contemplate your choices.

As it’s possible you’ll or might not know, there are a couple of other ways to advertise music on Spotify. I’d break issues down into three classes:

1. Spotify’s Promoting Instruments

One of these promoting might be the most secure method to construct a presence on Spotify, since you’re utilizing the instruments that the platform itself offers for artists. This consists of issues like:

• Marquee (you pay to indicate a brand new launch to your personal followers after they open the app)
• Showcase (you pay to indicate a launch to customers in a featured space on Spotify’s residence display)
• Discovery Mode (you comply with let Spotify maintain a much bigger share of your streaming royalties, they promise to indicate your music to extra folks)
• Editorial playlist pitching (you ship your music to Spotify’s playlist editors and nearly all the time get rejected, however in the event you get accepted you get a bunch of streams)

These instruments are okay, however in my view, they’re form of restricted.

Marquee, for instance, gained’t put you in entrance of recent ears; it’s simply Spotify charging to indicate you to individuals who ought to already be accustomed to your music. (I get why they do that, however I don’t find it irresistible.) Discovery Mode is… advantageous. Editorial playlist pitching is sort of a free lottery ticket; it’s acquired an superior ceiling, but it surely’s nothing it’s best to financial institution on.

I feel that, basically, it’s robust to develop on Spotify in the event you rely solely on their proprietary advertising and marketing instruments.

2. Off-Platform Promoting

One other method to develop on Spotify is to make use of off-platform promoting. As of in the present day, the commonest technique of doing that is to run Fb and Instagram advertisements that ship folks to your music on Spotify. TikTok and YouTube are various platforms for this, however from what I’ve seen, they are usually much less environment friendly.

I’m an enormous fan of one of these Spotify promotion. As you will have seen, it’s the kind of promotion I present at my very own company.

I do know that many indie artists aren’t precisely drowning in money, however in case you have the finances, I’d advocate utilizing Fb and Instagram advertisements in tandem with playlisting. I feel this pairing offers you the perfect of each worlds. Adverts are far more costly than playlisting at a cost-per-stream stage, however their profit is that they drive extremely engaged streams, as a result of customers click on them with an energetic curiosity to listen to particular music.

I’d advocate trying out Andrew Southworth’s YouTube channel in the event you’re concerned with studying extra about how this strategy works. And I suppose I’ll additionally provide this shameless plug: I’ve a Spotify advertising and marketing course that covers each advertisements and playlists if you wish to get going your self.

3. Spotify Playlisting

And, lastly, you’ve acquired Spotify playlisting, which generally means pitching music to impartial playlist curators. That is the first technique utilized by the businesses on the checklist above.

There are two causes this technique of promotion is so widespread:

First, it’s simple to immediately influence. Whilst you solely get one shot at an editorial playlist pitch per tune, you may pitch 1000’s of impartial playlist curators. And in the event you do pitch a bunch of curators, you’ll nearly definitely get one thing out of it.

Second, playlisting is probably the most reasonably priced sort of Spotify promotion on a cost-per-stream foundation, since you don’t should pay to change folks from one platform to a different. Spotify is constructed for playlists; in consequence, it’s fairly frequent to get tens of 1000’s of actual streams for a couple of hundred bucks. (For reference, in the event you spend a pair hundred bucks on a brand new advert marketing campaign, you’ll be lucky to interrupt 1,000 streams.)

The draw back of playlisting is that it tends to consequence within the lowest engagement charges. That’s as a result of playlist listeners usually aren’t locked in and actively participating with each single tune; playlists are sometimes used as background music.

So, with that stated, is playlist promotion price it?

Nice query. My reply, as it’s to so many issues, is that it is determined by what you’re in search of.

If you wish to immediately recoup your advertising and marketing spend in streaming royalties, then playlisting is unquestionably not price it. Don’t anticipate to make your a refund immediately on a playlisting spend; in the event you make a return on funding, it’ll be long-tail over time and myriad channels.

If you wish to lastly crest the >1,000 streams mark subsequent to a tune on Spotify in order that random folks suppose you’re extra legit, then playlisting undoubtedly is price it. As I’ve stated, it’s probably the most cost-efficient method to get streams.

If you wish to keep excessive ranges of engagement in your Spotify profile, then playlisting is most likely not price it. Some extremely focused playlists are fairly engaged, however most will dampen your Viewers Engagement stats.

If you wish to practice Spotify’s algorithm on the kind of music you make, then playlisting could also be price it – however you’ll want to decide on a platform that focuses on high-genre match playlists quite than utilizing an Search engine optimisation-focused service.

If you would like a bunch of individuals to listen to your music, then playlisting might be price it. It’s probably the most simple means towards that finish.

The underside line reply:

Personally, given the finances, I’ll all the time run a playlisting marketing campaign and an advert marketing campaign in tandem for each tune an artist releases. However in the event you’re like most of us and have to choose one or the opposite, suppose by what you’re prioritizing and select accordingly.

Spotify promotion service fashions

For those who do determine that you just’d wish to strive Spotify playlist promotion, it’s useful to know the way these corporations work. There are a number of service fashions that I categorize on the idea of 4 essential elements: 1) Exclusivity of the curator community, 2) sort of playlists, 3) pitching technique, and 4) what you pay for.

