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

Seeking to attempt Spotify promotion and undecided which providers are price it? I personally tried dozens of firms to see which of them bought actual outcomes. Based mostly on these campaigns, listed here are my high (reputable) providers:

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 offered streams from actual folks, not bots. Whereas outcomes will fluctuate, I’d contemplate every firm above to be legit.

That mentioned, the record is fairly subjective; my ninth-ranked firm might’ve been the first-ranked firm, and so forth. Be happy to click on by way of and test all of those providers out for your self. Additionally, heads-up that most of the hyperlinks up there are affiliate hyperlinks, which signifies that for those who 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 providers was a wild journey.

It was full with some attention-grabbing ups and a few fairly unhappy downs (sure, sadly, a few firms I attempted have been complete scams). Over the remainder of this submit, I’m going to unpack all the things I realized. I don’t normally 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’ll be able to click on any of those hyperlinks to leap to the corresponding subject.)

This might be type of loads.

If you happen to’re considering, “Yeah, that is beginning to really feel like a long-winded recipe weblog submit 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 fascinated about.

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

Let’s begin with the numbers.

Spotify promotion providers by the numbers

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

An vital observe to remember as you overview these numbers is that every promotion ran with a unique music from a unique artist.

I’m not a knowledge scientist or a health care provider, and this isn’t an instructional research the place all the things was completely managed – type of the other, really. So don’t pay an excessive amount of thoughts to minor variances. My objective right here is to indicate the larger image, not essentially to say which firm is finest on the premise of 1 marketing campaign.

With that mentioned, you may scroll by way of the spreadsheet beneath to see the entire numbers.

(And sorry… I couldn’t discover a prettier approach 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 to take the precise that means from that spreadsheet.

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

And when you’ve executed that, let’s paint a few photos with the information.

Fascinating, proper?

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

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

You’ll be able to type of get a way for the campaigns that basically labored and those that basically didn’t, and you’ll definitely see how they stack up by way of gross value.

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

As I’ll get into shortly, even Price Per Stream doesn’t inform the total story, as a result of that quantity doesn’t keep in mind how related the streams are. You might have an extremely low Price Per Stream, but when it’s resulting from bots, it could really be a adverse factor.

However the chart does allow you to see which campaigns have been inefficient. I believe you would draw the road proper after Omari MC – all the things to the left of that was comparatively inexpensive, and all the things on the precise of that most likely wasn’t well worth the spend (though as I’ll clarify beneath, I believe that due to the mannequin they use, Groover and SoundCampaign even have a fairly excessive upside).

All proper, you’ve seen the information. Subsequent up, right here’s my record of the highest firms.

The highest Spotify promotion firms

Consider, once more, that this record is completely subjective. My first-ranked firm might not be the only option for you; I’d suggest clicking by way of and figuring out for your self which possibility you suppose matches your objectives. I clearly haven’t ranked these providers by some easy metric like Price Per Stream or Estimated Complete Streams. As a substitute, 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 music and that there are a couple of totally different promotional fashions in play.

Perhaps a greater approach to clarify my methodology: The next record critiques my general perspective on every firm, relatively than providing some tried rating of every one-off marketing campaign.

For every firm, I’ve offered:

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

I’ve additionally written standalone critiques of most of those providers, in case you’re fascinated about studying extra a couple of particular one.

Okay, sufficient mentioned. First up:

The temporary on the corporate: These guys was once referred to as Partnered Initiatives, however just lately rebranded (the marketing campaign I attempted with them displays the outdated title). I really 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 bought a excessive opinion of Andrew, so I bookmarked these guys to take a look at. I ended up working a fairly profitable marketing campaign with them and having a great 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) relatively than indie acts. Dalton confirmed me a number of the greater campaigns they’re working, and truthfully, I got here away impressed. However they’ve since expanded to supply providers to indie artists, too.

