What all indie artists need to know about editorial playlists
Editorial playlists are a great way to boost streams for indie artists. Here’s everything you need to know…
by HORUS MUSIC
Editorial playlists on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music are curated by their respective in-house editorial teams, consisting of music experts and genre specialists around the world. Editorial teams will listen to your music and decide whether your song is eligible to be added to an editorial playlist, based on factors such as audio quality, number of pre-saves, genre suitability and much more. For independent artists, editorial playlists are a pivotal tool for increasing monthly listeners, streams, and royalties due to being the most popular and sought after playlists on their respective DSPs.
So, how do I get onto an editorial playlist?
If you are wanting to utilise our in-house pitching services, whether it be our free plugging option or a full paid campaign, it is essential your release has been distributed via Horus Music. Distributing through Horus Music allows us to pitch your release to our contacts at DSPs, increasing your chances of landing on editorial playlists through our direct partnerships. Our direct deals with stores can also lead to additional opportunities such as playlist banners.
If you’re looking to opt for a fully comprehensive paid playlisting campaign, the first step to consideration is sending our team a private listening link to your song through our website. This will help us decide if the music is suitable for pitching and fits with what curators are currently looking for. If our team decide to move forward with a campaign, you will need to make sure your release has been distributed via Horus Music with an agreed release date in place, usually 6 weeks in advance to allow sufficient time for our team to carry out the campaign.
Once your release has been uploaded and submitted for distribution, our team will then request further information on you as an artist and your upcoming release, usually in the form of a one sheet, EPK, or press release. This should include key information such as the release’s genre, mood, location of the artist as well as information surrounding the track from significant press coverage to any upcoming live shows, tour support slots or unique stories behind the meaning of the song. It’s best to include as much information as possible so our team can paint a clear and detailed image of who you are as an artist, any success to date and what you hope to achieve moving forward, helping to further your chances of securing playlist placement.
We understand it can be difficult to present yourself as a new, independent artist in a way which helps you to stand out above the noise; which is why our team devised a readily available marketing package for all artists, no matter what stage of their career. Our digital press one sheet service is created by our expert in-house team who will design a one sheet tailored to your artist brand, highlighting an upcoming release or a more generalised artist focus. Your one sheet will contain detailed and well-written information about your release which can also boost your chances of landing playlist placement and be used for press, industry, and live purposes. Previous artists have utilised their digital press one sheet to secure international festival slots, be scooped up by record labels, land a whole host of editorial playlist placements and secure meetings with artist managers. If you’d like to take advantage of this service to help with your playlisting campaign, get in touch with our team today.
At Horus Music, we offer a wide range of playlist pitching services to suit your needs. Our global editorial playlisting campaign is a great tool to increase your audience in international markets and boost your streams across multiple DSPs. Additionally, we offer region-specific pitching including Africa and India targeted playlisting, which is ideal for artists looking to focus on specific areas and genres. At Horus Music, we make it our mission to champion independent artists and with every release, we offer a free editorial playlist plug to Spotify and Apple Music. Our direct relationships with editorial teams across global DSPs and expert pitching team can help increase your chances of landing playlist placement, with previous successes including ‘New in Rock’ (Apple Music), ‘New Music Friday’ (Spotify), and ‘Alt Pop’ (Apple Music).
If you are interested in any of our playlisting services, visit our website for more information. You can submit your music by clicking the “Submit your music” button at the bottom of the page and let us know which service you would like to use.
As playlisting is a service which can only be completed pre-release, submissions for paid playlisting campaigns must be sent 6 weeks in advance of your release date to allow our team time to consider for a full paid campaign, gather any necessary assets and successfully carry out the service. Leaving a 6-week lead time also enables our team to send follow up pitches to further your chances of landing placement across DSPs. For our free Spotify and Apple Music pitch, submissions must be sent 2 weeks in advance.
For any queries relating to playlisting, please contact our team for further details.