(Oh, and outdoors of all of those, there’s my very own service mannequin, the place we construct you your personal widespread playlist. It doesn’t actually match the paradigms under, but it surely’s nonetheless a type of playlisting.)

Learn this if you wish to know what you’re getting.

1. Exclusivity of the curator community

Open curator networks: These are the businesses that enable any playlist curator to use for inclusion of their community. Once you go to one among these corporations’ web sites, you’ll see a button to use as a curator or to submit your personal playlist.

Corporations which have open curator networks are likely to have extra playlists. Nonetheless, high quality management is more durable, they usually might wrestle to retain huge playlists. Campaigns to open networks have a tendency to offer higher-fit placements however fewer streams in comparison towards closed curator networks.

Closed curator networks: These corporations have non-public relationships with playlist curators; they’ll hunt down high curators to affix their community, however they haven’t any open software for curators to use.

Corporations which have closed curator networks are likely to have fewer playlists. Nonetheless, they typically characteristic very fashionable, engaged playlists. Campaigns with these corporations have a tendency to offer extra streams from much less focused playlists in comparison towards open curator networks.

2. Sort of playlists included on the community

Search engine optimisation playlists solely: These corporations solely characteristic playlists that seem in Spotify’s search outcomes. The good thing about this strategy is that Search engine optimisation playlists are nearly assured to not have bots and to drive a variety of streams. The downside of this strategy is that these lists are sometimes broader and fewer genre-targeted.

Search engine optimisation playlist focus: These corporations lean closely towards Search engine optimisation playlists, however can also characteristic playlists that don’t seem in Spotify’s search outcomes.

Style playlist focus: These corporations lean closely towards playlists which can be genre-targeted, though they might characteristic a couple of broad playlists as nicely. Campaigns with these corporations are likely to drive fewer streams, however might end in greater engagement charges.

3. Pitching technique

Achieved-for-you: These corporations care for the whole pitching course of when you submit a marketing campaign. You might present some details about the style of your tune and your best viewers, however you gained’t choose which curators obtain the pitch.

Do-it-yourself: These corporations help you choose the curators you’d like your tune to be pitched to. They could have presets out there to information your choice, however you’ll have the ultimate say.

4. What you pay for

To be pitched to a sure variety of curators: You’re paying to succeed in curators along with your music, not for some variety of placements. You’ll pay extra to ship your tune to extra curators.

Many of the corporations utilizing this mannequin don’t assure that you just’ll obtain any placements; nonetheless, they gained’t cap your marketing campaign at a sure variety of placements, both. In different phrases, this mannequin has a excessive ceiling however a low flooring.

To obtain a sure variety of placements: You’re paying to be positioned on playlists, often with some assure that you just’ll attain a threshold of streams or get in entrance of a complete variety of playlist followers. You’ll pay extra to obtain extra streams.

Many of the corporations that use this mannequin will cap your marketing campaign when you attain the required variety of placements. In different phrases, you’ll hardly ever outperform what you’ve paid for. (For this reason I’m barely cynical about my Playlist-Promotion outcomes – I’ve a hunch they deliberately overdelivered for me.)

Fascinating issues I’ve discovered from making an attempt a bunch of Spotify promotion companies

Whether or not you’ve learn up to now otherwise you’ve simply skimmed down, I’m happy to announce that that is the ultimate part of this obnoxiously lengthy publish.

I’m together with this part as a result of a) I discovered a variety of random issues working a bunch of Spotify campaigns that I feel it’s best to know, and b) I couldn’t discover an clever method to work these things into the publish earlier. Sorry.

Listed here are 5 random nuggets of data to file away for the subsequent time you strive a Spotify promotion.

1. Most Spotify promotion campaigns don’t have an enormous long-term influence.

The best consequence from a Spotify promotion is that you just pay for a short-term bump after which have your attain settle at a brand new regular, because of new followers and algorithmic traction. Right here’s what that appears like:

I consider it like stepping up stairs; if you are able to do this a number of occasions, you may stage up your viewers dramatically.

Sadly, that is hardly ever what occurs. Most frequently, whenever you run a playlisting marketing campaign, you get a spike, after which issues settle again to proper round the place they had been earlier than. Out of the 13 reliable playlisting campaigns I ran in early 2023…

• 3 supplied what I’d outline as longer-term viewers development
• 10 supplied little or no long-term viewers development

The ethical of the story is that you just ought to anticipate streams, however you shouldn’t usually anticipate them to final. Depend it as a present after they do.

2. After a promotion, Radio streams are the primary algorithmic bump.

Almost each reliable Spotify promotion I’ve ever run has coincided with a rise in Radio streams. Typically its a really notable improve; extra typically, it’s not.

However that is the primary algorithmic increase you’ll get, and it’s best to anticipate to see one thing from it just about any time you run a marketing campaign.

3. Radio streams can come from bots.

Okay, right here’s a indisputable fact that made me uncomfortable – the obvious rip-off promotion I ran (with Music Diffusion) truly resulted in a big bump in Spotify’s Radio streams.