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

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Members Media: I bought a free trial of a marketing campaign that may’ve value $189. It resulted in two playlist placements that generated 10,275 streams at a Price Per Stream of $0.02. It’s onerous to inform, however I believe the true variety of streams this marketing campaign prompted is far larger; the monitor was at round 3,000 streams after being out for a 12 months, 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 latest for me to indicate you a three-month timeframe, however right here’s what it seems like in Spotify for Artists in the mean time.

You’ll be able to learn my full overview of the Members Media marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Members Media

• They’re inexpensive at a cost-per-stream stage and by way of complete value; packages begin at round $50.
• You don’t pay till they’ve accepted your music. I’m a giant 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 numerous songs. (They rejected the primary music 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. However it’s a con on 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 observe that the algorithmic traction from my trial marketing campaign has been decrease than I’d anticipated.

The underside line: If you happen to get accepted by this firm, you’ll get to work with a staff 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 temporary on the corporate: Ryan Waczek (the founding father of IMA) works actually onerous to generate high-engagement playlist placements and preserve an above-average hair aesthetic. His onerous work reveals in his leads to 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 way of to most of the different websites listed right here, and despite the fact that they might do good work, numerous them don’t talk very nicely about how they do it. Usually, it’s onerous to find out what’s actual and what’s simply jargon. Ryan’s white paper on his firm’s strategy to playlisting, however, represents the other. It’s among the best examples of clear considering and transparency that I’ve seen on this area.

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

The temporary 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 Price Per Stream of $0.04. Exterior 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 believe 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’ll be able to learn my full overview 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 inexpensive 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 simply supply a refund in the event that they don’t hit their marketing campaign goal.)

Cons of Indie Music Academy

• Search engine marketing-based playlists are much less more likely 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 value; their entry bundle begins at $297.

The underside line: If you happen to’re seeking to construct streaming numbers through playlisting and wish to be sure to actually are getting natural numbers, Indie Music Academy is a high possibility, and Ryan’s a stable man. If you happen to’re , you may…

The temporary on the corporate: YouGrow’s type of a do-it-all company; along with their Spotify playlisting, in addition they supply TikTok promotion (which I’ve reviewed right here), YouTube promotion (which I’ve reviewed briefly right here), and Instagram influencer promotion (which I’ve reviewed right here). I’d contemplate all of their providers to be reputable, 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 marketing-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 some extent of their favor.

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

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

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

You’ll be able to learn my full overview of the YouGrow Promo marketing campaign right here.

Execs of YouGrow

• YouGrow is likely one of the most inexpensive choices on a cost-per-stream foundation and one of many extra inexpensive choices by way of complete value; their packages begin at simply $77.
• Their playlist community appears to be wholesome and engaged – whereas they don’t declare to deal with Search engine marketing-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 bushes if you purchase from them. I like bushes.

Cons of YouGrow

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

The underside line: I’d contemplate YouGrow Promo to be an important possibility for those who’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 need to spend all that a lot to get a pleasant return of assured outcomes. If you happen to’re so inclined…

The temporary on the corporate: Honest warning to start out off – that is my firm, so I’m clearly tremendous biased and it’s best to take all the things I write beneath with a grain of salt.

With that mentioned… personally, I believe we’re nice, and my mother agrees.

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

I really had the thought for this form of service after doing the majority of the analysis for this submit. 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 have been the curator?”

The benefits of being your individual curator are fairly simple. First, relatively than seeing your streams spike again down after a marketing campaign, you may preserve 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 good 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 disadvantage to this strategy is that it tends to not be fairly as cost-effective as working with the most important playlist networks; these providers have already executed the work of constructing massively fashionable playlists, in spite of everything. However the longer-term advantages are fairly interesting.

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

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Two Story Media: I demoed this technique for my very own monitor, “All the pieces,” constructing a playlist referred to as “Chill Worship” that value $459 and drove 9,622 for a Price Per Stream of $0.05. Engagement was barely larger than I’ve seen for many different playlisting providers, and streams preserve coming in over time (as a result of I’m not taking my music off of my very own playlist, clearly).

