Music discovery is a term that gets thrown around a lot.

How are people finding new music? And with so much being released every week, how do fans keep up with artists they already like?

Spotify built Release Radar to help with both.

Spotify Release Radar is a personalized playlist of new music that updates every Friday. Each listener gets a different version based on the artists they follow, artists they already listen to and other artists Spotify thinks they may like.

For musicians, that makes Release Radar one of the most useful places for getting a new release in front of people who already have some reason to care.

How does Spotify Release Radar work?

Release Radar is personalized for each listener.

Spotify considers factors such as listening history, followed artists, release date and how likely it thinks that particular listener is to enjoy a song.

That means there is no single Release Radar playlist that every Spotify user sees.

Your version might contain a song from an artist you have followed for years, another from somebody you listen to regularly and something new from an artist Spotify thinks fits your taste.

The playlist refreshes every Friday.

If you are wondering why Friday became such an important day for releases in the first place, our guide to why new music comes out on Friday explains the history behind it.

How do you get your music on Release Radar?

For your followers, the process is pretty simple.

Get your music delivered to Spotify early enough.

Spotify currently says you should deliver a release at least seven days before release day to make it eligible for your followers’ Release Radar during its first week.

Your music distributor is the company that delivers your recordings and release information to Spotify and other digital services.

At Syntax, we recommend substantially more than seven days for priority releases. Eight weeks gives your team time to review the release, fix problems, prepare marketing and work the promotional opportunities surrounding it.

Seven days is Spotify’s minimum for this particular feature. It is not a good overall distribution timeline.

Our guide to release timing and proper lead time explains why.

Do you have to pitch the song?

No.

Your followers can still receive music from your new release in Release Radar if you do not submit an editorial pitch.

However, pitching gives you control over which eligible song Spotify puts into your followers’ Release Radar.

An editorial pitch is the information an artist or team submits through Spotify for Artists to ask Spotify’s playlist editors to consider an unreleased song.

If you pitch a song at least seven days before release, Spotify says it will use that song in your followers’ Release Radar.

If you do not pitch one, Spotify chooses which song or songs from the release to use.

That does not mean the editorial pitch guarantees placement on one of Spotify’s human-curated playlists. Release Radar and editorial playlists are different systems.

Which songs qualify for Release Radar?

Spotify has several rules about what it will include.

• Deliver the music at least seven days before release to qualify for Release Radar during the first week.
• You must be listed as a main or featured artist on the song. Being listed only as the remixer does not qualify.
• Songs credited to Various Artists are not included.
• Spotify does not include rereleases of songs that were already available on Spotify.
• Some alternative versions, including certain acoustic, karaoke and live recordings, are not included.
• Remixes can qualify.
• Each listener receives no more than one song from the same artist each week.

There is also one important listener-specific rule.

If someone has already heard the song, Spotify will not put that track into that person’s Release Radar. It may choose another song from the same release instead.

How long can a song stay in Release Radar?

A song can remain eligible for an individual listener’s Release Radar for up to four weeks after release if that person has not heard it yet.

That is useful because release day is not the only opportunity.

One fan might hear the song during its first week. Another may discover it two or three Fridays later.

Release Radar is therefore better viewed as a rolling discovery opportunity than one giant playlist event on release morning.

Why Spotify followers matter

Your followers are especially important because Spotify automatically uses Release Radar and its What’s New feed to surface new releases from artists they follow.

A Spotify follower is a listener who has chosen to follow your artist profile.

Spotify says followers are, on average, three times more likely to stream an artist during the following six months than listeners who do not follow.

So asking genuine fans to follow the artist on Spotify can have value beyond making one follower number bigger.

It helps create a direct connection between future releases and people who have already said they want to hear from you.

Release Radar is not the same as Discover Weekly

The names can make Spotify’s personalized playlists sound interchangeable, but they serve different purposes.

Release Radar focuses on new releases and updates every Friday.

Discover Weekly is designed more broadly around helping listeners discover music based on their taste and listening behavior.

You cannot simply submit a song directly to either personalized playlist and request placement.

Release Radar does give artists one useful bit of control, though: submitting an eligible song through Spotify for Artists at least seven days before release lets you choose the song your followers receive.

How do you know if your song made Release Radar?

Check Spotify for Artists.

Spotify for Artists is Spotify’s dashboard for artists and their teams, with tools for managing profiles, pitching releases and reviewing listener data.

Open the song’s statistics and look under the Playlists tab.

If listeners streamed the song from Release Radar, Spotify will show Release Radar there along with its performance data.

If you still need access, our Spotify for Artists setup guide walks through the process.

Do not build the entire release strategy around Release Radar

Release Radar is useful.

It is not a marketing plan.

You still need to give people reasons to discover the music elsewhere, follow the artist, save songs, share them and come back after release week.

Most importantly, get the release delivered early enough for your team to actually work it.

Spotify can help put new music in front of people who are likely to care.

Your job is to give them something worth caring about when it gets there.