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HomeIndie MusicThe 14 Greatest Spotify Promotion Companies in 2025 (Actual Information)

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


Trying to strive Spotify promotion and undecided which companies are price it? I personally tried dozens of firms to see which of them received actual outcomes. Primarily based on these campaigns, listed here are my prime (authentic) 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 offered streams from actual individuals, not bots. Whereas outcomes will range, I’d contemplate every firm above to be legit.

That mentioned, the record 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 most of the hyperlinks up there are affiliate hyperlinks, which signifies that when you do click on one in every of them and check out 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 fascinating ups and a few fairly unhappy downs (sure, sadly, a few firms I attempted had been whole scams). Over the remainder of this submit, 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 type of define is required.

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

This will probably be type of quite a bit.

In the event you’re pondering, “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 received’t rip-off me, to not learn your life story,” then be at liberty to click on a hyperlink above and skip to the half you’re most considering.

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 necessary observe to bear in mind as you assessment 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 an educational examine the place the whole lot was completely managed – type of the alternative, really. So don’t pay an excessive amount of thoughts to minor variances. My purpose right here is to point out the larger image, not essentially to say which firm is finest on the idea of 1 marketing campaign.

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

(And sorry… I couldn’t discover a prettier strategy to embed the Google Sheet. That first column is frozen within the sheet itself, and there are some feedback that aren’t exhibiting, 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 suitable which means from that spreadsheet.

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

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

Attention-grabbing, proper?

Admittedly, Playlist-Promotion’s 62,000-stream marketing campaign (which I don’t view fairly as favorably as you would possibly suppose) type 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 regardless 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 may 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 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 have in mind how related the streams are. You might have an extremely low Value Per Stream, but when it’s resulting from bots, it might really be a destructive factor.

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

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

The highest Spotify promotion firms

Take note, once more, that this record is completely subjective. My first-ranked firm might not be your best option for you; I’d advocate clicking by and figuring out for your self which choice you suppose matches your targets. I clearly haven’t ranked these companies by some easy metric like Value Per Stream or Estimated Whole 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.

Possibly a greater strategy to clarify my methodology: The next record opinions my general perspective on every firm, quite 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
  • Data 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 infrequently failed to offer three month intervals and that the purple field is the place the marketing campaign was lively)
  • A number of execs and cons

I’ve additionally written standalone opinions of most of those companies, in case you’re considering studying extra a couple of particular one.

Okay, sufficient mentioned. First up:

The temporary on the corporate: These guys was referred to as Partnered Initiatives, however lately rebranded (the marketing campaign I attempted with them displays the previous 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 received 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 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 among the greater campaigns they’re working, and actually, 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 temporary on my marketing campaign with Members Media: I received a free trial of a marketing campaign that will’ve price $189. It resulted in two playlist placements that generated 10,275 streams at a Value Per Stream of $0.02. It’s laborious to inform, however I feel the true variety of streams this marketing campaign precipitated is way increased; the observe was at round 3,000 streams after being out for a yr, and after a month of playlisting, it reached 23,000 streams due to a bunch of non-credited playlist provides.

This marketing campaign is simply too current for me to point out you a three-month timeframe, however right here’s what it appears like in Spotify for Artists in the meanwhile.

You may learn my full assessment of the Members Media marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Members Media

  • They’re inexpensive at a cost-per-stream degree and by way of whole price; packages begin at round $50.
  • You don’t pay till they’ve accepted 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 loads 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 can assist. However it’s a con to your probabilities of working with them.
  • I don’t wish to generalize this, as a result of issues range 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: In the event you get accepted by this firm, you’ll get to work with a workforce 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 laborious to generate high-engagement playlist placements and keep an above-average hair aesthetic. His laborious work reveals in his ends in each areas.

One factor I actually respect about Indie Music Academy is the corporate’s clear communication about their course of and philosophy. Click on by to most of the different websites listed right here, and regardless that they might do good work, loads of them don’t talk very properly about how they do it. Usually, it’s laborious 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 alternative. It’s among the finest examples of clear pondering and transparency that I’ve seen on this area.

The mannequin they use: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of Search engine marketing-built playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely 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 Value Per Stream of $0.04. Outdoors of credited placements, attribution is tough, 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 probably that almost all of these resulted from IMA’s work.