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

You’ll be able to see a video breakdown of how the marketing campaign went right here.

Execs of Two Story Media

• You personal your individual fashionable playlist, which is a pleasant ego enhance
• Longer-term streaming outcomes, since, once more, you personal the playlist and don’t must ever take away your songs
• The playlist is assured to be an ideal match on your music, which tends to result in barely larger engagement charges (though playlists nonetheless are typically passive listening experiences)
• You’ll be able to add a number of songs to your playlist, so it’s straightforward 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 individual playlist.

The underside line: I truthfully suppose it is a nice possibility for profiting from the ability of playlisting whereas minimizing a number 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 – another time – I’m closely biased, since that is my firm. That mentioned, for those who’re so inclined…

The temporary on the corporate: Playlist Push has, in my expertise, the very best ceiling of any of the Spotify curator submission platforms. The reason being that they pay curators greater than opponents like SubmitHub, so that they’re capable of entice 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 observe, I’ve run a number of campaigns with this firm which have coincided with a rise algorithmic exercise. I believe it is because, typically, Playlist Push does a fairly good job of producing high-fit playlist placements.

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

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

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

You’ll be able to learn my full overview of an earlier Playlist Push marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Playlist Push

• I believe they most likely have the very best ceiling out of any firm on this record.
• 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 progress.

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 would spend $300 or extra and get actually nothing again.
• Whilst you can see suggestions, you’ve restricted potential to work together with curators – in contrast to on SubmitHub or SoundCampaign, you may’t chat with them, so it’s more durable to ascertain relationships.

The underside line: Playlist Push doesn’t assure any outcomes, however they simply may need the very best ceiling out of any firm on this record. If you happen to’ve by no means tried playlisting earlier than, you could wish to begin with a lower-stakes spend (like SubmitHub or a mannequin the place a return is assured).

However for those who’re extremely assured that your music will do nicely through playlisting, Playlist Push can provide you a ton of bang on 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 temporary on the corporate: Moonstrive Media is likely one of the newer gamers within the Spotify promotion area (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 staff at Moonstrive has really been resold by different playlisting firms for some time, because of the power of their Search engine marketing-based playlist community.

And that’s the important thing worth these guys supply: Moonstrive completely gives placements on Search engine marketing-built playlists. Different firms on this record blur that Search engine marketing 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: Performed-for-you pitching to a closed community of Search engine marketing-built playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the totally different fashions right here.)

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Moonstrive Media: I bought a free trial of a bundle that may’ve value $339. It resulted in 16,934 streams throughout 10 playlists for a Price Per Stream of $0.02. Whereas not the entire playlists have been as focused genre-wise as I’d’ve favored, they have 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’ll be able to learn my full overview of the Moonstrive Media marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Moonstrive Media

• Their Search engine marketing-built lists are wholesome and extremely engaged.
• They’re inexpensive on a cost-per-stream foundation and on a complete value 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 marketing-built playlists are typically less-targeted towards particular genres.
• They’re not one of the best at speaking about their work ha. Janik admitted that he thinks that is the most important problem they’re going through; he thinks their outcomes evaluate favorable to anybody, however mentioned that they’ve all the time struggled to market themselves successfully.

The underside line: I like that Janik and his staff follow their weapons in focusing on Search engine marketing-built playlists. Whereas I believe 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 possibility. Right here’s the button to test them out:

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

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

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

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Daimoon Media: I’m really 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 couple of month of run-time, the marketing campaign has generated 8,887 streams from three playlists for a Price 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 overview of a earlier marketing campaign with Daimoon right here.

Execs of Daimoon Media

• Whereas they don’t particularly goal Search engine marketing-built lists, a lot 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 inexpensive entry-level packages (the bottom begins at $57).

