How Spotify editorial pitching works, and what it can't do

What the pitch is

Spotify for Artists lets an artist's team tell Spotify's playlist editors about a song before it comes out. You log in, go to Music, then Upcoming, choose a song and complete the pitch form. That's the mechanism. Labels use the same tool; a label can mark its pitch label-only, so the artist's team can see the song and who pitched it but can't view or edit some details, such as the genre, mood and culture tags.

Editors listen and decide whether the song fits any of their editorial playlists. Pitching doesn't guarantee placement, and Spotify says editors might choose a different song from the release than the one you pitched.

Music videos can now be pitched too, separately from songs. The video has to be an official music video or performance, and either unreleased or released within the past seven days. Spotify is rolling this out gradually, so the option only appears when you have an eligible video.

What you need

• Spotify for Artists access with the right role. Anyone with Admin or Editor access on the artist's team can view and edit the pitch.
• An unreleased song. Once a song is live, it's no longer eligible. However well a released song is doing, it can't be pitched through this form.
• A song on which you're the main artist. Songs where you're the featured artist can't be pitched, and nor can compilations. On a collaboration, the main artist's team pitches.
• One song at a time. You can pitch one song; after it goes live, you can pitch another. For an album or EP, choose the one you most want editors to hear.
• Delivery at least seven days before release. Spotify asks for songs to be delivered at least seven days ahead so editors have time to listen. The song appears under Upcoming once your distributor has delivered it; Spotify says to allow around 48 hours.

Seven days is the minimum, not the plan. In the six-week release plan we deliver at week −4 and pitch as soon as the song shows up, so editors have it for weeks.

If you're signed to a label, agree who writes the pitch. The label's team can pitch the song too, and can make the pitch label-only, so settle who owns it well before release week.

Writing the pitch

The form asks you to tag the song (Spotify's help mentions genre, mood and culture tags) and to tell editors about it. "More detail gives your song a better chance," Spotify says. This is how I approach each part for a Punjabi song.

• Genre. Tag what the song is, not what's trending. A Punjabi pop song over a trap beat and a bhangra track built on dhol are different songs for different listeners. A wrong tag sends a good song to the wrong place.
• Mood. Choose the mood a listener would name. Is it a wedding-floor song, a late-night drive, a heartbreak song, a gym track? Pick what fits, not every mood that half fits.
• Culture and language. Use the culture tags where they fit, and say in plain words what language the song is in: Punjabi, or Punjabi with Hindi or English, and in what proportion. If the song comes from a particular tradition, such as folk boliyan or a Malwai or Doabi turn of phrase, say so.
• Instruments. Name the sound: tumbi, dhol, algoza, sarangi, or a synth-led production with a sampled tumbi line. Editors will hear the song, but the words tell them what to listen for.
• What's happening around it. Two or three plain sentences on what the song is, who it's for and what's planned. "Second single from the album; music video premiering on release day; creators posting on the sound in Punjab and Brampton from release weekend" tells an editor more than "a banger".

Here is the shape of it for a made-up song. It's an example, not a template to copy: "A Punjabi wedding song in Malwai, sung over dhol and tumbi with a modern low end. The second single from the artist's debut album. The music video premieres on YouTube on release day, and creators in Punjab and Brampton are briefed to post on the sound from release weekend, built around a sangeet entry."

Don't overclaim. If a feature isn't confirmed, leave it out. If the song isn't charting anywhere, don't imply it is. You can edit a pitch up to release day, but Spotify says there's no guarantee editors will see the changes, so get it right the first time.

What happens after

Once the song is live, check Music, then Playlists, in Spotify for Artists to see where it has been added.

Whatever the editors decide, the pitch has already done one job. Release Radar is a playlist that updates every Friday with new music from artists each listener follows and listens to, and artists Spotify thinks they'll like. Your followers get songs from your new release in it. Pitch at least seven days before release and the song you pitched is the one they get; pitch later and Spotify chooses. A song can stay in a follower's Release Radar for up to four weeks if they haven't played it, and Spotify won't include it for someone who already has.

That's why followers are the number to grow between releases. Followers vs listeners explains the difference.

If you're eligible, you can also pin the pitched song to your This Is playlist. Pinning takes about three days after the song is available, you can have one pin request at a time, and the song stays pinned for up to 28 days after release.

If the song isn't picked, Spotify says it may still be discovered later. That's true, but it isn't something to plan around. What you can plan: the pitch has already chosen your followers' Release Radar song, the next song can be pitched as soon as this one is live, and independent curators can still be approached, now with real numbers.

What it can't do

• It can't guarantee a placement. Spotify says so plainly. A pitch gets the song heard; it doesn't get it added.
• It can't rescue a song after release. A live song can't be pitched. If the pitch was missed, it was missed.
• It can't be made from a feature. If you're the featured artist, the pitch belongs to the main artist's team.
• It can't speak to other stores. This is Spotify's tool for Spotify's editors. It says nothing to Apple Music, YouTube Music, JioSaavn or Amazon.
• It can't build the audience for you. An editorial placement puts the song in front of listeners while it's on the playlist. Whether they save it, follow you and come back depends on the song and on everything else in the release plan.

Services that promise placement

You will be offered them: a fee for a "guaranteed" editorial playlist, or for a set number of streams. Spotify is clear. Its help says any service that claims to offer guaranteed placement on Spotify playlists in exchange for money is in violation of its terms and conditions and shouldn't be used, and that paid third-party services that guarantee streams aren't legitimate.

It also warns about services that charge money to have a song "considered" for their user playlists without guaranteeing placement, and says paying for placement is strictly against its terms.

The cost can be real money. Where Spotify detects artificial streaming, it can withhold the royalties, correct the public stream counts, and remove the song from playlists or from Spotify altogether. It charges labels and distributors per track when it detects flagrant artificial streaming, and distributors can issue warnings, charge penalty fees, suspend accounts or take the music down.

Our position is simple. We write the pitch and submit it through your Spotify for Artists, and we pitch independent curators. We don't sell placements and we don't promise them. How to spot bought views covers the same problem on YouTube.