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

You may learn my full assessment 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 only provide 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 prone to be high-fit by way of style.
  • Whereas they do comparatively properly at a cost-per-stream degree, they’re costly by way of whole price; their entry bundle begins at $297.

The underside line: In the event you’re seeking to construct streaming numbers by way of playlisting and wish to be sure you actually are getting natural numbers, Indie Music Academy is a prime choice, and Ryan’s a strong man. In the event you’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 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 authentic, however actually, 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 persistently strong 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 properly 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 temporary 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 offered a pleasant bump that hasn’t but died down. A plus was that the playlists had been respectable matches for the style of the tune.

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

You may learn my full assessment of the YouGrow Promo marketing campaign right here.

Execs of YouGrow

  • YouGrow is among the most inexpensive choices on a cost-per-stream foundation and one of many extra inexpensive choices by way of whole price; their packages begin at simply $77.
  • Their playlist community appears to be wholesome and engaged – whereas they don’t declare to give attention to Search engine marketing-built playlists, all of the lists I’ve seen are performing properly 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 once you purchase from them. I like bushes.

Cons of YouGrow

  • The highest location for the tune we promoted ended up being Brazil. In the event you’re high-quality with worldwide streams, that’s probably not a con. However when you’re centered on so-called “Tier 1” nations, it may be.
  • Their campaigns have resulted in streams-per-listener numbers which might be decrease than I’d ideally prefer to see. It’s not at a worrisome degree, however it could possibly be improved.

The underside line: I’d contemplate YouGrow Promo to be an incredible choice when 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. In the event you’re so inclined…

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

With that mentioned… 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 record in that we don’t pitch your music to a community of curators in any respect. As an alternative, we run Meta adverts to playlists that artists create themselves.

I really had the concept for this type 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 it’s good if I had been the curator?”

The benefits of being your individual curator are fairly easy. 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 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 downside to this strategy is that it tends to not be fairly as cost-effective as working with the most important playlist networks; these companies have already finished the work of constructing vastly in style 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 adverts. (See a breakdown of the completely different Spotify promotion fashions right here.)

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Two Story Media: I demoed this technique for my very own observe, “All the things,” 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 increased 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 seemed like in Spotify for Artists.

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

Execs of Two Story Media

  • You personal your individual in style playlist, which is a pleasant ego increase
  • 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 to your music, which tends to result in barely increased engagement charges (though playlists nonetheless are usually passive listening experiences)
  • You may 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 large playlist networks, particularly within the shorter time period.
  • It takes slightly extra work to construct your individual playlist.

The underside line: I actually suppose it is a nice choice for profiting from the ability of playlisting whereas minimizing among the tactic’s drawbacks. It’s legitimately efficient and it really works over the longer-term, which is why I exploit it for my very own music. However – yet another time – I’m closely biased, since that is my firm. That mentioned, when you’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 rivals like SubmitHub, so that they’re capable of entice greater playlists – and, not like fashions that supply assured streams, they received’t cease pitching once 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 properly, it has the potential to do very properly.

On a semi-related observe, I’ve run a number of campaigns with this firm which have coincided with a rise algorithmic exercise. I feel it is because, generally, Playlist Push does a fairly 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 temporary 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 more durable 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 seemed like in Spotify for Artists.

You may learn my full assessment of an earlier Playlist Push marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Playlist Push

  • I feel they most likely have the very best ceiling out of any firm on this record.
  • In my expertise, they have an inclination 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 facet of that is that they don’t cap outcomes at a sure threshold, however the draw back is that you might spend $300 or extra and get actually nothing again.
  • When you can see suggestions, you have got restricted capability to work together with curators – not like on SubmitHub or SoundCampaign, you may’t chat with them, so it’s tougher to ascertain relationships.

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

However when you’re extremely assured that your tune will do properly by way of playlisting, Playlist Push may give you a ton of bang to 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 among the newer gamers within the Spotify promotion area (they’ve solely been providing their service underneath this brandname for a few years), however that truth belies their expertise. As Janik from the corporate instructed me, the workforce at Moonstrive has really been resold by different playlisting firms for some time, due to the energy of their Search engine marketing-based playlist community.