Cons of Daimoon Media

• As with different Search engine marketing-focused firms, 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 visitors from Mexico. (This isn’t a con for those who’re constructing a global viewers, clearly.)
• I had a bizarre fee challenge with them the place their system wouldn’t course of my bank card. I talked to Tom, the founder, and he mentioned that occurs to lower than 1% of consumers as a result of system they use. Their staff ended up taking fee through bill, so it labored out, however I figured I’d observe it.

The underside line: Daimoon Media is one other firm that has a stable community of largely Search engine marketing-built, wholesome lists. If you happen to’re in a mainstream style and are fascinated about producing worldwide traction, they’re a stable possibility. Hit the button for those who’re fascinated about giving them a spin.

The temporary on the corporate: Chances are you’ll be acquainted with Omari for those who’ve ever used the web – the man is in all places 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 might rap and play the ukulele. (I’ve since found I can do neither.)

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

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

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

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

You’ll be able to learn my overview of an earlier marketing campaign with Omari MC right here.

Execs of Omari MC

• One of many OGs on this area. 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 inexpensive 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. Actually, I don’t suppose it is a con (I respect that Omari sticks to what he believes) however for those who’re making specific music, it’s a con on your probabilities of working with the corporate.

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

But additionally, you realize precisely what you’re going to get.

If you happen to’re enthusiastic about attempting promotion for the primary time and wish one thing low-risk, these guys are a great possibility.

The temporary on the corporate: If you happen to regarded on the graphics up there, you most likely observed 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 marketing-built lists and there’s no denying that they will get tremendous spectacular outcomes – but additionally, some context is important.

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

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Playlist-Promotion: The corporate supplied me a free trial of their “100K follower attain” bundle, which might usually have value $350. The marketing campaign resulted in 23 playlist placements that drove 62,939 streams at a Price Per Stream of $0.01. Once more, this was by far probably the most inexpensive 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 obtained 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 music 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 precise variety of playlists, however these guys offered an unbelievable surplus on anticipated supply. And I believe it’s as a result of the corporate knew I’d be writing a overview 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 large playlists that may drive a formidable quantity of streams.

You’ll be able to learn my full overview of the Playlist-Promotion marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Playlist-Promotion

• As I mentioned, there’s no denying these guys have very energetic playlists. All of the lists regarded wholesome, too.
• On a associated observe, this firm offered probably the most streams I’ve ever instantly obtained from a playlisting marketing campaign. Respect.

Cons of Playlist-Promotion

• As talked about a number of instances on this submit, large Search engine marketing-based playlists have a tendency to not be the tightest style matches.
• Perhaps this shouldn’t be a con, however the marketing campaign was virtually too good. Whereas these guys definitely have the potential to ship, I wish to observe that you just most likely shouldn’t anticipate the identical outcomes that I obtained.

The underside line: Whereas I don’t suppose my unbelievable outcomes from Playlist-Promotion are typical, there’s no denying that these guys have the potential 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 temporary on the corporate: I’ve bought SubmitHub down right here at quantity 10, however they’re primary in my coronary heart. If you happen to’re simply getting began with Spotify playlisting, that is most likely the primary firm I’d attempt.

That mentioned, these guys are way more than a Spotify promotion firm; they’re what I consider as a “music submission platform.” You pay for credit that assure curators will take heed 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 customary 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 relatively than large, Search engine marketing-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 reasonable numbers of focused listens, relatively than to generate large spikes in streams from a broader viewers and danger muddying your information.

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

The temporary 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 value $120 and resulted in 9 playlist placements and 1,130 streams for a Price Per Stream of $0.11.

And since I bought 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’ll be able to learn our full overview of SubmitHub right here.

Execs of SubmitHub

• I believe this platform might be the only finest approach to goal high-genre-match playlist placements.
• It’s actually inexpensive to get began with SubmitHub. Jason recommends attempting a small pattern of curators to check whether or not your music will resonate earlier than leaping into a much bigger spend, which signifies that, for like $20, you can begin to see outcomes.
• I believe that is most likely probably the most clear playlist pitching platform on the earth. All the pieces you’d care to see a couple of curator is on show.

