How to get on Spotify editorial playlists: the pitch, the form and what editors want

How to get on Spotify playlists: three kinds, three routes

How to get on Spotify playlists depends on who makes the playlist. Spotify’s editorial playlists are picked by staff editors, and the only way in is a free pitch in Spotify for Artists for one unreleased song, sent at least 7 days before release. Algorithmic playlists like Release Radar and Discover Weekly are built for each listener, so you can’t pitch them, though a pitch does put the song in your followers’ Release Radar. Listener and curator playlists take songs after release, by contacting the curator. Nothing guarantees a spot. This guide covers the editorial pitch, from Spotify’s help pages checked Sep 24, 2026.

Most of this page is about the first kind, because it’s the only one with a deadline. Miss the pitch window and that song can never be pitched again, no matter how well it does later.

It’s also the one with the most folklore around it. You’ve probably heard that you need 10,000 monthly listeners first, or a label, or a friend at Spotify, and that without those the pitch goes nowhere. It’s a discouraging thing to believe right before release day. Spotify’s editors have answered all three on the record, and the answers are further down this page. What they do ask for is a filled-in form, sent on time.

First, what counts as an editorial playlist, because plenty of playlists look like one.

What a Spotify editorial playlist is

A Spotify editorial playlist is a playlist curated by Spotify’s own editors, marked with the Spotify logo in its byline. Spotify’s help page on playlist types describes the editors as genre, lifestyle and culture specialists, says many playlists have several editors in different locations, and puts the count at thousands of playlists. Personalized playlists are a different thing: Spotify’s algorithms build them for each listener, and they carry a “Made for [username]” byline. Some sit in between, where editors pick a pool of songs and an algorithm chooses from it for each listener. Spotify’s engineers call those algotorial playlists. Of all these, only the editors can be pitched, and only through Spotify for Artists.

Here’s how the kinds line up, using Spotify’s own labels. The last column is the line where plays from each kind show up in Source of streams in Spotify for Artists.

Two things catch people out. Some playlists with big, playlist-sounding names are personalized, not editorial: Spotify’s help page lists Happy Hits and Indie Mix as personalized playlists. And a user playlist with “Spotify” or “Official” in its name is still a user playlist. The Spotify logo in the byline is the tell.

Spotify’s engineering blog explains the algotorial kind in more detail. The algorithmic side (what Release Radar and Discover Weekly respond to) is in our guide to how the Spotify algorithm works.

Since editors are the only people you can pitch, here’s how the pitch works.

How to pitch a song to Spotify’s editors

Pitching a song to Spotify’s editors takes three steps: log in at artists.spotify.com, go to Music and then Upcoming, and choose a song and complete the pitch form. You need Admin or Editor access to the artist profile, and the song has to be delivered by your distributor and still unreleased. Spotify’s pitching help page asks you to deliver at least 7 days before release so editors have time to listen, and a pitch sent that early also puts the song in your followers’ Release Radar. You can pitch one song at a time, it costs nothing, and Spotify says pitching doesn’t guarantee placement. Rules checked Sep 24, 2026.

Seven days is the floor, not the plan. Spotify’s own release guide from Aug 20, 2024 says to pitch at least two weeks before release to improve your chances. Work backward from there. A release shows up in Upcoming after your distributor delivers it, which Spotify’s help page on unreleased music says can take around 48 hours from when you submit. Add your distributor’s own review time on top, and uploading three to four weeks before release day gives you room. If your distributor can’t hit that, our distributor comparison is the place to start before your next one.

The rules that trip people up:

• One pitch at a time. Once the pitched song goes live, you can pitch another. On an EP or album, that means one song per release, so pick the one that best represents you.
• Some songs can’t be pitched. Spotify excludes compilations and songs where you’re a featured artist. Releases where you’re listed only at track level don’t appear in Upcoming at all.
• Edits may not be seen. You can edit the pitch up to release day, but Spotify says there’s no guarantee editors will see the changes. Finish it the first time.
• Live means too late. Once the song is out, it’s no longer eligible.
• Videos are separate. If you have access to video pitching, a music video gets its own pitch under Video & Visuals.
• Labels can lock it. A label or licensor can make a pitch label-only. You’ll see the song and who pitched it, but not tags like genre, mood and culture.

The most common panic is a release that never appears in Upcoming. Before you assume the worst, Spotify’s advice is to check with your distributor that it was sent to the right artist profile. A song delivered to the wrong profile can’t be pitched from yours.

The steps are simple. The form is where a pitch gets made or wasted.

What the Spotify pitch form asks for

The Spotify pitch form asks you to describe the song in tags and in your own words: genre, moods, song style, instruments, music cultures, your hometown and current city, and a written description of the song. Spotify’s playlisting page says you can pick up to three genres and tell editors where you’re from and where you’re based. A Spotify for Artists post from Dec 14, 2018 adds up to three music cultures, up to two moods, up to two song styles, the instruments, and yes-or-no questions on covers, remixes, instrumentals and studio or live recording. Editors search pitches by these tags, so the tags decide which editors see the song.

That last point comes from Spotify’s 2018 launch post: “Editors will be searching through pitches based on the information you share.” Think of the tags as addressing an envelope. Wrong address, and the right editor never opens it.

On genre, Spotify’s senior product manager said in that 2018 post that you might pick “pop” even if your music doesn’t feel straight-ahead pop, because the editors who make Pop playlists may be best placed to find its listeners. That’s a useful way to think about every tag: who should hear this first?

