As an independent singer-songwriter, I know firsthand the thrill of creating music and the subsequent challenge of getting it heard. In today’s digital age, playlists have become the new radio, and playlist curators are the modern-day DJs who can make or break an artist’s career.
After spending countless hours researching and submitting my own tracks, I’ve compiled a list of the 10 best playlist curators that every aspiring musician should know about.
These curators aren’t just faceless algorithms or corporate entities; they’re passionate music lovers who dedicate their time to discovering and promoting fresh talent.
1. Indiemono
Indiemono is a prominent independent playlist curator with a significant presence on Spotify. They focus on discovering and promoting indie bands and artists, positioning themselves as an alternative to the mainstream music industry. With over 3 million playlist followers and more than 100 actively curated playlists, Indiemono has established itself as one of the top 10 independent profiles on Spotify worldwide. Their playlisting approach emphasizes quality curation, respecting both the artists and listeners. Indiemono updates their playlists daily, weekly, or monthly, treating playlist creation as a craft rather than relying solely on algorithms. Importantly, they maintain a strict policy against selling playlist placements, ensuring fair opportunities for all artists.
2. Playlist Curator
Playlist Curator stands out as one of the most prominent playlist curators on the internet, offering a diverse range of carefully curated music playlists across major streaming platforms. Their approach to playlist curation is meticulous and thoughtful, designed to create engaging and high-quality playlists that resonate with listeners across various moods and occasions. The platform’s team of experienced curators continuously explores new releases, emerging artists, and timeless classics across multiple genres, ensuring a diverse music selection that stays up-to-date with the latest industry trends.
One of Playlist Curator’s key strengths is its thematic coherence. Each playlist is crafted around a specific theme, mood, or occasion, with every track contributing to the overall atmosphere and narrative of the playlist. This attention to detail extends to their quality control process, where each track undergoes rigorous evaluation considering factors such as production quality, lyrical content, and overall artistic merit.
Playlist Curator offers opportunities for artists to submit their music for consideration. They carefully listen to each submission and use strict criteria to assess it before including it in their popular playlists. This open submission process allows emerging artists to potentially reach a wider audience through Playlist Curator’s established platform.
3. iMusician
iMusician offers a range of genre-specific playlists for independent artists to submit their music. They provide opportunities for musicians to showcase their work across various genres, including jazz, electronic, and indie music. iMusician’s playlists are available on multiple streaming platforms, including Spotify and Deezer, allowing artists to reach a diverse audience. Their submission process is straightforward, enabling artists to submit tracks directly through their website. iMusician also offers guidance on how to find and approach Spotify playlist curators, providing valuable resources for independent musicians looking to expand their reach.
4. Rizing Playlists
Rizing Playlists is a music playlist series dedicated to featuring up-and-coming artists, with a particular focus on helping listeners discover talented musicians they might not otherwise encounter. Launched in August 2018, Rizing Playlists has consistently punched above its weight by showcasing the best vibes from talented artists across the globe. Many of the featured artists are independent, either unsigned or associated with small indie labels. Rizing Playlists maintains a strong presence across various social media platforms, including Spotify, Instagram, and Facebook, which helps to amplify the reach of the artists they feature. They accept submissions across a wide range of genres, including indie pop, indie folk, indie rock, and dance music, making them an excellent option for diverse independent artists seeking playlist inclusion.
5. Boost Collective
Boost Collective is a legitimate music distribution and promotion service that offers a unique approach to Spotify playlist promotion. They provide distribution to over 150 music stores at no upfront cost, with artists retaining full copyrights to their songs. What sets Boost Collective apart is their credit system, where artists earn credits for each release submitted through their platform. These credits can be used for various services, including Spotify promotion, music mastering, graphic design, and marketing courses. Their Spotify promotion primarily relies on playlists they’ve created themselves, which they curate for quality and drive engagement through Instagram ads. While this model differs from curator-centric approaches, it allows Boost Collective to maintain more control over their campaigns. This service is particularly appealing to rising artists planning frequent releases, especially those in hip-hop, EDM, and pop genres.
6. Soundplate
Soundplate offers an efficient and user-friendly system for submitting music to Spotify playlists. Their process is designed to be straightforward and effective, focusing on matching artists with the right playlists for their music. Soundplate emphasizes the importance of targeting appropriate playlists by genre, providing easy access to curated lists of playlists in various categories such as Electronic/House, Hip-Hop/Urban, Pop/Commercial, and more. Their submission process involves a simple three-step approach: finding suitable playlists, clicking the ‘Submit Music’ button on the playlist page, and completing the submission form. Soundplate also implements a follow-first policy, requiring artists to follow the playlist and curator before submitting, which helps build genuine connections within the music community. Additionally, they offer tools like a Spotify playlist analyzer and track analyzer to help artists determine if their songs are a good fit for specific playlists before submission.
7. SoundCampaign
SoundCampaign is a Spotify promotion service that operates on an open network of playlist curators. Their model allows anyone to apply to become a curator, and if accepted, they are paid to review music submissions that match their genre preferences. For artists, SoundCampaign offers campaigns where they can choose how many curators to send their music to, with costs increasing for wider reach. However, artists cannot select specific curators to pitch to directly. SoundCampaign’s approach differs from some competitors by focusing on a larger number of curators and more niche genres, though their playlists tend to be smaller in size. The service includes a review process for submitted tracks before allowing campaign creation, aiming to maintain quality for curators and ensure better results for artists. SoundCampaign also provides a dashboard where artists can view curator responses and have the option to reply, fostering communication between artists and playlist curators.
8. SongRocket
SongRocket is a platform that connects independent artists with playlist curators and music influencers. They offer a unique approach to playlist submission by emphasizing the importance of building relationships between artists and curators. SongRocket provides a streamlined process for artists to submit their music to relevant playlists, increasing their chances of getting featured. The platform also offers resources and guidance for aspiring curators who want to build their own playlists and grow their influence in the music industry. SongRocket’s focus on fostering a community of artists and curators sets it apart from other submission services, creating a more collaborative and supportive environment for music promotion.
9. Submit Hub
SubmitHub is one of the most widely recognized and transparent platforms for music submissions. It offers artists the opportunity to send their songs directly to music blogs, Spotify playlisters, TikTok and Instagram influencers, and other industry professionals. The platform’s strength lies in its extensive network of curators and its user-friendly interface. SubmitHub operates on a credit system, where artists can choose between free or premium credits to submit their music. Premium submissions guarantee feedback from curators, providing valuable insights even if the track isn’t selected. This approach ensures that artists receive responses and helps them understand why their music may or may not be chosen, making it an educational tool as well as a promotional one.
10. SpinGrey
SpinGrey is a playlist curation service that offers artists a unique opportunity to have their music considered for inclusion in carefully curated playlists. What sets SpinGrey apart is its Patreon-based system, which allows artists to submit their music with priority to SpinGrey’s playlists and social channels. This model creates a more direct line of communication between artists and curators, potentially increasing the chances of playlist inclusion. SpinGrey maintains an active presence on social media platforms, particularly Instagram, where they share updates about their playlists and new releases. This multi-channel approach not only helps in music promotion but also in building a community around their curated content. SpinGrey’s playlists cover various genres and moods, providing opportunities for diverse artists to find suitable playlists for their music.
