How to Promote a New Song on Spotify

You promote a new song on Spotify in three stretches. In the weeks before release, you get the track and your profile ready and pitch Spotify's own editors for free. On release day, you tell the people who already like your music and get the track in front of playlists that fit it. In the four to six weeks after, you keep it moving and find out what worked. Here's what goes into each one.

Before release: make sure the track can compete

Promotion puts your track in front of people. What they do next depends on the track. Before you spend a cent, play it straight after a released track by an artist one step ahead of you in your genre, at the same volume, and listen for the gap: the vocal, the low end, the loudness, and whether the arrangement holds for three minutes. Is your track ready for playlist promotion walks through the full check.

Then get the details right while there's still time:

• Write your genre in three words, as narrowly as you can. "Warm indie folk" tells a listener and a curator what they're about to hear.
• Check the title, credits, artwork, and genre tags with your distributor.
• Give your artist profile a real photo, a short bio, and older tracks worth playing, because that's where curious listeners land.

Before release: pitch Spotify's editors

Spotify for Artists lets you pitch one unreleased track to Spotify's editorial team for free. If you pitch at least seven days before release, Spotify adds the track to your followers' Release Radar, according to Spotify's own guide to getting music on Release Radar. That alone makes it worth the fifteen minutes.

An editorial playlist is a long shot for most independent artists, so treat it as a bonus. Pitch about two weeks out, fill in the genre, mood, and instruments properly, and you've got room to spare on the seven days.

Before release: give the release one story

People need a reason to look. Pick one angle for the release: the story behind the track, the feeling it captures, a visual idea, or a hook that does the work by itself. Shoot two or three short clips around it before release day, so release day is for posting.

Release day: start with the people who already like you

Your followers get the new track in their Release Radar, and Spotify says a new release can sit there for up to 28 days. Help it along:

• Message your fans directly, on whatever channel they actually read.
• Send it to your email list. If you don't have one yet, start one now. It's the one audience no platform can take away from you.
• Post the first clip, and pin it.

Release day: get the track onto the right playlists

This is where most artists lose their release week. The old way means finding playlists in your genre, working out who runs them, hunting for contact details, learning each curator's rules, and paying to pitch. On pitching platforms, around $150 usually buys submissions to about 15 curators, with nothing promised, and the curators keep the money whatever they decide. Plenty of artists spend that and get back generic declines or silence. Charging artists just to have a track considered also breaks Spotify's rules, and it's the artist who carries the risk.

On Soundmango you start a campaign on release day with your track's Spotify link. You choose the genres and the minimum follower count you want, pick a duration, see the price, and pay once. Your track only goes to curators whose playlists fit, and when one passes, it goes to the next 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 your campaign on, you get every cent back.

The weeks after: keep it moving

Listeners don't know your release calendar. Someone who finds the track in week five is still a new listener. Keep posting clips a couple of times a week, share any playlist your track lands on, and thank the people who send it around.

Space your next release out, too. Only one of your tracks can sit in your followers' Release Radar at a time, according to Spotify's guide, so two releases a week apart end up competing for the same spot.

The weeks after: find out what worked

Around week six, open Spotify for Artists and write down what happened:

• Under Music, then Playlists, the playlists your track is on and how many listeners each one sent. A playlist only shows up once it has sent at least 3 listeners.
• Where your streams came from, under Source of streams.
• Saves, followers gained, and what you spent.

One row per release makes every release after this one easier to plan. How to learn from your previous Spotify releases goes through each number.

What hurts a new release

• Bought streams and bot playlists. Spotify can withhold royalties, correct your stream counts, and pull the track from playlists when it finds artificial streaming, according to its help pages on the subject. How to spot fake Spotify playlists shows you what to check.
• Spreading thin. A bit of ad spend, a few rushed posts, and a handful of channels nobody prepared. Pick fewer things and do each one properly.
• Stopping on day three. Most of the work pays off in the weeks after release day.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best way to promote a new song on Spotify?

Get the track ready, pitch Spotify's editors at least seven days before release, tell your fans on release day, and put the track in front of playlists that fit its genre. A Soundmango campaign handles that last part in one step.

How far in advance should I plan a release?

Four to six weeks. That gives you time to finish the master, pitch Spotify's editors well before the seven-day cutoff, and shoot a few clips.

Should I buy guaranteed Spotify streams?

No. Nobody can guarantee what real listeners do, and Spotify treats bought streams as artificial streaming, with royalties withheld and tracks pulled from playlists.

Can I promote a song that came out months ago?

Yes. A track that fits a playlist still fits it months later, and a Soundmango campaign works for any released track.

How long should I keep promoting a new song?

About six to eight weeks is a good rule of thumb for most releases, with most of the push in the first four, while the track is still new in your followers' Release Radar. When to stop promoting a track covers the signs to watch.

Give your next release the right start

Release day is the moment to get your track in front of curators who run real playlists in your genre. It keeps going to the next fitting curator until one takes on your campaign, and approved tracks have an estimated 99% chance of landing on a playlist. Start a campaign for your new release.