Playlists are a tool for music discovery. They can grow your audience and boost your streaming numbers. But with the amount of music released each week, it can be incredibly difficult to get great placements.
So how do you take music discovery into your own hands? Make your own playlist.
The most successful creatives are the ones who start the trends, not just follow them. Creating your own playlist is a great example of this. You may not be at the top of a Spotify Editorial playlist, but if you can get people coming to you to help them decide what music to listen to, you’re in control.
How do you get started?
1. Define Your Theme.
Every playlist needs a lane. Whether it’s “Indie Pop,” “Coffeehouse Country,” or “Intense Workout,” you’ll build the entire playlist off whatever vibe you select. Obviously, this needs to be a lane that your music fits into. If you aren’t sure how to define this theme, identify your niche and find holes that the editorial playlists don’t fill.
A great example of this is Aryn Michelle’s “Doesn’t sound like Christian music” playlist. She’s an indie Christian artist, but her music didn’t really fit the mold of what’s popular on the editorial Christian playlists. So she started her own, found other indie artists who had the same issues, and built a playlist where they could thrive.
Once you’ve defined your theme, you’ll need to come up with a unique name for your playlist, create cover art, and write a short description.
2. Build Your Tracklist.
Now that your theme is defined, it’s time for the fun stuff! You get to pick the songs that will be on your playlist. Be ready to listen to lots of music!
There are lots of ways that you can find tracks for your playlist. Use tracks that inspire your own music. Look for the latest music from similar artists. Use platforms like SubmitHub or Groover to take submissions. Follow independent artists on social media (Hello, TikTok For You Page!). Spotify even offers similar songs in its playlist builder. Once your playlist starts to grow, you’ll even have artists reaching out to you to consider their songs.
3. Update Regularly
The key to being a great playlist is to keep it consistent and keep it updated. Don’t stray from your theme too much or too often. The music should flow together and not distract from one another.
You’ll also want to decide on an updating schedule. For most playlists, they update weekly, others monthly. Whatever that rhythm is, you want it to be established and consistent. If you want to become a source of music discovery, people need to be able to rely on your playlist.
Another decision you will need to make is whether your playlist will be fixed-length or open-ended. A fixed-length playlist always retains the same number of songs. The newest songs are added to the top of the playlist, while older songs are rotated off. This length can be any number of songs (most are 50 or 100), but they almost always remain the same. An open-ended playlist can grow to have thousands of songs and typically does not feature the newest tracks at the top. Data shows that fixed-length playlists typically perform better for music discovery whereas open-ended serves better for large catalog playlists.
4. Make it Available Everywhere.
No matter what streaming platform you prefer to build this playlist on, you can easily make it available at many different streaming platforms. For maximum effect, your playlist should be available on any streaming service that allows you to create and share public playlists.
I know that sounds overwhelming, but there are tools to help! There are playlist-synching platforms like Soundiiz that allow you to update multiple playlists based on one playlist. Using a service like this, you can schedule automatic syncs to easily ensure that your playlist is up-to-date across all platforms. These services also typically provide smartlink or QR codes that allow you to link to all of the available platforms in one place.
5. Share It.
Have you heard the saying, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Similar principles apply to your playlist (and your music for that matter). If a playlist is created yet no one knows to listen to it, does it really make a difference?
How do you grow your playlist?
In order to grow your playlist, you will need to promote it. Here are six ways you can do that:
1. Promote on social media:
The best way to do grow is through social media. Make posts each time you update the playlist featuring and tagging the top artists. Ask the artists that you feature to share.
2. Collaborate with other curators:
Build connections with other playlist curators and artists. If an artist similar to you has a playlist of their own, ask if they would include your song in exchange for your including their song, then both share the new placement on social media. You can even plan artist takeovers where an artist uses the playlist as their own and promotes it for a period of time, which draws in their fanbase.
3. Engage with your audience:
This playlist is ultimately for the listeners, so find ways to interact. Ask for song suggestions and feedback. Respond to their comments on social media. Build a community surrounding the music.
4. Leverage streaming platform tools:
Feature the playlist on your Spotify profile. This allows the fans who visit your profile to see the playlist that you’ve worked so hard on.
5. Make it accessible:
In marketing and promotion, even the little things matter, so ensure that the link to your playlist(s) is available on your website, on the link in your bio, and in any other place imaginable. Give numerous ways to access the playlist.
6. Optimize for search:
Use relevant keywords in your playlist title and description to improve its visibility in search results. This can help more listeners find your playlist organically.
Playlists are important, but you don’t have to take a backseat and wait for your opportunity to come. Create your own opportunities, and be the music discovery resource for your niche. Whether you’re sharing your personal music taste or promoting your own tracks, a well-curated playlist can be a powerful tool in the music streaming landscape.