Cons of SubmitHub

• The largest knock towards SubmitHub is that the curators with the most important playlists are likely to gravitate towards different platforms, as a result of SubmitHub doesn’t pay as a lot per overview as a number of the different networks on this record. Meaning it’s very uncommon to see a marketing campaign that leads to 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 for those who care about genre-fit, it’s well worth the little bit of additional effort.)

The underside line: That is most likely one of the best firm to get began with for those who’ve by no means executed playlist pitching earlier than. It’s additionally most likely one of the best 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’ll select to focus on solely the lists on which you wish to be included. Ethical of the story: If you happen to can stand to listen to some tone-deaf suggestions from curators, there’s actually no motive to not give SubmitHub a shot.

The temporary 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 record, I got here away satisfied: These guys are actually good at e mail advertising and marketing, and I needed to pay them cash.

A part of the enchantment 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 greatest listeners, primarily based on stay 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 concept, proper? I believed so, a minimum of.

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

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

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

You’ll be able to learn my full overview 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 have been legit – good follower progress, good engagement, and a wholesome variety of streams.

Cons of Spin Promo

• Actually, I used to be upset within the precise outcomes of the retargeting. I simply couldn’t see any form of affect within the information. My speculation, as I wrote in my overview is that Spotify advertisements simply aren’t an excellent efficient tactic, despite the fact that the thought 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, a minimum of), and whereas they supplied to reply for help by e mail, I didn’t hear again from them after a attain out.

The underside line: I believe these guys are reputable, however I additionally suppose they’re nonetheless figuring out a number of the kinks of their enterprise mannequin. The thought of retargeting is admittedly interesting, though it didn’t translate to notable leads to actuality. I’ve bought them penciled in to attempt 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 temporary 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 just lately, so I made a decision to provide them a spin as a part of my experiment. Nadav, the founding father of the corporate, has reached out to me a few instances, however we haven’t been capable of 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 record in the mean time, it is a firm I believe might be price watching over the subsequent few years.

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

The temporary 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 Price Per Stream of $0.82 (which was the very best Price Per Stream out of the entire firms I attempted).

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

The outcomes have been mediocre, however I believe this firm has potential as a result of their mannequin is robust. You’ll be able to see my full overview of the SoundCampaign expertise right here.

Execs of SoundCampaign

• Their playlists look like legit – wholesome and constructed with actual listeners.
• There’s the potential to hit a homerun with this playlisting mannequin.
• I like that you may 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 music to music – however nonetheless, my outcomes have been fairly mediocre, in order that’s bought to be a con.

The underside line: As with different open-network platforms, SoundCampaign affords 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 have been mediocre, I’ve a tough time rating them alongside business heavyweights like Playlist Push. However nonetheless, I like this firm, and I believe they’re price keeping track of. If you wish to trial them your self, right here’s the hyperlink:

The temporary 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 hear and reply.

Whereas it’s not a giant participant within the area 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 always making enhancements and soliciting suggestions, and it reveals within the progress 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 totally different fashions right here.)

The temporary on my marketing campaign with SubmitLink: This was my most cost-effective marketing campaign by way of complete value; I paid $27 and obtained two playlist placements that introduced in 467 streams at a Price Per Stream of $0.06. We bought an honest bump in algorithmic traction after the marketing campaign, too.

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

If you happen to’re fascinated about listening to extra about my expertise with SubmitLink, I wrote a full overview 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 inexpensive to get began – my marketing campaign value $27.
• This can be a very clear platform; you get numerous element on the curators and playlists.

Cons of SubmitLink

• The largest con is that SubmitLink’s curator community simply isn’t that large but. You’ll be able to 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 turning into much less of a weak spot over time.

The underside line: That is one other nice possibility for those who’re getting began with playlisting, since you don’t need to 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 beneath what you’d spend with most different firms on this record.

