Don’t give up on third-party playlists! They still matter for emerging artists

While ‘official’ playlists have become something of a Holy Grail for artists promoting their music, certain third-party playlists continue to have significant pull when it comes to getting your music into the ears of new fans.

Guest post by Florian Richling, Founder of ForTunes  

There was a time when third-party playlists on Spotify and YouTube were seen as a cornerstone of artist development and promotion. 

Though many music execs, managers, and emerging artists have moved away from focusing so much on streaming service playlists, the ground is still fertile for many emerging artists to gain exposure. Popular playlists create viable ecosystems for artists to gather streams and build their brand. 

Third-party playlists play a particularly enticing role for emerging artists who may have that new, unique or exciting sound, but have thus far been drowned out by the 50,000 new songs added to Spotify per day. They can act as catalysts and provide a leg up to other opportunities.

Verified Spotify artist, filous, boasting 1.8 million monthly listeners, agrees that playlists build a fanbase, but acknowledges it’s confusing at first for a new artist . “I can imagine if you are just starting out in music  it would be difficult to go through all this playlist jumble,” filous said. “But there are some amazing tools out there these days. I produce with some newcomers who have never had contacts in the music industry before, and it’s crazy what can happen.” 

Entire companies and apps have been developed to help artists get their songs on playlists — for a fee of course.  There is a host of products out there being peddled to young artists, promising help to get noticed, get heard, get rich. Some are great; but for emerging artists or management teams on a budget, there are options that can serve the same purpose at a time when resources are tight. There is really no need to empty the bank if you have the right data and right approach.

The key moment comes as you attempt to identify playlists that are a good fit. The playlist ecosystem has matured, making it important to find the right curators that will connect with an artists’ work. This is deeper than pitching a slew of folks by genre or followers. You need to get granular about sub-genre and other musical factors. Artists can dig deeper by taking a close look at the audio features of the song, the social  and streaming media characteristics of the playlists’ other artists. Before you bother with pitching them, the playlists you’re targeting need to be vetted to weed out bots, lists unlikely to have a strong human following, and zombies, lists that have gone dormant. Updating frequency matters when you’re hoping to get some tailwinds for a new release. (At ForTunes, we have built powerful tools for identifying playlists along these parameters — and it is completely free.)

This approach works. With a success rate as high as 46%, compared to less than 1% on a genre-based playlist campaign, the numbers are undeniable. The following artists experienced a notable boost in streams after following the ForTunes playlist recommendations: 

• Artist Lofi Lemur gained 15,000 Spotify streams in 15 days, landing 7 playlist adds with only 15 contacted curators.
• In two weeks, Boston Switch’s track “CEO” saw a 500% increase in streams after joining 4 new playlists.
• Franko Fraize’s track “Snow” hit close to 700% increase in streams after 15 days and 5 new playlist adds.    

We’ve found, from talking to the artists in our community, that an artist reaching out directly to the curator can be a persuasive, compelling pitch. Sometimes other tools are necessary, however, and for that reason, we’ve created a direct collaboration with two leading blog and playlist promotion services, Groover.co and Submithub.com, who help artists connect with curators, right from inside the ForTunes app. This unique partnership helps creators manage outreach and spend their time and resources effectively. 

Don’t give up on playlists, friends. They still work wonders in the right circumstances. They are one area where artists can truly be their own best advocates. For artists with unique visions, they remain an essential part of taking control of your musical career and finding your fans. 

About ForTunes: ForTunes started its mission in 2018 to improve the lives of millions of music creators worldwide. Built and developed by a team of music and tech enthusiasts, ForTunes empowers independent artists with cross-platform music data analytics and data-driven career recommendations to optimize decision making and increase revenues.