And that’s the important thing worth these guys provide: Moonstrive solely offers 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: Achieved-for-you pitching to a closed community of Search engine marketing-built playlists. You pay for placements. (See a breakdown of the completely different fashions right here.)

The temporary on my marketing campaign with Moonstrive Media: I received a free trial of a bundle that will’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 seemed like in Spotify for Artists.

You may learn my full assessment 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 price foundation. (Packages begin at $134.)
  • They assure you’ll get on playlists which have a sure whole variety of followers. (They don’t assure particular placements.)

Cons of Moonstrive Media

  • Search engine marketing-built playlists are usually 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 examine favorable to anybody, however mentioned that they’ve at all times struggled to market themselves successfully.

The underside line: I like that Janik and his workforce stick with their weapons in concentrating on Search engine marketing-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 strong choice. Right here’s the button to test them out:

The temporary 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 area, 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 properly.

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 wish to construct a global viewers. But when these two qualifiers describe you, then they’re price testing.

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 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 Value Per Stream of $0.03.

Right here’s what it seemed 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 assessment of a earlier marketing campaign with Daimoon right here.

Execs of Daimoon Media

  • Whereas they don’t particularly goal Search engine marketing-built lists, lots of their playlists do carry out properly 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 at all times 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 when you’re constructing a global viewers, clearly.)
  • I had a bizarre cost situation 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 shoppers as a result of system they use. Their workforce ended up taking cost by way of bill, so it labored out, however I figured I’d observe it.

The underside line: Daimoon Media is one other firm that has a strong community of principally Search engine marketing-built, wholesome lists. In the event you’re in a mainstream style and are considering producing worldwide traction, they’re a strong choice. Hit the button when you’re considering giving them a spin.

The temporary on the corporate: It’s possible you’ll be accustomed to Omari when 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 after 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 instances over Zoom, and I’ve at all times come away impressed by his wide selection of music advertising and marketing information. His workforce works on just about each advertising and marketing channel underneath the solar, they usually work with a formidable 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 temporary 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 firms that promise some degree of outcomes. Engagement charges had been slightly under common, too, however the playlists had been authentic.

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

You may learn my assessment 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 range, 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 “express” songs. Truthfully, I don’t suppose it is a con (I respect that Omari sticks to what he believes) however when you’re making express music, it’s a con to your probabilities of working with the corporate.

The underside line: I don’t imply this in an offensive manner 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 slightly little bit of the whole lot to lots of people, and the standard perhaps isn’t what you’d get when you spent twice as a lot.

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

In the event you’re occupied with making an attempt promotion for the primary time and wish one thing low-risk, these guys are choice.

The temporary on the corporate: In the event you seemed 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 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: 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 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 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 inexpensive marketing campaign on a per-stream degree, 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 tune was positioned on 23 playlists totaling 1.5M followers. Sometimes, the companies that work on this mannequin cap a marketing campaign when it reaches the suitable variety of playlists, however these guys offered an unimaginable surplus on anticipated supply. And I feel it’s as a result of the corporate knew I’d be writing a assessment 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 may learn my full assessment of the Playlist-Promotion marketing campaign right here.

Execs of Playlist-Promotion

  • As I mentioned, there’s no denying these guys have very lively playlists. All of the lists seemed wholesome, too.
  • On a associated observe, this firm offered probably the most streams I’ve ever immediately 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.
  • Possibly 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 observe that you simply most likely shouldn’t anticipate the identical outcomes that I obtained.

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 facet 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 received SubmitHub down right here at quantity 10, however they’re primary in my coronary heart. In the event you’re simply getting began with Spotify playlisting, that is most likely the primary firm I’d strive.

That mentioned, these guys are rather 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 commonplace for indie press campaigns.)

On the Spotify facet of issues, particularly, they boast a big community of about 800 curators, most of whom run extremely focused playlists quite 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, quite than to generate large 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 inform you 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 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 price $120 and resulted in 9 playlist placements and 1,130 streams for a Value Per Stream of $0.11.

And since I received 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 seemed like in Spotify for Artists.

You may learn our full assessment of SubmitHub right here.