The temporary on the corporate: Groover is one other music submission platform the place you should purchase credit to submit your music to blogs, playlist curators, and music business 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 an analogous 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 it’s also possible to use pre-sets that make it extra of a done-for-you expertise. You pay to undergo curators. (See a breakdown of the totally different fashions right here.)

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

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

You’ll be able to learn my full overview of a earlier Groover marketing campaign right here.

One observe on the expertise: Within the aftermath of the marketing campaign, the music bought 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 firms aren’t affiliated in any means. 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 admittedly streamlined. If you happen to’re the type of one that finds SubmitHub’s filter complicated, you could 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 loads of curators on the platform. (I’m not fully certain, however in talking with most of the firms on this record, I believe that by way of the sheer variety of curators Groover is probably going the biggest submission platform on the earth.)

Cons of Groover

• As I famous with SubmitHub, these platforms don’t pay curators as a lot per overview, so greater curators typically go elsewhere.
• You don’t have numerous potential to filter by the style of your music. Whilst you can nonetheless comb by way of for good playlist matches, this makes it just a little more durable.
• The curator community leans European, which, after all, shouldn’t technically be a con, however ought to be meals for thought for those who’re searching for progress in different geographies.

The underside line: I’d use Groover for those who’re a European-based artist searching for focused placements or for those who’re seeking to complement a SubmitHub marketing campaign and attain different curators.

Whereas this isn’t my high possibility 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 danger. If you wish to attempt it, use the code TWOSTORYMELODYVIP to get a ten% low cost on credit.

Bonus: Two Free Playlisting Platforms

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

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

Soundplate

With Soundplate, you submit your tracks to playlists and look forward to the playlist curators to provide the large thumbs up or down. It’s price mentioning that your tracks aren’t assured to land on the playlists to which you submit. If you happen to take the bulk-approach and undergo a bunch of viable playlists, chances are high your tracks will safely arrive on a minimum of a couple of playlists.

However be warned: this service is free, and for a couple of good causes. Soundplate doesn’t supply any steerage, help, or session for those who determine to make use of their platform. The submission course of can be identified to be clunky at instances. However for those who like free stuff, it’s price a great ole’ faculty attempt.

Every day Playlists

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

It’s free, painless, and may lead to extra 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 firms depend on bots and click on farms to drive streams; in early 2021, these providers seemingly contributed to a bunch of songs being de-listed from Spotify. Watch out. Even worse, there are some pages arrange that may take your cash and ship nothing.

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

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

Music Diffusion

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

I’ve bought a full overview of the expertise up right here, however right here’s the abstract: The music I examined was positioned on 5 playlists. The entire lists have 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 couple of week after we began it to attempt to decrease the injury. I’d suggest you cancel yours proper now, earlier than you begin.

Musicvertising

This firm was additionally one of many 15 I attempted, they usually have 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 couple of 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 progress seems like.

The streaming information wasn’t as clearly faux as Music Diffusion’s outcomes, so I really went backwards and forwards with them just a little bit to attempt to determine what was happening. The rep from the corporate insinuated that they use Taboola advertisements to drive visitors to Spotify. I’m not fully certain, 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 affordable – and normally the place the clicks are the most affordable, 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 doable that they won’t be working botted Spotify accounts themselves), the end 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 means, 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 beneath within the feedback ha). I haven’t had private expertise with this firm, however primarily based on what I’ve heard, I’d say proceed with warning – most likely get in contact with somebody earlier than paying, a minimum of.

Artist Sounds

I’ve solely gotten one e mail criticizing Artist Sounds, however that’s nonetheless an excessive amount of for me to suggest them as a service (and their course of seems sketchy, anyway). If you happen to’ve had an analogous (or a unique and extra optimistic) 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 primarily based 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 turn into untrustworthy (and infrequently 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 all the things else. Right here’s a TrustPilot overview that will get into a few of it.

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

The various kinds of Spotify promotion

Nonetheless right here? Props. Maintain 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 believe that’ll be useful as you contemplate your choices.

