In today’s digital age, getting your music heard by a wider audience can be a daunting task for independent artists. With the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music, playlist placements have become a crucial avenue for gaining exposure and building a fanbase. However, navigating the world of playlist curators and finding the right ones to submit your music to can be overwhelming.
To help you on your journey, we’ve compiled a list of the 11 best playlist curators to submit your music to. These curators are known for their dedication to discovering and promoting new talent, offering a valuable platform for artists to reach new listeners.
Whether you’re an emerging artist looking to break into the scene or an established musician seeking to expand your reach, these playlist curators can provide the boost you need.
1. Playlist Curator
Playlist Curator is a prominent online platform dedicated to curating and distributing music playlists across various themes and genres. They maintain a presence on major streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud, offering a diverse collection of curated playlists tailored to different moods, occasions, and preferences.
How It Works
Playlist Curator meticulously curates their playlists, carefully selecting songs that align with the specific theme or genre of each playlist. They aim to feature a mix of popular hits and lesser-known indie gems, ensuring a well-rounded listening experience for their audience.
Artists and musicians can submit their music to Playlist Curator for consideration to be included in the curated playlists. The submission process involves filling out a form on their website, providing details about the song and the desired playlists for consideration.
Playlist Curator has a strict set of criteria for evaluating submissions. They carefully listen to each song and assess its quality, ensuring it aligns with the theme and overall vibe of the targeted playlists.
Once a song is selected, it is added to the relevant playlists, exposing the artist to Playlist Curator’s dedicated listener base across various streaming platforms. The platform also offers a membership option, allowing users to create accounts and bookmark their favorite playlists for easy access and listening at any time.
2. iMusician
iMusician is a digital music distribution service that also allows artists to submit their music to iMusician’s curated Spotify playlists for free.
How It Works
iMusician has its own curated playlists across various genres on Spotify. Artists can go to iMusician’s website and submit their music for free consideration to be added to relevant iMusician playlists.
The submission process is simple – just select your track, choose genres, and provide some details about your release. iMusician’s curators will then listen and consider adding your track to their playlists if it fits.
3. Indiemono
Indiemono is an independent Spanish music company that curates over 100 Spotify playlists and offers free submissions for artists.
How It Works
Indiemono has a dedicated “Submit Music” page on their website where artists can submit their tracks for free playlist consideration. The genres covered include indie, alternative, urban, R&B, pop, electronic, folk, and Latino music.
After submitting, Indiemono’s curators will listen to the tracks and potentially add them to relevant Indiemono playlists on Spotify. With over 3 million total playlist followers, Indiemono playlists offer good exposure for accepted artists.
4. Daily Playlists
Daily Playlists is a platform that connects artists with independent Spotify playlist curators for playlist promotion.
How It Works
Daily Playlists has over 3,000 independent playlist curators and 18,000+ playlists on their platform across 90+ genres. Artists can sign up for a free account and submit their music to relevant playlists.
The free tier allows 25 submissions per week to standard curators. Artists can filter playlists by genre, follower count, and other factors to find the right fit. If a curator accepts the submission, the artist’s track gets added to their Spotify playlist.
Daily Playlists also offers paid tiers with more submissions and additional promotion features.
5. MySphera
MySphera is a platform that connects artists with independent Spotify playlist curators they call “tastemakers.”
How It Works
On MySphera, artists can launch paid campaigns to submit their music to curators across different genres and playlist sizes. There are three pricing tiers based on the number of curators reached.
Once a campaign is launched, MySphera analyzes the music and matches it with the most relevant tastemakers. Those curators then listen and decide if they want to add the track to their playlists or not.
MySphera has a “No Features = Money Back” policy if no curators add the submitted track.
6. Playlist Push
Playlist Push is another platform that allows artists to submit music directly to independent Spotify playlist curators.
How It Works
Artists first apply for a campaign on Playlist Push by providing their track details and genre. If accepted, Playlist Push identifies relevant curators from their network of over 4,000 playlists.
The curators then have two weeks to listen and decide if they want to add the artist’s track to their playlists or not. Artists get notified of every playlist addition during the campaign.
Playlist Push curators are paid per review based on their playlist’s follower count and “reputation score.” Pricing for artists is based on the campaign duration and number of curators reached.
7. Boost Collective
Boost Collective is a music distribution and promotion platform that offers playlist promotion services, allowing artists to have their music added to Spotify playlists managed by Boost Collective.
How It Works
Boost Collective owns and actively manages a network of Spotify playlists driven by targeted advertising. Artists can purchase playlist promotion packages, and Boost Collective will add the artist’s song to relevant playlists in their network. The playlists are promoted through paid advertising campaigns, ensuring that real listeners are directed to the playlists and exposed to the artist’s music.
Boost Collective’s approach guarantees that the streams generated are from genuine music enthusiasts interested in discovering new artists, rather than bot-generated streams. The use of advertising also allows them to reach a wider audience beyond the existing followers of their playlists.
8. For the Love of Bands
For the Love of Bands is an online music blog and magazine that focuses on independent music across various genres, including indie, rock, folk, singer-songwriter, punk, reggae, and more.
How It Works
For the Love of Bands accepts music submissions from artists through platforms like SubmitHub. The team of writers and reviewers listens to the submitted tracks and decides which ones to feature on their blog and playlists.
If an artist’s music is selected, For the Love of Bands will write a review or feature article about the artist and their music, potentially including it in their Spotify playlists or YouTube compilations. The blog aims to showcase the best new indie music and help artists gain exposure and new fans.
9. SubmitHub
SubmitHub is a platform that connects musicians with music bloggers, Spotify playlist curators, and other influencers who can help promote their music to a wider audience.
How It Works
Artists can create an account on SubmitHub and upload their music. They can then browse through the available curators, such as bloggers, playlisters, and influencers, and submit their music to those that seem like a good fit. Submissions can be made using either free standard credits or paid premium credits, which guarantee a faster response time.
When a submission is made, the curator has a set amount of time to review the music and provide feedback. If they like the song, they’ll share it on their platform (blog, playlist, social media, etc.) and let the artist know when and how it will be shared. SubmitHub facilitates direct communication between artists and curators.
10. Rizing Playlists
Rizing Playlists are music playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and YouTube Music that aim to provide a platform for independent and rising artists to be discovered by listeners.
How It Works
Rizing Playlists curates and maintains playlists across various music streaming platforms, focusing on showcasing the best independent and emerging artists. Artists can likely submit their music to Rizing Playlists through platforms like SubmitHub or by directly contacting the curators.
If an artist’s music is selected, their tracks will be added to relevant Rizing Playlists, potentially exposing them to new listeners and fans who follow those playlists. The playlists are organized by genres, moods, or themes, making it easier for listeners to discover new music that aligns with their preferences.
11. SongRocket
SongRocket is a service that helps songwriters market, pitch, and plug their songs to various music industry professionals and opportunities.
How It Works
Songwriters can sign up for SongRocket’s services and pay a monthly fee to have their songs actively pitched and marketed. SongRocket’s team will submit the songwriter’s songs to major record labels for artist projects, pitch them for placement in films, initiate music publishing deals, and submit them to music production libraries for TV, video, and film placements.
SongRocket handles the entire process of pitching, plugging, and marketing the songwriter’s catalog, freeing them up to focus on writing more songs. The service aims to exploit the songwriter’s copyrights and secure opportunities for their songs to be placed, licensed, or recorded by other artists, potentially generating royalty income.
