Julia was a young singer-songwriter with an amazing voice and some of the catchiest melodies anyone had ever heard. But despite all of her talent, she was having trouble getting her songs to be “playlist friendly”. She knew that if her music landed on some popular playlists, it would help launch her career as a successful musician.
Just like Julia, there are many musicians out there who struggle to get their music on the right playlists.
Over the past few years, we have had many experiences with curators, specifically in regards to submitting music to them. In this article we want to share our experience and give you some helpful tips as to how to make your songs playlist friendly in order to be accepted by curators more easily.
Make it stick
Is important to identify what draws the attention of the listeners and what makes a song get playlisted.
There’s not a definite rule that says how long a song must be in minutes, however, in our experience, playlist curators prefer songs that aren’t longer than 4 minutes for playlist-ability. They told us that they prefer shorter songs to keep the playlists more active and get more listeners to hear all the various songs.
Especially for musicians who produce long songs, for example EDM producers (such as Techno, House or Hardstyle) we recommend, once the original version of your music is complete, try to go for a shorter version format (Radio Mix or Radio Edit). You could also first release the Radio Edit and keep the extended or original version for the album.
Song arrangement and content
Curators will play at least the first 30 seconds of a song to know if it’s worth listening to. However, when this mark is passed and the good part hasn’t started yet, they probably will get impatient while waiting for it. We suggest that you do not drag the intro out beyond this length of time, or your song might be skipped. In our experience it’s best to let the audience know what your song is about early on in the track.
On the other hand, once listeners go past the 30 second mark the algorithm counts it as a stream and you can get paid. In other words, consider beginning with the main hook or lead with the chorus, vocals and the specific aspects of the song that will give a taste of your song within the first 15 seconds. Top songs from famous artists are doing this today.
Watch out for explicit language! This doesn’t necessarily censor your song, but it can limit the number of playlists your song could appear on. Some curators prefer clean audio content without any curse words. Those playlists are mostly used to be played at home, where kids can listen as well.
Getting into that most desired playlists
Remember this phrase “curators add songs to their playlists according to their needs”? Well, playlist curators, just like radio stations, very carefully select the music they bring to their listeners as it is important to keep the audience interested and engaged in their content.
That being said, your music needs to match the style of the playlist you want your songs to be on. In some cases, curators like to hold the curiosity and interest of the audience with longer tracks, others prefer the short songs. Review songs of your favorite or similar artists to your music and consider some of those aspects.
Know your genre and sub-genres
When submitting your music to curators, it’s important to be aware of which genre and sub-genres your song falls into. While curators will listen to all types of music, they often have specific genres that they specialize in. This means that if you correctly identify the genre and sub-genre of your song, you’re more likely to get placed on a playlist that fits with your sound. So make sure you do your research before submitting!
Conclusion
Popular artists have built their careers and succeeded through homemade productions, however nobody says it was easy! It will take lots of patience, energy, frustration and perseverance, but everybody has a starting point. By following our tips and doing a little bit of research beforehand, aspiring musicians can better prepare their songs for potential inclusion on streaming playlists. Spend time learning about how to edit your song to not be longer than 4 minutes, and which genres best fit with your sound; this knowledge will help put you on the right path when it comes time for submitting tracks for playlist consideration! Good luck!
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Playlist-Promotion.com provides a reliable opportunity for any artist to get noticed by top Spotify curators! With over 75,000 artists competing to land on said playlists daily, we understand the challenges singers/songwriters face when trying to make their music known worldwide. Our services encompass YouTube promotion, Spotify playlist promotion, and radio promotion, ensuring your music reaches diverse audiences through multiple channels. Our team of specialists evaluates every track submitted closely and are committed in helping you promote your artistry through various independent playlist channels with successful results! Get connected today and see how far your sound can reach – our friendly customer service representatives will be more than pleased to assist you in this exciting venture towards success.
Thanks for this info
Thank you
Thank you so much 😊