Execs of SubmitHub

  • I feel this platform might be the one finest strategy to goal high-genre-match playlist placements.
  • It’s actually inexpensive 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 an even 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. All the things 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 assessment as among the different networks on this record. Meaning it’s very uncommon to see a marketing campaign that ends in tens of 1000’s of streams.
  • It’s slightly extra time-consuming to pitch on SubmitHub than it’s to pay a done-for-you pitching service. (However when you care about genre-fit, it’s definitely worth the little bit of additional effort.)

The underside line: That is most likely one of the best firm to get began with when you’ve by no means finished 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: In the event you can stand to listen to some tone-deaf suggestions from curators, there’s actually no purpose to not give SubmitHub a shot.

The temporary on the corporate: I first heard about Spin Promo after 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 wished to pay them cash.

A part of the attraction was that, on the service mannequin facet of issues, the corporate advertises an fascinating tactic: Spotify adverts retargeting playlist listeners. Right here’s how they put it: “Run native Spotify adverts to retarget your greatest listeners, based mostly 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, at the 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 temporary 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 seemed like in Spotify for Artists.

You may learn my full assessment 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 observe to had been legit – good follower progress, good engagement, and a wholesome variety of streams.

Cons of Spin Promo

  • Truthfully, I used to be disenchanted within the precise outcomes of the retargeting. I simply couldn’t see any type of impression within the information. My speculation, as I wrote in my assessment is that Spotify adverts simply aren’t an excellent efficient tactic, regardless that 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 least), 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 feel these guys are authentic, however I additionally suppose they’re nonetheless figuring out among the kinks of their enterprise mannequin. The thought of retargeting is admittedly interesting, though it didn’t translate to notable ends in actuality. I’ve received 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 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 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 surface and as a buyer, although, I like their strategy.

Whereas I don’t have them within the prime half of the record in the meanwhile, 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 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 Value Per Stream of $0.82 (which was the very best Value Per Stream out of the entire firms I attempted).

Right here’s what it seemed 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 may see my full assessment 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 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 range wildly from tune to tune – however nonetheless, my outcomes had been fairly mediocre, in order that’s received 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) received’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 business heavyweights like Playlist Push. However nonetheless, I like this firm, and I feel they’re price maintaining a tally 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 an enormous 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 respect 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 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 completely different fashions right here.)

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

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

In the event you’re considering listening to extra about my expertise with SubmitLink, I wrote a full assessment 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 price $27.
  • It is a very clear platform; you get loads of 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 may 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 choice when 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 danger of unhealthy 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 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 tune 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 identical 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 can even 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 temporary 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 seemed like in Spotify for Artists.

You may learn my full assessment of a earlier Groover marketing campaign right here.

One observe on the expertise: Within the aftermath of the marketing campaign, the tune received 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 manner. For what it’s price, WAVR appears to be an organization that scrapes different playlists to be a magnet for artists by boosting their streams. Extra on them later.

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

Execs of Groover

  • Their submission course of is admittedly streamlined. In the event you’re the type of one that finds SubmitHub’s filter complicated, chances are you’ll like Groover’s course of higher. The management is rather less granular, however it’s a really fast and clear setup.
  • There are good curators on the platform – and there are quite a bit of curators on the platform. (I’m not totally certain, however in talking with most of the firms on this record, I feel 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 assessment, so greater curators usually go elsewhere.
  • You don’t have loads of capability to filter by the style of your tune. When you can nonetheless comb by for good playlist matches, this makes it slightly tougher.
  • The curator community leans European, which, in fact, shouldn’t technically be a con, however ought to be meals for thought when you’re on the lookout for progress in different geographies.

The underside line: I’d use Groover when you’re a European-based artist on the lookout for focused placements or when you’re seeking to complement a SubmitHub marketing campaign and attain different curators.

Whereas this isn’t my prime 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 record 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 most 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 sturdy (and a few curators could even be making an attempt 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 ahead 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. In the event you take the bulk-approach and undergo a bunch of viable playlists, chances are high your tracks will safely arrive on at the 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, help, or session when you determine to make use of their platform. The submission course of can be identified to be clunky at instances. However when you like free stuff, it’s price 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 comply with these playlists to finalize your submissions.

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

However once more, it’s free.