On culture and location, Spotify’s editors said in 2020 that every pitch goes to the whole global editorial team, and that getting specific about your location and cultural sound helps the right local team find it. If you’re a bedroom pop act from Manila, say Manila.

The description is where most pitches go thin. Spotify’s editors asked for the who, what, why, when, where and how. Something like this (an example, not a template to copy word for word):

Written in two nights after my brother moved to Toronto. Recorded in my apartment in Leeds with one borrowed Juno and my friend Sam on drums. It’s the first single from an EP out in March, and the video is shot in the flat where it was made.

That’s four sentences, all specific, and every one gives an editor something to file. “It’s a vibe for fans of good music” gives them nothing.

Tags get the song into the right pile. What happens in that pile is up to the editors.

What Spotify’s editors say they look for

TheDebutRoom’s reading of Spotify’s own editor Q&A is that the pitch is the one lever an independent artist fully controls, and that stats, labels and contacts don’t move it. In a Jul 23, 2020 Spotify for Artists post, Spotify’s playlist editors said followers and monthly listeners don’t factor into their decisions, blog write-ups and radio play aren’t essential, they don’t look at distribution information, and a relationship with anyone at Spotify is “never a leg up.” They asked for context on the song and said not to leave the pitch note blank. This is TheDebutRoom’s reading of Spotify’s published statements, checked Sep 24, 2026, not a promise of results.

The same post fills in the rest of what editors weigh:

• Listening comes first. They said they also consider music characteristics “from bpm and tempo to song structure and key signature,” plus what’s happening in culture.
• Explicit songs have limits. Some playlists and audiences, like Spotify Kids programming, won’t take explicit tracks.
• Unsigned artists have a lane. The editors pointed to Fresh Finds as a playlist series aimed at unsigned artists.
• They keep watching after release. You can’t pitch a live song, but editors said they look at data for songs that are resonating on Spotify.
• Money doesn’t work. “You cannot pay to get on an official Spotify playlist.” Spotify’s page on paid services that guarantee streams says any service claiming guaranteed placement for money violates its terms.

About the odds. Spotify has published two numbers, and both are old. The 2020 post said that, as of February 2020, it had playlisted 72,000 artists since pitching launched in 2018, and that around 20% of pitched tracks were placed on at least one playlist. The playlisting page says more than 150,000 artists were playlisted for the first time across 2020 and 2021. Neither number is your odds today, and the 20% counts any playlist, not only the big ones. TheDebutRoom hasn’t found a newer rate from Spotify and doesn’t estimate one.

The hard part is the silence. The editors said they get too many pitches to give feedback on each one. A no looks exactly like nothing, and it isn’t a verdict on the song.

Since nobody writes back, you check for yourself.

How to see if your song got on an editorial playlist

To see whether your song landed on an editorial playlist, open Spotify for Artists after release day and go to Music and then Playlists. Spotify’s help page on seeing playlists says the tab shows the top 100 playlists your music is on, ordered by the number of your listeners from each, and a playlist appears only once your music has at least 3 listeners on it. The data covers the last 12 months. For plays rather than playlists, Source of streams on the song’s page shows “Editorial and personalized editorial playlists” as its own line. Spotify doesn’t send rejection notices.

What to check when you look:

• The byline. Editorial playlists carry the Spotify logo. Everything else on the list is a listener or curator playlist.
• Every song on the release. Spotify’s pitching page says editors might pick a different song than the one you pitched.
• Release Radar. Spotify’s Release Radar page says you’ll see it on the song’s Playlists tab if it reached your listeners there. That’s the pitch paying off even without an editorial add.
• The clock. Spotify for Artists stats run on UTC, so a day in your stats may not match your local day.

If you do land one, Spotify’s playlisting page says certain playlists give you a personalized link that puts your song first for fans who open it, and Promo Cards let you make a shareable image of the placement. Use them while the placement is live.

If a few weeks pass and nothing with the Spotify logo shows up, the song isn’t done. The routes just change.

What to do if your song doesn’t get picked

A song that misses Spotify’s editorial playlists can’t be pitched a second time, so the useful work moves to routes that stay open after release. Independent curators take submissions for released songs, and several platforms offer that for free. Spotify’s editors have said they watch data for songs that are resonating after release, so saves, playlist adds and follows from real listeners still count. Your next release gets a fresh pitch. Paid curator services such as Playlist Push reach independent playlists only, never Spotify’s editors, and Spotify says any service guaranteeing a playlist spot for money breaks its terms.

In rough order of cost:

1. Pitch the next one. One pitch per release means your release schedule is your pitch schedule. A single every six to eight weeks gives you six or more pitches a year instead of one per album.
2. Send it to independent curators for free. Our guide to free Spotify playlist submission covers the platforms with free tiers, their limits, and how to use them without wasting submissions.
3. Pay for reviews only with money you can lose. Playlist Push sells curator reviews, not placements: its campaign guide says adds aren’t guaranteed, and its help center says it works only with independent playlist owners, not Spotify’s editors. It fits a released song with a clear genre and a budget you won’t miss.
4. Never buy a placement or a stream count. When Spotify confirms artificial streaming, it can withhold the royalties and, in repeated or serious cases, remove the music. Our guide to Spotify bots and fake streams shows how to spot the sellers.

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More ways to get a song heard are in the promotion hub.