As you could 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

The sort of promoting might be the most secure approach to construct a presence on Spotify, since you’re utilizing the instruments that the platform itself gives for artists. This contains issues like:

• Marquee (you pay to indicate a brand new launch to your individual followers after they open the app)
• Showcase (you pay to indicate a launch to customers in a featured space on Spotify’s residence display screen)
• Discovery Mode (you conform to let Spotify preserve a much bigger proportion 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 virtually all the time get rejected, however for those who get accepted you get a bunch of streams)

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

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

I believe that, typically, it’s powerful to develop on Spotify for those who rely solely on their proprietary advertising and marketing instruments.

2. Off-Platform Promoting

One other approach to develop on Spotify is to make use of off-platform promoting. As of at this time, the most typical technique of doing that is to run Fb and Instagram advertisements that ship folks to your music on Spotify. TikTok and YouTube are different platforms for this, however from what I’ve seen, they are typically much less environment friendly.

I’m a giant fan of one of these Spotify promotion. As you might have observed, 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 if in case you have the finances, I’d suggest utilizing Fb and Instagram advertisements in tandem with playlisting. I believe this pairing offers you one of the best of each worlds. Adverts are way 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 suggest testing Andrew Southworth’s YouTube channel for those who’re fascinated about studying extra about how this strategy works. And I suppose I’ll additionally supply 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 bought Spotify playlisting, which usually means pitching music to unbiased playlist curators. That is the first technique utilized by the businesses on the record above.

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

First, it’s straightforward to instantly affect. Whilst you solely get one shot at an editorial playlist pitch per music, you may pitch 1000’s of unbiased playlist curators. And for those who do pitch a bunch of curators, you’ll virtually definitely get one thing out of it.

Second, playlisting is probably the most inexpensive sort of Spotify promotion on a cost-per-stream foundation, since you don’t need to pay to change folks from one platform to a different. Spotify is constructed for playlists; because of this, it’s fairly frequent to get tens of 1000’s of actual streams for a couple of hundred bucks. (For reference, for those who 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 end result within the lowest engagement charges. That’s as a result of playlist listeners sometimes aren’t locked in and actively participating with each single music; playlists are sometimes used as background music.

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

Nice query. My reply, as it’s to so many issues, is that it will depend on what you’re searching for.

If you wish to instantly recoup your advertising and marketing spend in streaming royalties, then playlisting is unquestionably not price it. Don’t anticipate to make your a reimbursement instantly on a playlisting spend; for those who 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 music on Spotify in order that random folks suppose you’re extra legit, then playlisting positively is price it. As I’ve mentioned, it’s probably the most cost-efficient approach to get streams.

If you wish to preserve 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 relatively than utilizing an Search engine marketing-focused service.

If you’d 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 music an artist releases. However for those who’re like most of us and have to choose one or the opposite, suppose by way of what you’re prioritizing and select accordingly.

Spotify promotion service fashions

If you happen to do determine that you just’d prefer to attempt Spotify playlist promotion, it’s useful to understand how these firms work. There are a number of service fashions that I categorize on the premise of 4 major 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 individual fashionable playlist. It doesn’t actually match the paradigms beneath, 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 permit any playlist curator to use for inclusion of their community. Once you go to one among these firms’ web sites, you’ll see a button to use as a curator or to submit your individual 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 large playlists. Campaigns to open networks have a tendency to offer higher-fit placements however fewer streams compared towards closed curator networks.

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

Corporations which have closed curator networks are likely to have fewer playlists. Nonetheless, they typically function very talked-about, engaged playlists. Campaigns with these firms have a tendency to offer extra streams from much less focused playlists compared towards open curator networks.

2. Sort of playlists included on the community

Search engine marketing playlists solely: These firms solely function playlists that seem in Spotify’s search outcomes. The good thing about this strategy is that Search engine marketing playlists are just about assured to not have bots and to drive numerous streams. The disadvantage of this strategy is that these lists are sometimes broader and fewer genre-targeted.

