Spotify Playlisting will hinder algorithmic success, damage your artist profile, and act as a bottomless pit for investing money with no retention.
Don't pay "curators" for Spotify playlisting. Here's why.
If you've ever used a playlisting service or paid a curator, you probably experienced a significant drop off in listeners when your song was taken off the playlist. Then you're forced to pay more money for another placement which will do the same thing. And so the cycle continues. They're are two types of playlisting and they're both bad.
Botted Playlists - bad for obvious reasons. Not only will your song and overall profile be in jeopardy of sanction by Spotify, but you're effectively shadow-banning yourself from ever growing on the platform.
Organic Playlists - may sound better but it's not. That's because even the most organic playlists contain incredibly passive listeners. The results? A horrible save rate and bad listener to stream ratio. Both are key metrics Spotify uses to determine to quality of your track. Therefore, you're putting your track at a disadvantage to recieve algorithmic support. Not the mention the often genre/mood mismatch. Have your hard rap song in a playlist for chill pop isn't going to turn out well.
Yet everyday I see artists fall for the same trick. "Submit to our network of playlists with 1 million + listeners for $10. Seriously? No artists is going to blow up by buying a package from a playlisting service.
Playlisting = No Algorithms
Understanding Spotify's algorithm is simple. The better Spotify understands a song's audience, the more it will recommend it to listeners.
Therefore, sending good data to Spotify is the MOST IMPORTANT factor in getting a song to hit millions of plays. You need to get people to save the song, listen to it over and over, and add it to their personal playlists! Playlisting does the opposite.
playlisting = low save ratio = low stream/listener = no algorithms
Playlisting = Audience Mismatch
Playlists are often poorly curated (because they sell slots for money). This leads to an audience mismatch.
If you look at your Spotify for Artists and your 'similar artists' aren't similar, that's not good. You will have to do some serious work to correct this data. As previously mentioned, the key factor in growing on Spotify is helping it understand your audience.
Playlisting = Bad ROI and No Growth
To top it off, after your placement ends, the company or curators asks for more money to continue. Beginning the cycle of throwing money away.
It's not that playlisters charge for exposure. You will have to pay for good marketing, but this method results in horrible retention and growth. Price often times reflects quality. You may have to pay more, but invest in methods that will actually grow your audience. That will leave you in a better place that you started.
Want Your Song Stats to Look Like This?
Tip: It's not from playlisting
Comments