As a designer by day and a passionate songwriter by night, I’ve found myself on a rollercoaster journey to get my music heard. Let’s face it, in today’s saturated music landscape, it’s not enough to simply create great tunes – you need to get them in front of the right ears. That’s where playlist curators come in, those magical gatekeepers who can potentially introduce your sound to thousands of new listeners.
After countless late nights researching and even more hours submitting my tracks to various platforms, I’ve compiled a list of what I believe to be the 10 best playlist curators for independent artists like us. Whether you’re crafting indie rock anthems, producing electronic beats, or penning heartfelt folk ballads, these curators could be your ticket to expanding your audience and boosting those all-important streaming numbers.
In this article, I’ll share my personal experiences and insights on each of these curators, breaking down what makes them stand out and how you can increase your chances of catching their attention.
1. For the Love of Bands
For the Love of Bands is an independent playlist brand and music blog based in the Netherlands that focuses on promoting independent and emerging artists. Founded in 2016, they curate playlists across multiple platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube, and SoundCloud. Their playlists cover a wide range of genres, with a particular emphasis on indie rock, alternative rock, pop punk, and singer-songwriter styles. For the Love of Bands is known for their commitment to discovering and showcasing new talent, making them an excellent choice for independent artists looking to grow their fanbase. They offer both free and paid submission options, with the latter providing faster consideration. In addition to playlist curation, they also feature artists on their blog with in-depth music reviews, providing additional exposure for selected musicians.
2. Playlist Curator
Playlist Curator is a prominent online platform dedicated to curating and distributing high-quality music playlists across various streaming services, including Spotify, YouTube Music, and SoundCloud. As one of the leading playlist curators on the internet, they offer a diverse range of carefully crafted playlists designed to suit different moods, occasions, and musical preferences.
The platform prides itself on its meticulous curation process, which involves a team of experienced curators who continuously explore new releases, emerging artists, and timeless classics across multiple genres. Their approach to playlist creation emphasizes thematic coherence, ensuring that each track contributes to the overall atmosphere and narrative of the playlist. This attention to detail results in engaging and cohesive listening experiences for their audience.
Playlist Curator maintains high standards for the music they include in their playlists. Each track undergoes a rigorous evaluation process, considering factors such as production quality, lyrical content, and overall artistic merit. This commitment to quality control ensures that listeners consistently encounter top-tier music across all of their playlists.
One of the unique aspects of Playlist Curator is their openness to submissions from independent artists. They provide a straightforward submission process for musicians looking to have their songs featured on popular playlists. However, they maintain strict criteria for selection, carefully considering each submission to ensure it aligns with their high standards and the specific themes of their playlists.
The platform offers an impressive variety of themed playlists, catering to a wide range of musical tastes and emotional states. Some of their popular collections include “Songs About the Sun and Sunshine,” “Songs About Hope,” and more niche themes like “Songs About Codependency” and “Songs About Bees.” This diverse selection ensures that listeners can find playlists that resonate with their current mood or interests.
3. Daily Playlists
Daily Playlists is a popular platform that connects artists with playlist curators across various genres and moods. They offer a streamlined submission process that allows musicians to target playlists that best fit their style and sound. Daily Playlists stands out for its extensive network of curators, which includes both independent playlist creators and industry professionals. This diversity provides artists with a wide range of opportunities to get their music heard by different audiences. The platform also offers detailed analytics and feedback, helping artists understand how their music is performing and what resonates with listeners.
4. SubmitHub
SubmitHub is a widely-used platform that serves as a bridge between artists and music industry professionals, including playlist curators, bloggers, and record labels. Founded by Jason Grishkoff in 2015, SubmitHub has become a go-to resource for independent artists looking to promote their music. The platform offers both free and premium submission options, with the latter providing guaranteed feedback from curators. SubmitHub’s user-friendly interface allows artists to easily search for and submit to curators that match their genre and style. One of the platform’s strengths is its transparency, providing clear statistics on each curator’s acceptance rates and response times. This information helps artists make informed decisions about where to submit their music, potentially increasing their chances of playlist inclusion.
5. Boost Collective
Boost Collective is a comprehensive music promotion platform that offers a range of services, including playlist curation and submission. They have built a network of over 300 Spotify playlists across various genres, providing artists with significant opportunities for exposure. What sets Boost Collective apart is their integrated approach to music promotion. They offer free playlist submissions to artists who use their distribution services, creating a one-stop solution for independent musicians looking to release and promote their music.
