How to Promote a Song on Spotify

What Spotify promotion actually means

On Spotify, promotion means getting a song in front of people who are likely to enjoy it, through routes Spotify allows: its editors, its own tools, playlists that fit, and listeners you bring from elsewhere. Every legitimate route ends with a real person choosing to listen.

What it does not mean: buying streams, followers or guaranteed placements. Spotify treats streams that do not reflect genuine listening as artificial, and the consequences fall on your music. The scams guide covers the offers to avoid. Nobody outside Spotify can promise editorial placement, algorithmic pickup or a number of streams, and this guide does not either.

Before release: set it up once, properly

Most of the leverage on Spotify happens before release day, because editorial pitching is only open to unreleased songs.

1. Claim and tidy your profile

   Use Spotify for Artists to keep your photo, bio and links current. People and curators check your profile before they press play.

2. Deliver the release early

   Get the music to your distributor well ahead of release day. Spotify asks for delivery at least 7 days before release so editors have time to listen.

3. Pitch one song to Spotify’s editors

   Pitch one eligible, unreleased song in Spotify for Artists. Spotify recommends at least 7 days ahead: that gives editors listening time, and a pitch made at least 7 days before release also adds the song to your followers’ Release Radar, even if editors pass. A shorter lead time does not by itself make an unreleased song ineligible. The full rules are in how to get on Spotify playlists.

4. Prepare your assets

   Artwork in square and vertical formats, a few short clips, a one-line description of the song (genre, mood, what it sounds like) and a single link that works everywhere. The zero-budget plan has the full list.

5. Set up a Countdown Page if you qualify

   For a new album or EP (not a single), artists with at least 3,000 monthly active listeners can create a Countdown Page, where fans can pre-save the release.

Release week: use what Spotify gives you

1. Make the release your Artist Pick

   Pin it at the top of your profile. An Artist Pick stays up for 180 days unless you change it.

2. Add a Canvas

   A Canvas is a 3 to 8 second looping visual that plays with the track. It gives people something to watch while the song makes its case.

3. Tell the people who already listen

   Share the Spotify link directly: your email list, your socials, the communities you are part of. Use a Promo Card or your own artwork, and ask for one thing: follow on Spotify so they hear the next release. Spotify notifies followers when you release new music.

4. Submit to playlists that fit

   Released songs can still go to independent curators. Start with a short list of playlists that genuinely fit (see below).

Playlist strategy: editorial and independent

Spotify’s editors are reached only through your pitch in Spotify for Artists, and only before release. Independent playlists are run by curators, brands, labels and fans, each with their own way of taking submissions. Algorithmic playlists such as Discover Weekly have no submission route at all: they respond to what listeners do.

For independent playlists, fit beats size. A smaller playlist whose listeners love your genre can do more than a large one where your song is out of place. Find and check them with this curator guide, pitch them with these templates, and if you are not sure which of our playlists suit your song, the Playlist Fit Checker matches it against each open one and explains why.

Choosing between submission platforms? Playlist submission sites compared by model explains free submission, paid consideration, marketplaces and managed campaigns, and what each payment actually covers. Every BVSS FVM and CuratorOS playlist open to submissions is listed on our free submission page.

Bringing listeners from outside Spotify

Spotify can only recommend you to people once some of them are listening. Most early listeners arrive from somewhere else: a short video, a friend, a newsletter, a show. Spotify’s own advice is that sharing your music helps turn listeners into followers.

• Short-form video built around the song, posted consistently rather than only in release week.
• Your email list and the communities you already take part in.
• Collaborations with artists at a similar stage, credited correctly so the release shows on both profiles.
• Spotify Codes on anything physical, and one Spotify link everywhere else.

Turning first listens into repeat listeners

A first stream is reach. A second, third and tenth stream is an audience. Followers get your new releases in Release Radar, and Spotify says your Fans Also Like section reflects your fans’ listening, which is why real fans saving and playlisting your music matters more than any shortcut.

Keep the profile worth visiting, ask for the follow every time you share, and keep releasing: each release is a new chance to reach your followers and pitch editors again. How to get more Spotify streams goes deeper on retention.

What to measure in Spotify for Artists

Measure the release, not the vanity numbers. Spotify for Artists gives you everything you need to see what worked.

Free vs paid promotion

Everything above is free except your time. Paid options exist and some are legitimate, but none of them replaces the free foundation.

What not to buy

If an offer promises something only manipulation could deliver, walk away. Spotify says services that guarantee streams or placement break its terms, and the risk falls on your music, not the seller.

• Streams, followers or saves sold as a number.
• Playlist placement sold as a sure thing, editorial or otherwise. Spotify says selling placement breaks its terms.
• Playlists that add anything for a fee, or whose listeners do not look real.
• Anyone asking for your Spotify for Artists login.

A release-by-release promotion checklist

Use this every release. It is a working order of operations, not a guarantee.