Genre selection matters more than you think. Language tags, submission timing, sharing your placement — here are the five things that consistently lead to better outcomes for artists on our platform.
The most common mistake we see is genre selection that's too broad or too optimistic. An acoustic singer-songwriter submitting to "Pop" instead of "Folk" or "Acoustic" will get rejected or placed wrong. Genre matching is how we route your submission to the right playlist — if the genres don't fit, the placement won't either.
Choose the 1-3 genres that most accurately describe your track, not the ones you hope will reach the biggest audience. Precision beats ambition here.
This one seems obvious but gets skipped more than you'd think. If your track is in French, tag it as French. We have playlists that specifically serve non-English language audiences, and a correctly tagged track gets routed to the right place. An English tag on a French track is a missed opportunity.
New artists often submit their most recent release because it's fresh. But listeners have never heard any of your music — they don't know which release is your best. Submit the track that represents you most completely. The one that makes people want to hear more.
When you get placed on one of our playlists, share it. Not just because it's good promotion (though it is) — but because listener engagement signals feed back into Spotify's algorithm. Every save, every listen-through from a real person who found you through the playlist matters. Sharing the placement helps generate those signals.
Playlist growth is a long game. A placement today may not translate into algorithmic momentum for weeks. Artists who see the best results are those who submit consistently, learn from each placement, and keep releasing music. The platform works for artists who work at it.