How to Find Spotify Playlist Curators

You find Spotify playlist curators by searching Spotify for playlists in your genre, then tracking down each owner through the playlist description, Instagram, Google, or a curator directory. Finding the names takes an afternoon. Checking which of them run real playlists that suit your track, finding a way to reach each one, and waiting to hear back takes days for every release. Here's what that work involves, what it costs you, and the faster way to reach curators who already fit your music.

Where artists usually look for curators

Most curator hunting starts in the same few places:

• Spotify search. You type your genre or a mood, open the playlists that come up, and read each description. Some curators leave an email address or a link there. Many leave nothing.
• Instagram and Google. Playlist names often carry a curator's brand, so a search for the name can turn up the person behind it.
• Curator directories and contact lists. Some sites sell spreadsheets of curator emails, sorted loosely by genre.
• Submission platforms. These sell you pitches to curators who have signed up to receive them, usually per curator and often with a minimum spend.
• Your own dashboard. Spotify for Artists shows the playlists your earlier tracks already sit on, under Music, then Playlists. Those curators have already chosen your music once.

Every one of these gets you names. None of them tells you whether a curator's playlist has real listeners, suits this particular track, or is still being updated.

What finding curators actually costs you

The expensive part comes after the names. For every playlist on your list, you have to:

1. Play enough of it to hear what the curator actually adds.
2. Check the dates on the most recent additions, to make sure someone still runs it.
3. Look for signs of fake followers or bot traffic.
4. Find a way to contact the owner, which often means another search.
5. Write to them, and then wait.

Say each playlist takes 40 minutes to check properly, and you want twenty that fit. That's more than 13 hours of research for one release, before a single curator has pressed play. Then most of them never reply, and the ones who do often send a one-line decline. On the next release you do it again, because playlists change and curators move on.

Contact lists look like a shortcut, but they make the job bigger. A file of five thousand emails is five thousand playlists you still have to check, most of them in genres that have nothing to do with your track. Many of the addresses are out of date, and a curator who gets the same mass email from hundreds of artists a week learns to ignore it.

Submission platforms move the cost from hours to money. You pay per curator whether or not anyone listens properly, and plenty of artists spend a few hundred dollars that way and get a stack of generic declines back. That model isn't compliant with Spotify's rules either: they don't allow charging for placements, or even for considering a track for placement, and it's the artist who carries the risk. Why your playlist pitches aren't getting placements goes into where that money goes.

Reach the right curators without the hunt

On Soundmango you skip the search entirely. You start a campaign, set the genres you want and a minimum follower count, see the price, and pay once. Your track only goes to curators whose playlists fit what you asked for, and every one of those playlists has been vetted for real listeners before it's listed.

When a curator passes, your track goes to the next fitting curator, and that keeps happening until one takes on your campaign. Approved tracks have an estimated 99% chance of landing on at least one playlist, and if no curator takes on your campaign, you get every cent back.

Those 13 hours go back into your music.

What makes a curator worth reaching

Whichever way you reach curators, the playlist behind the name is what counts. Three things matter:

• Fit. Your track has to sound at home next to what's already on the playlist. A curator running a warm acoustic playlist can like your indie rock track and still decline it, because it would break what their listeners came for.
• Real listeners. A big follower count can sit on top of bought followers or bot traffic that never plays a track. How to spot fake Spotify playlists walks through the checks.
• Active curation. A playlist that hasn't changed in months reaches nobody new.

How to choose the right Spotify playlists covers each of these in detail, and what Spotify playlist curators look for covers the other side of the decision.

Curators to stay away from

Any curator who asks for money to add your track is running a paid ad slot. Spotify's own guidance for artists says services that guarantee playlist placement for money break its rules, and a playlist built that way is full of tracks nobody picked for the listeners. The same goes for anyone promising a set number of streams, which usually means bots. The risks of buying Spotify playlist placements explains what can happen to your track.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find Spotify playlist curators?

In playlist descriptions, on Instagram, through Google, and in curator directories. Expect to check each one by hand before it's worth contacting. On Soundmango you skip that step, because your track only reaches curators whose vetted playlists fit your genre.

How long does it take to find the right curators?

Many hours per release. At around 40 minutes to check each playlist properly, a list of twenty takes more than 13 hours, plus the time spent waiting for replies.

Are paid curator contact lists worth buying?

No. Most are out of date, loosely sorted by genre, and full of playlists with no real listeners. You still have to check every name yourself.

Can I pay a Spotify curator to add my track?

No. Spotify's rules forbid paying for playlist placement, and a curator who adds tracks for money is running a playlist nobody chose to listen to.

Should I contact the curators who already added my music?

Yes, a short thank-you is worth sending. They chose your music once, and Spotify for Artists shows you who they are under Music, then Playlists.

Get your track to the right curators

Pay once, and your track goes to curators who run real playlists in your genre until one of them takes on your campaign, with an estimated 99% chance of landing on a playlist along the way. If no curator takes it on, your money comes back. Start a campaign for your next release.