The Best Way To Get On Spotify Playlists Is With the Perfect Pitch [TEMPLATES]
Spotify playlists promotion is getting trickier and trickier. Music submission sites like Submithub have their place, but they also have a ton of drawbacks. I used one once that garnered 20+ playlists--and 300 streams (big freakin’ deal, right?). Submission sites work, but they work better for blogs and labels. We all know that feeling of ecstasy when Submithub says our music is going to be added to a playlist, and how low the feeling sinks when we see that that playlist only has 51 followers.
Even in 2021, you need more than to submit. You need to pitch. Pitching, or media pitching, means reaching out cold to the playlisters you want to hear your music. Cold means they don’t know you, and that’s okay. They want to hear your music, because they need music to share, and if you don’t bore them with too many words and too much information, they’ll probably listen. Pitching is the best way to get on Spotify playlists. You should have at least two pitches: a 100-200 word email pitch and 3-line social media pitch. There is also a place for a longform pitch, but we’ll hit on that in future articles.
How To Get Added To Spotify Playlists: The Email Pitch
Email pitches can be a fun challenge, because they require a lot of the information in the longform pitch. I use little copy tricks like weaving up to three pieces of information into just one sentence, rereading it and replacing more complex language with highly simplified text that uses the smallest words possible, or cutting out the least relevant information. You’ll use these again to turn your email pitch into your social media pitch.
The elements of the most impactful email pitch I’ve used are:
Introduction: The only key thing is here to be short. There’s no need for “I hope you and your loved ones have been staying safe and healthy.” They just want to get the gist of you as an artist, so skip intros and get to that. Starting with “Hi,” is fine.
Who Is The Artist: This is where a 2-sentence artist bio goes. It needs to answer who you are, meaning what drives your music? What is your story in a sentence? For example. I have one client who’s an interesting dude all around, but his story can be boiled down quickly into the fact that he’s a Purple Heart recipient and expat teaching in Mexico.
What’s The Song? What’s The Sound?: Here you talk briefly about the song you want to promote. Think inspiration for the song. To describe your sound, compare yourself to other artists and go as specific as possible on your subgenres. This is a huge part of enticing the playlister to listen, and it is how to get added to Spotify playlists.
Links: Wrap it up with your music links (Spotify, Soundcloud, and YouTube are the ones curators really care about). Share the direct link to the song you want in the Spotify playlist promotion. Don’t link to the album that houses the single, link right to the direct-play link for the track.
HOW TO GET ADDED TO SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS:
EMAIL PITCH TEMPLATES THAT GOT MY CLIENTS FEATURED
EMAIL #1: A Little Shock Factor
Hi,
I’m reaching out to you on behalf of a unique alt-indie artist’s new single. Benedict Sinister just released “Spitting Lines From Debby Harry”, and it’s so punk it takes you back to 1977, with Black Flag and Vibrators vibes.
You can find the song here: https://open.spotify.com/track/7JrC6AVvXfqkAWWADXAs0p?si=yI0uFOY8QyaDsJblAKdvXg
And his bio here: [link]
Bio: Benedict Sinister is a drinking, smoking fuckmachine who believes that a little bit of vice is a good thing. His Work-Hard-Play-Hard mentality has served him well, and his latest release proves it.
[Social Links]
Best,
Vince
EMAIL #2: Switching Up The Order of Information
Hi,
Bio: Allydice is an up-and-coming RnB artist signed to Timeless Records who sounds like Ama Lou with Alicia Keys influences.
Track Description: The track, Grow, is actually all about a long-term relationship of hers, a relationship she feels stopped her from growing. The central question from the song, “How in the hell was I ever supposed to grow?” is one that Allydice believes a lot of women in similar situations can relate to. It’s about trying to understand not only your partner but yourself.
Hope to start a conversation and any feedback would be great! Would love to be featured on your show.
[LINKS]
Best,
Vince
Best Way To Get On Spotify Playlists: The Social Media Pitch
The thing about the social media pitch for Spotify playlist promotion is that there are simply no rules. Using LinkedIn, you can curate entire spreadsheets of playlisters to reach out to that you might not get access to through email lists and databases. And on Instagram you can dive right in and start messaging them.
But this is a largely untapped means of cold media pitching, and while it’s old for business-to-business sales, it’s not something publicists always leverage. This means: playlisters are a lot more open to being hit up on social media, because they’re not inundated and overwhelmed there yet, and that you get to decide what’s important to include.
But at it’s core, a social pitch is a pared down email pitch. So, the elements still include artist info and track info. They include only one critical link to a single as opposed to all your links. There’s just less of everything. You want one line about the artist, and one line about the track. Check out these templates:
TEMPLATE #1
Hey,
I wanted to share my new single, Love Hurts, with you. It’s eighties inspired with a touch of Neon Indian influence. I’ve been making music for three years and have toured all three of them. [LINK]
Thanks,
Sarah
TEMPLATE #2
Hi,
Falling is a melodic indie rock song, sounds a bit like Beach Fossils, or Dr. Dog mixed with Lewis Del Mar. Dream On is a UK band with no shortage of tour and rock band experience. Now that the three of them have come together, they’re taking their individual experiences and collaborating with each other on something great. [LINK]
Vince
You can use these templates to craft your perfect pitch for your own Spotify playlist promotion campaign. Go rock the indie media world!