Corporations You Ought to Most likely Keep away from

As I discussed on the prime of this text, the unhappy fact is that there are some whole 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 companies probably 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 at all times potential, however in my view, it’s the perfect.) And with that in thoughts, I wish to provide a couple of extra particular warnings.

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

Music Diffusion

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

I’ve received a full assessment of the expertise up right here, however right here’s the abstract: The tune I examined was positioned on 5 playlists. The entire 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 seemed completely faux.

We ended up cancelling the marketing campaign a couple of week after we began it to attempt to reduce 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 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 appears like.

The streaming information wasn’t as clearly faux as Music Diffusion’s outcomes, so I really went backwards and forwards with them slightly bit to strive to determine what was happening. The rep from the corporate insinuated that they use Taboola adverts to drive visitors to Spotify. I’m not totally 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 often 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 potential that they won’t be working botted Spotify accounts themselves), the result is principally the identical.

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

Both manner, it is best to most likely avoid 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 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). In the event you’ve had an identical (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 beneficial 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 received’t get into the entire particulars right here, however the brief 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 assessment 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. 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 feel that’ll be useful as you contemplate your choices.

As chances are you’ll or could 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

This sort of promoting might be the most secure strategy 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 point out a brand new launch to your individual followers once they open the app)
  • Showcase (you pay to point out a launch to customers in a featured space on Spotify’s residence display)
  • Discovery Mode (you comply with let Spotify maintain an even bigger share of your streaming royalties, they promise to point out your music to extra individuals)
  • Editorial playlist pitching (you ship your music to Spotify’s playlist editors and nearly at all times get rejected, however when you get accepted you get a bunch of streams)

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

Marquee, for instance, received’t put you in entrance of latest ears; it’s simply Spotify charging to point out 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… high-quality. Editorial playlist pitching is sort of a free lottery ticket; it’s received an superior ceiling, however it’s nothing it is best to financial institution on.

I feel that, generally, it’s powerful to develop on Spotify when you rely solely on their proprietary advertising and marketing instruments.

2. Off-Platform Promoting

One other strategy to develop on Spotify is to make use of off-platform promoting. As of in the present day, the most typical technique of doing that is to run Fb and Instagram adverts that ship individuals 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 such a 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 you probably have the funds, I’d advocate utilizing Fb and Instagram adverts in tandem with playlisting. I feel this pairing offers you one of the best of each worlds. Advertisements are rather more costly than playlisting at a cost-per-stream degree, however their profit is that they drive extremely engaged streams, as a result of customers click on them with an lively curiosity to listen to particular music.

I’d advocate testing Andrew Southworth’s YouTube channel when you’re considering 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 adverts and playlists if you wish to get going your self.

3. Spotify Playlisting

And, lastly, you’ve received Spotify playlisting, which generally 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 in style:

First, it’s simple to immediately impression. When you solely get one shot at an editorial playlist pitch per tune, you may pitch 1000’s of unbiased playlist curators. And when you do pitch a bunch of curators, you’ll nearly definitely get one thing out of it.

Second, playlisting is probably the most inexpensive kind of Spotify promotion on a cost-per-stream foundation, since you don’t should pay to modify individuals 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, when 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 outcome within the lowest engagement charges. That’s as a result of playlist listeners sometimes aren’t locked in and actively partaking with each single tune; 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 depends upon what you’re on the lookout for.

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; when 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 individuals suppose you’re extra legit, then playlisting undoubtedly is price it. As I’ve mentioned, it’s probably the most cost-efficient strategy 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 prepare 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 marketing-focused service.

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

The underside line reply:

Personally, given the funds, I’ll at all times run a playlisting marketing campaign and an advert marketing campaign in tandem for each tune an artist releases. However when 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

In the event you do determine that you simply’d prefer to strive Spotify playlist promotion, it’s useful to know the way these firms work. There are a number of service fashions that I categorize on the idea of 4 essential components: 1) Exclusivity of the curator community, 2) kind 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 in style playlist. It doesn’t actually match the paradigms under, however it’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. Whenever you go to one in every of 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 tougher, they usually could battle to retain large playlists. Campaigns to open networks have a tendency to offer higher-fit placements however fewer streams when put next towards closed curator networks.