Boost Collective’s curation process is designed to match artists with the most suitable playlists for their genre and style. They emphasize quick turnaround times, aiming to add submitted tracks to playlists within 24 hours. The platform also encourages frequent playlist updates, recommending that curators add new songs every 1-3 days to keep the content fresh and engaging for listeners. This approach not only benefits the artists but also ensures that playlist followers are consistently exposed to new music.
6. SoundCampaign
SoundCampaign is a unique platform that connects artists directly with playlist curators. They have an open network of curators who review and potentially add submitted tracks to their playlists. What makes SoundCampaign stand out is their commitment to fairness and transparency. They compensate curators for the time spent reviewing submissions rather than for playlist placements, which helps maintain the integrity of the curation process.
The platform uses an automated matching system to pair artists’ submissions with suitable curators based on genre and style. This streamlines the submission process and increases the likelihood of a good fit between the artist and the playlist. SoundCampaign also provides artists with feedback from curators, offering valuable insights even if a track isn’t selected for playlist inclusion. Their Artist Protection Program ensures that artists receive credit back if curators don’t provide feedback, adding an extra layer of assurance for musicians using the service.
7. Rizing Playlists
Rizing Playlists, based in Denmark, is a prominent Spotify playlist curator focused on promoting emerging and unsigned artists. With over 177,000 followers across 29 playlists, they cover a wide range of contemporary music styles, including Pop, Indie, Rave, and Classical. Rizing Playlists is known for its commitment to discovering and showcasing new talent, making it an excellent platform for independent artists looking to expand their audience.
The submission process at Rizing Playlists is straightforward, with artists able to submit their tracks through an online form. What sets Rizing apart is their high engagement rate with submissions – they provide feedback on more than 90% of the tracks they receive. This level of interaction is invaluable for artists, offering insights into how their music is perceived by industry professionals. Rizing’s diverse range of playlists ensures that artists from various genres have the opportunity to find a suitable home for their music, potentially exposing them to thousands of new listeners.
8. Playlist Push
Playlist Push is a well-established platform that connects artists with playlist curators across various genres and streaming services. Founded in 2017, it has become one of the most popular promotion services available for independent musicians. Playlist Push offers campaigns for both Spotify playlists and TikTok influencers, providing artists with multiple avenues for exposure.
The platform’s strength lies in its vast network of curators, with access to over 25 million listeners through their campaigns. Playlist Push uses a sophisticated matching system that pairs artists with curators based on genre and style, increasing the likelihood of successful placements. Artists can customize their campaigns by selecting target genres, audience, and promotion strategies.
One unique aspect of Playlist Push is its commitment to transparency and fairness. The platform monitors curators to ensure legitimacy and prevent suspicious activity. Additionally, curators are paid for listening and providing feedback, not for playlist additions, which helps maintain the integrity of the curation process.
9. SpinGrey
SpinGrey is a music promotion service that focuses on connecting independent artists with playlist curators and music bloggers. While not as large as some other platforms, SpinGrey has carved out a niche for itself by offering personalized attention to each submission. They work with a curated network of playlist owners and music bloggers across various genres, providing artists with opportunities for both playlist inclusion and written coverage.
SpinGrey’s approach emphasizes quality over quantity. They carefully review each submission to ensure it matches the right curators, increasing the chances of successful placements. The platform also provides detailed feedback to artists, offering valuable insights into how their music is perceived by industry professionals. This feedback can be particularly useful for emerging artists looking to refine their sound or marketing approach.
10. Tunemunk
Tunemunk is a relatively new player in the playlist curation space, but it has quickly gained traction among independent artists. The platform differentiates itself by focusing on algorithmic matching between artists and playlists. Tunemunk uses artificial intelligence to analyze an artist’s music and match it with playlists that have similar sonic characteristics and audience demographics.
One of Tunemunk’s unique features is its dynamic pricing model. The cost of submission varies based on the potential reach and engagement of the playlists, allowing artists to choose campaigns that fit their budget and goals. The platform also offers a “no placement, no pay” guarantee for certain campaigns, reducing the financial risk for artists.
Tunemunk provides comprehensive analytics to artists, showing not just where their music has been placed, but also detailed listener engagement metrics. This data can be invaluable for artists looking to understand their audience better and refine their promotional strategies.
