In today’s digital music landscape, getting your tracks onto popular playlists can be a game-changer for emerging artists and established musicians alike. Playlist curators have become the new gatekeepers of music discovery, wielding significant influence over what listeners discover and enjoy.
This article explores the top 10 playlist curators that can help propel your music to new audiences and boost your streaming numbers.
1. Playlist Curator
Playlist Curator is a prominent online platform that specializes in curating diverse music playlists for various moods and occasions. They distribute their carefully curated playlists on their website and major streaming platforms, including YouTube Music, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
With a wide range of themed playlists, from love songs to adventure tunes, Playlist Curator offers a rich selection for music discovery, catering to both mainstream hits and indie gems.
To submit your music to Playlist Curator, you start by visiting their “Submit Music to Our Playlists” page and filling out the submission form. The platform provides a list of sample playlists where your music could potentially be featured, such as “Songs About True Love” or “Songs About the Sun and Sunshine,” giving you an idea of the diverse themes they cover.
Playlist Curator employs a thorough evaluation process for each submission. Their team carefully listens to every track and applies strict criteria to assess its suitability for inclusion in their popular playlists. This rigorous selection process ensures that only high-quality songs that align with the playlist themes and appeal to their listeners make the cut.
2. Indiemono
Indiemono is a prominent independent playlist curator known for its dedication to discovering and promoting indie music. With over 3 million playlist followers and more than 100 actively curated playlists, Indiemono offers a significant platform for indie artists to gain exposure.
Indiemono strongly focuses on supporting independent artists without charging for playlist placements. Artists can submit their music for free through Indiemono’s submission system. The curators at Indiemono review the submissions and update their playlists regularly, ensuring a dynamic and fresh selection of music. They emphasize the craft of playlisting over algorithms, creating a personalized and human touch to music curation. This approach helps artists reach a genuine audience and gain organic streams.
3. MySphera
MySphera is a platform that connects independent artists with playlist curators, influencers, and bloggers. It aims to help artists promote their music to a wider audience through curated playlists and social media channels.
Artists can submit their music to MySphera, where it is matched with curators based on genre and style. MySphera offers both free and paid submission options, allowing artists to choose the level of promotion they need.
The platform also provides feedback from curators, helping artists refine their tracks and improve their chances of getting playlisted. MySphera’s network includes a variety of playlists across different genres, making it a versatile option for artists looking to expand their reach.
4. Rizing Playlists
Rizing Playlists is an independent playlist brand that supports unsigned and upcoming musicians. Launched in 2018, it has quickly gained a reputation for highlighting talented artists across various genres, including pop, hip-hop, R&B, and more.
Artists can submit their music to Rizing Playlists through platforms like Groover. The curators at Rizing Playlists review the submissions and provide feedback. They focus on adding tracks that fit the vibe of their playlists, which are designed to showcase the best new music.
Rizing Playlists also offers PR and social media promotion, giving artists additional exposure beyond playlist placements. The platform is known for its high engagement rate, with curators actively listening to and sharing a significant portion of the tracks they receive.
5. SongRocket
SongRocket is a music promotion platform that connects artists with playlist curators. It aims to help artists gain exposure by getting their music added to curated playlists on Spotify and other streaming services.
Artists can submit their tracks to SongRocket, where curators review the submissions and provide feedback. SongRocket emphasizes the importance of proper feedback and encourages curators to add tracks to multiple playlists if they fit.
The platform operates on a system where curators are reminded to review new submissions promptly, ensuring timely feedback for artists. SongRocket also tracks the performance of the tracks on playlists, helping artists understand their reach and engagement.
6. SoundCampaign
SoundCampaign is a music promotion service that connects independent artists with a network of over 1,000 Spotify playlist curators. It aims to help artists increase their streams and grow their fan base through curated playlist placements.
Artists can create a campaign on SoundCampaign by submitting their tracks and selecting the genres and languages that best match their music. The platform then matches the tracks with relevant curators based on these settings.
Curators review the submissions and provide feedback, which helps artists improve their music. SoundCampaign ensures transparency by providing progress updates and a final report on the campaign’s performance. The platform follows Spotify’s policies and compensates curators for their reviews, not for playlist placements, ensuring a fair and ethical approach to music promotion.
These five playlist curators offer diverse and effective ways for independent artists to get their music heard. By understanding how each platform works, artists can choose the best fit for their promotional needs and increase their chances of gaining exposure and growing their audience.
7. iMusician
iMusician is a comprehensive music distribution platform that also offers playlist submission services. It helps artists get their music onto various streaming platforms, including Spotify, and provides tools to manage and promote their music.
To submit your music to iMusician’s playlists, you start by visiting their free Spotify playlist submission page. Here, you can select your track’s genre to find appropriate playlists. Each playlist can be previewed to ensure it fits your music style. iMusician also encourages building your own contact list of Spotify playlist curators by researching popular artists in your genre and identifying the playlists they appear on. This direct approach allows you to establish personal connections with curators, which can benefit long-term promotion.
Once you have identified the curators, musician suggests sending a friendly introduction, following their playlists, and engaging with their selections before pitching your music. This method requires patience and persistence, as it may take several attempts before your music is accepted. iMusician also offers its own curated playlists for various genres, providing an additional avenue for exposure.
8. Boost Collective
Boost Collective is a music distribution and promotion service that focuses on helping artists grow their fanbase through playlist placements and other promotional tools. They offer various services, including Spotify promotion, music mastering, and graphic design.
Boost Collective distributes your music to over 150 stores without any upfront costs. Their playlisting service is essentially free for artists who release through their platform. You earn credits for each release, which can be spent on various promotional services, including playlist placements.
To get your music on playlists, you simply search for your song on their platform, get it added to playlists, and then track your campaign’s progress. Boost Collective uses Instagram ads to drive legitimate engagement with their playlists, ensuring that your music reaches real listeners. They also provide detailed analytics to help you understand the performance of your playlists and make informed decisions about your music promotion strategy.
9. For The Love Of Bands
For The Love Of Bands (FTLOB) is a music blog and playlist curator that offers free and paid submission options for artists. They promote indie and alternative music through their playlists and in-depth music reviews.
Artists can submit their music to FTLOB’s Spotify playlists for free using the ‘regular’ submission option. If you want to skip the submission queue, you can choose from several paid options, such as a merch deal, a donation, or engagement. FTLOB also features new music on their YouTube compilations and offers TikTok features.
FTLOB’s playlists are available on multiple platforms, including Deezer, YouTube, SoundCloud, and more. They also collaborate with PlaylistPush to manage the campaign. Submissions are reviewed by their team, and accepted artists are notified via email. FTLOB shares accepted tracks across various social media platforms, providing extensive exposure for your music.
10. SubmitHub
SubmitHub is a platform designed to connect artists with music bloggers, playlist curators, record labels, and other industry professionals. It was founded by music blogger Jason Grishkoff and aims to make the submission process efficient and transparent.
Artists can submit their music to a wide range of curators on SubmitHub by purchasing credits. Each submission guarantees that the curator will listen to your track and provide feedback, although it does not guarantee playlist placement. SubmitHub offers detailed profiles of each curator, including their preferences and submission guidelines, helping you target the right curators for your music.
SubmitHub also provides analytics to track the performance of your submissions, allowing you to refine your approach over time. The platform’s transparency and feedback mechanism make it a valuable tool for artists looking to improve their music and increase their chances of being featured on playlists.
