According to Variety , Spotify announced Wednesday that they will be launching a new feature making it easier for both artists and record labels to submit unreleased songs to the music streaming service. The new feature will reportedly be modified based on partner feedback.
The vice president of content and global head of shows and editorial, Nick Holmstem, said, “the number one question we get from labels, artists, and their teams is: who do I speak to get on Rap Caviar, Hot Country, ¡Viva Latino!, Ultimate Indie or other Spotify playlists?”
“We’ve listened to feedback from the creative community,” Holmstem continued, “and developed a new feature that enables them to easily submit unreleased music for playlist consideration to our entire worldwide team of playlist editors.”
According to Wednesday’s announcement, the playlists will be constructed by “a team of over 100 editors around the world — music experts and cultural ambassadors whose job is to spread the joy of music discovery everywhere from Brazil to Japan to Turkey.”
Artists can use the new feature by logging onto their Spotify for Artists accounts or by going to Spotify Analytics, where they will have the option of selecting and submitting an unreleased song for playlist consideration.
“It’s important to give us as much information about the track as possible — genre, mood, and other data points all help us make decisions about where it may fit,” the announcement read. “You can note the instruments on it, whether it’s a cover, and the cultures you or the song belong to. The data you share will be complemented by what we already know about you — what else your fans listen to, what other playlists you’ve appeared on, etc.”
Spotify editors will then look through all the submissions based on the information the artist shares in order to aid them in selecting unreleased music for playlist consideration. “The song and all the info you add about it will also impact our personalized recommendations,” the announcement continued. “For example, as long as you tag and submit your track seven days in advance, the song you select will automatically appear in every one of your followers’ Release Radar playlists. This way you have control over which single you’re promoting to your fans.”
The announcement, however, ended with a warning, explaining, “we want to make something crystal clear: no one can pay to be added to one of Spotify’s editorial playlists. Our editors pick tracks with listeners in mind. They make these decisions using data about what’s resonating most with their community of listeners.”