Closed curator networks: These firms have non-public relationships with playlist curators; they’ll search out prime curators to hitch 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 usually characteristic very talked-about, engaged playlists. Campaigns with these firms have a tendency to offer extra streams from much less focused playlists when put next towards open curator networks.

2. Kind of playlists included on the community

Search engine marketing playlists solely: These firms solely characteristic playlists that seem in Spotify’s search outcomes. The advantage of this strategy is that Search engine marketing playlists are just about assured to not have bots and to drive loads of streams. The downside 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 can also characteristic playlists that don’t seem in Spotify’s search outcomes.

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

3. Pitching technique

Achieved-for-you: These firms handle the complete pitching course of when you submit a marketing campaign. It’s possible you’ll present some details about the style of your tune and your splendid viewers, however you received’t decide which curators obtain the pitch.

Do-it-yourself: These firms help you choose the curators you’d like your tune to be pitched to. They might have presets obtainable 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 firms utilizing this mannequin don’t assure that you simply’ll obtain any placements; nonetheless, they received’t cap your marketing campaign at a sure variety of placements, both. In different phrases, this mannequin has a excessive ceiling however a low ground.

To obtain a sure variety of placements: You’re paying to be positioned on playlists, often with some assure that you simply’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 firms that use this mannequin will cap your marketing campaign when you attain the required variety of placements. In different phrases, you’ll not often 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.)

Pay to succeed in numerous curators

Pay for playlist placements

Attention-grabbing 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 submit.

I’m together with this part as a result of a) I discovered loads of random issues working a bunch of Spotify campaigns that I feel it is best to know, and b) I couldn’t discover an suave strategy 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 strive a Spotify promotion.

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

The best consequence from a Spotify promotion is that you simply pay for a short-term bump after which have your attain settle at a brand new regular, due to 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 degree up your viewers dramatically.

Sadly, that is not often what occurs. Most frequently, once 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 authentic 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 simply ought to anticipate streams, however you shouldn’t typically anticipate them to final. Rely it as a present once they do.

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

Practically each authentic Spotify promotion I’ve ever run has coincided with a rise in Radio streams. Generally its a really notable improve; extra usually, it’s not.

However that is the primary algorithmic increase you’ll get, and it is 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 undeniable fact that made me uncomfortable – the obvious rip-off promotion I ran (with Music Diffusion) really resulted in a major bump in Spotify’s Radio streams.

Botted playlists drove about 9,000 streams for that observe; the opposite ~1,000 of the observe’s whole 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 record and that they only maintain spinning after they undergo the entire songs, throughout which period they rack up streams of “Advisable” songs.

The underside line: You’d prefer to suppose algorithmic performs couldn’t be faked, proper? However it appears like Radio streams, at the least, may be. (Relatedly, if you wish to be protected, it is best to put on a titanium swimsuit and steer clear of the whole lot and everybody.)

4. You need to be careful for “scraped” lists.

One other bizarre factor that reinforces the concept you shouldn’t belief anybody is that, even when you run a very authentic promotion, you have got the possibility of getting added to a scraped playlist that 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 purchasers. The thought is that when you, as an artist, see your tune getting streams from a random playlist, you’ll click on by to test it out – and once you see that the curator presents promotional companies, you may be impressed to pony up money for extra performs.

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

This occurred most notably throughout the marketing campaign I ran on Groover. Our observe was added to a bunch of authentic 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 loads 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; when 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 big, 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 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 once you report one in every of 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; principally 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 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 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 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 dwelling, respiratory followers is nice information, too.

Playlisting isn’t as extremely focused as direct adverts, however once you get on record, you’ll 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.

Remaining ideas on Spotify promotion companies

In the event you’ve learn this far, congratulations – you’re both extremely devoted to getting your music heard or you have got an excessive amount of time in your fingers. Possibly each. Regardless, I respect you, and I hope the data above is useful as you contemplate Spotify promotion to your personal music.

Two closing issues:

First, as technique of a quick recap, right here’s my record of prime 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 under and let me know when you’ve had a notable expertise (good or unhealthy) with an organization on this record. 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 submit decently updated as a result of I feel these items is necessary – 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 at all times, right here’s wishing you good luck.



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