Spotify Discovery Mode gives artists another way to put selected songs in front of listeners who may not already know them.

There is no upfront advertising budget. Instead, Spotify takes a commission from the recording royalties generated by selected songs in specific Discovery Mode listening contexts.

For the right song, that trade can be worthwhile.

At Syntax, we have seen Discovery Mode increase streams, listeners and overall revenue for many artists we work with. The important part is choosing the right songs and watching what happens after the campaign begins.

What is Spotify Discovery Mode?

Discovery Mode is a Spotify marketing tool that lets eligible artists and their teams signal which songs they want Spotify’s recommendation system to prioritize.

That signal increases the likelihood that Spotify will recommend the selected songs in certain personalized listening experiences. However, it does not guarantee additional streams or placement.

Spotify still pays attention to how listeners respond. If people skip or ignore a song, Discovery Mode does not force them to keep hearing it.

Where can Discovery Mode recommend your music?

This is one area where the original version of this article needed an update.

Discovery Mode does not currently apply to every personalized playlist on Spotify.

Spotify’s current Discovery Mode contexts, the listening areas where the program operates, include:

• Spotify Radio
• Autoplay
• Daily Mixes
• Artist Mixes
• Mood Mixes
• Decade Mixes
• Genre Mixes

That means Discovery Mode is not the same thing as pitching a song to an editorial playlist. It also does not currently place songs into Release Radar or Discover Weekly as part of the Discovery Mode program itself.

What does Spotify Discovery Mode cost?

There is no upfront fee or campaign budget.

Instead, Spotify currently applies a 30% commission to the recording royalties generated by a selected song when the stream happens inside a Discovery Mode context.

That distinction is important.

If the same song gets streamed from an artist profile, a listener’s library, an editorial playlist or somewhere else outside Discovery Mode, Spotify does not apply the Discovery Mode commission to that stream.

So you are not agreeing to a lower royalty rate for the song everywhere on Spotify.

You are trading part of the royalties from the streams Discovery Mode helps generate for the opportunity to reach more listeners.

Who can use Discovery Mode?

Discovery Mode is still not available to every artist or every song.

For artists using Discovery Mode directly inside Spotify for Artists, Spotify currently looks for:

• at least three eligible songs
• at least 25,000 monthly listeners
• an active Spotify for Artists team in an eligible market
• distribution through a participating licensor

Monthly listeners are the unique people who listened to an artist during the previous 28 days.

Labels and distributors can also have access through their own relationships with Spotify. Because of that, an artist’s access may depend on how their music is distributed.

If Syntax distributes your music, talk to your team about whether your songs qualify and whether Discovery Mode makes sense for your campaign.

Which songs are eligible?

Spotify currently requires an eligible song to meet several conditions.

Among them, the song must:

• have been released on Spotify for at least 30 days
• have received at least 20 streams in Discovery Mode contexts during the previous 28 days
• have met Spotify’s monetization requirements during the previous month

Not every eligible song automatically belongs in a campaign.

That is where strategy comes in.

Which songs should you choose?

Discovery Mode can be especially useful when a song already gives you a reason to believe more people may respond to it.

For example, you might consider a song that:

• is already gaining listeners
• has strong saves or playlist adds
• is getting attention around a new release
• is starting to move on social media
• connects to an upcoming tour or other artist activity
• is an older catalog track getting renewed attention

Spotify also recommends songs inside the Discovery Mode campaign tool based on its own data.

Still, treat that recommendation as information rather than an order.

The artist and team may know about activity around a song that Spotify cannot see yet.

Discovery Mode can work for catalog too

One of the best uses for Discovery Mode is bringing attention back to music that is no longer new.

A new release might cause people to revisit an older song. A tour, anniversary, sync placement or social moment can do the same thing.

In those situations, Discovery Mode can help Spotify introduce the older track to more listeners while interest is already growing.

That makes the tool useful beyond release week.

How do Discovery Mode campaigns work?

Discovery Mode campaigns operate on a monthly schedule.

Eligible artist teams using Spotify for Artists can set up the next month’s campaign beginning on the 11th of the current month.

From there:

1. Log in to Spotify for Artists on the web.
2. Open Campaigns.
3. Select Discovery Mode.
4. Choose the songs you want to include.
5. Review the campaign.
6. Submit your selections.

The campaign begins on the first day of the next month.

You can choose a one-month campaign or let it continue renewing monthly. Either way, review the songs regularly rather than turning it on forever and forgetting about it.

If you do not have access to Spotify for Artists yet, our Spotify for Artists setup guide explains how to get started.

Watch more than the stream count

More streams are nice.

However, the better question is whether Discovery Mode is helping build an audience that sticks around.

Spotify’s Discovery Mode reporting includes information about:

• listeners
• new listeners
• stream growth
• saves
• playlist adds
• listener intent

Listener intent looks at actions such as saving a song or adding it to a playlist after hearing it.

Those actions can tell you more than a temporary spike in streams.

Our guide to using music data analytics explains how to look for those kinds of patterns instead of judging a campaign from one big number.

Is giving up 30% worth it?

That is the real question.

Suppose a song would have earned $100 without Discovery Mode. Keeping all of that sounds better than giving Spotify another commission.

But if Discovery Mode helps that song generate substantially more listening, the artist can still earn more money after the commission.

That is what we have seen happen with many of the artists we work with.

In other cases, revenue may stay relatively flat while listeners and streams increase. That can still be useful if those new listeners continue engaging with the artist afterward.

The point is not that Discovery Mode always works.

The point is to measure whether the trade is working for that artist and that song.

Discovery Mode is not playlist pitching

Discovery Mode does not replace editorial pitching.

An editorial playlist is selected by Spotify’s human programming team. Discovery Mode works through Spotify’s personalized recommendation system.

You should still deliver priority music early, provide good release information and give your team enough time to pitch it properly.

And if an editorial playlist does not happen, Discovery Mode is only one of several tools available. Our guide to what to do when you don’t get playlisted covers the larger strategy.

Think of it as paid placement without the upfront bill

The easiest comparison is still an old-school retail end-cap.

In physical distribution, labels sometimes paid for better placement in a store because more visibility could lead to more sales.

Discovery Mode works differently, but the business idea is similar.

You give up something in exchange for additional exposure.

The advantage is that there is no upfront budget. Spotify only takes the additional commission when a selected song actually generates a stream inside Discovery Mode.

So pick the songs carefully. Watch the data. Compare the additional exposure with the royalty trade.

If it works, keep using it.

If it doesn’t, change the strategy.

That is what the data is for.