Search engine marketing playlist focus: These firms lean closely towards Search engine marketing playlists, however may additionally function playlists that don’t seem in Spotify’s search outcomes.

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

3. Pitching technique

Performed-for-you: These firms handle the whole pitching course of when you submit a marketing campaign. Chances are you’ll present some details about the style of your music and your best viewers, however you gained’t choose which curators obtain the pitch.

Do-it-yourself: These firms permit you to choose the curators you’d like your music 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 achieve curators along with your music, not for some variety of placements. You’ll pay extra to ship your music to extra curators.

A lot of the firms utilizing this mannequin don’t assure that you just’ll obtain any placements; nevertheless, 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, normally 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.

A lot of the firms 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. (That is why I’m barely cynical about my Playlist-Promotion outcomes – I’ve a hunch they deliberately overdelivered for me.)

Fascinating issues I’ve realized from attempting a bunch of Spotify promotion providers

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 submit.

I’m together with this part as a result of a) I realized numerous random issues working a bunch of Spotify campaigns that I believe it’s best to know, and b) I couldn’t discover an clever approach to work these items into the submit earlier. Sorry.

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

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

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 instances, you may stage up your viewers dramatically.

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

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

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

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

Practically each reputable 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 enhance 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 incontrovertible fact that made me uncomfortable – the obvious rip-off promotion I ran (with Music Diffusion) really 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 way of a given record and that they simply preserve spinning after they undergo the entire songs, throughout which era they rack up streams of “Beneficial” songs.

The underside line: You’d prefer to suppose algorithmic performs couldn’t be faked, proper? However it seems like Radio streams, a minimum of, may be. (Relatedly, if you wish to be protected, it’s best to put on a titanium swimsuit and keep away from all the things and everybody.)

4. You must be careful for “scraped” lists.

One other bizarre factor that reinforces the thought you shouldn’t belief anybody is that, even for those who run a totally reputable promotion, you’ve the possibility of getting added to a scraped playlist which may drive botted streams.

Right here’s the way it works: Some firms scrape different playlists for songs, then add them to their very own playlists within the hopes of catching indie artists as shoppers. The thought is that for those who, as an artist, see your music getting streams from a random playlist, you’ll click on by way of to test it out – and if you see that the curator affords promotional providers, you is likely to be impressed to pony up money for extra performs.

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

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

That is bizarre in numerous 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; for those who click on by way of to the corporate’s web site (listed within the playlist description), you’ll see that they declare to supply Spotify promotion by way of AI tech-based playlisting in small companies. I don’t actually know what meaning (however then once more, I’m not a pc scientist or a health care provider).

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 enormous, so perhaps that dip wasn’t resulting from bots; I don’t know for certain. However it’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 similar 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 if you report one among these lists to Spotify, they’ll normally 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 observe: It’s not all in regards to the algorithm.

⬆️ That’s the information from a music for which I ran a playlisting marketing campaign earlier this 12 months. You’ll discover that there was hardly something of an algorithmic bump (7% is type of brutal), however you’ll additionally see {that a} sizable chunk of streams are coming from “Listeners’ personal playlists and libraries.”

We entrepreneurs prefer to make a giant 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 dwelling, respiratory followers is nice information, too.

Playlisting isn’t as extremely focused as direct advertisements, however if you get on a great record, you could find individuals who will take an actual curiosity in your music. I’ve seen it occur a number of instances.

And it’s fairly superior.

Last ideas on Spotify promotion providers

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

Two last issues:

First, as technique of a quick recap, right here’s my record of high firms 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 items. Go away a remark beneath and let me know for those who’ve had a notable expertise (good or dangerous) with an organization on this record. And let me know if there’s a service I ought to try that’s not listed right here. I’ll test again and attempt to preserve this submit decently updated as a result of I believe these items is vital – as a result of I believe 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.