Botted playlists drove about 9,000 streams for that monitor; the opposite ~1,000 of the monitor’s complete streams got here from Spotify’s Radio playlists.

I’m undecided how this occurred, however my guess is that the bot accounts are set to autoplay by a given checklist and that they only maintain spinning after they undergo the entire songs, throughout which era they rack up streams of “Advisable” songs.

The underside line: You’d wish to suppose algorithmic performs couldn’t be faked, proper? But it surely appears like Radio streams, at the very least, could be. (Relatedly, if you wish to be secure, it’s best to put on a titanium go well with and steer clear of the whole lot and everybody.)

4. It’s best to be careful for “scraped” lists.

One other bizarre factor that reinforces the concept you shouldn’t belief anybody is that, even in the event you run a totally reliable promotion, you’ve got the possibility of getting added to a scraped playlist that may drive botted streams.

Right here’s the way it works: Some corporations scrape different playlists for songs, then add them to their very own playlists within the hopes of catching indie artists as purchasers. The concept is that in the event you, as an artist, see your tune getting streams from a random playlist, you’ll click on by to test it out – and whenever you see that the curator presents promotional companies, you could be impressed to pony up money for extra performs.

(DistroKid’s Wheel of Playlist typically will get scraped, for instance, as a result of corporations know that indie artists who use the platform are in search of methods to get traction.)

This occurred most notably in the course of the marketing campaign I ran on Groover. Our monitor was added to a bunch of reliable playlists. Then, shortly after the Groover marketing campaign closed, we began getting a bit of streams from a mysterious checklist referred to as WAVR.AI.

That is bizarre in a variety of other ways – for one factor, the playlist has over 1,900 songs on it, so it’s not prefer it’s curated in any significant sense of the phrase. After which the entire AI factor is unusual; in the event you click on by to the corporate’s web site (listed within the playlist description), you’ll see that they declare to supply Spotify promotion by AI tech-based playlisting in small companies. I don’t actually know what which means (however then once more, I’m not a pc scientist or a physician).

However probably the most troubling factor is that the playlist has seen drops in followers over the previous few months. Right here’s a red-flag-level dip in early Could, for instance:

It’s not large, so perhaps that dip wasn’t as a result of bots; I don’t know for positive. But it surely’s definitely not good, both.

WAVR.AI isn’t the one firm I’ve seen doing this; there are others taking some variation of this identical strategy. Sadly, as an artist, there isn’t a lot you are able to do to keep away from it. Whereas it does appear that playlisting will increase your odds of getting added to one thing like this, I’ve additionally seen artists who haven’t run playlisting campaigns find yourself on WAVR.AI, too. And whenever you report one among these lists to Spotify, they’ll often reply by saying that they will’t mess with customers’ private accounts.

So there’s no takeaway for this one; largely it’s just a bit informational nugget to file away as you construct your doomsday shelter and conceal from the world.

5. Playlists can develop the streams from “Listeners’ personal playlists and library.”

Let’s finish on a extra encouraging be aware: It’s not all concerning the algorithm.

⬆️ That’s the info from a tune for which I ran a playlisting marketing campaign earlier this yr. You’ll discover that there was hardly something of an algorithmic bump (7% is form of brutal), however you’ll additionally see {that a} sizable chunk of streams are coming from “Listeners’ personal playlists and libraries.”

We entrepreneurs wish to make an enormous fuss about getting algorithmic traction. And whereas it’s true that getting an algorithmic bump is nice information, as a result of it’s an indication that Spotify likes you, it’s additionally true that discovering residing, respiratory followers is nice information, too.

Playlisting isn’t as extremely focused as direct advertisements, however whenever you get on a very good checklist, yow will discover individuals who will take an actual curiosity in your music. I’ve seen it occur a number of occasions.

And it’s fairly superior.

Closing ideas on Spotify promotion companies

For those who’ve learn this far, congratulations – you’re both extremely devoted to getting your music heard or you’ve got an excessive amount of time in your arms. Perhaps each. Regardless, I admire you, and I hope the knowledge above is useful as you contemplate Spotify promotion in your personal music.

Two closing issues:

First, as technique of a quick recap, right here’s my checklist of high corporations once more.

1. Members Media
2. Indie Music Academy
3. YouGrow Promo
4. Two Story Media
5. Playlist Push
6. Moonstrive Media
7. Daimoon Media
8. Omari MC
9. Playlist-Promotion
10. SubmitHub
11. Spin Promo
12. SoundCampaign
13. SubmitLink
14. Groover

Second (and final!), I’d love to listen to your ideas on these things. Go away a remark under and let me know in the event you’ve had a notable expertise (good or dangerous) with an organization on this checklist. And let me know if there’s a service I ought to take a look at that’s not listed right here. I’ll test again and attempt to maintain this publish decently updated as a result of I feel these things is vital – as a result of I feel music issues.

As you navigate the complicated world of Spotify promotion, right here’s hoping you don’t lose sight of that.

And, as all the time, right here’s wishing you good luck.