Getting your next release ready for Spotify involves more than uploading the master. If you want editorial consideration, you also need time to prepare and submit a playlist pitch.
You can pitch an eligible, unreleased song through Spotify for Artists. Submitting a pitch does not guarantee editorial placement, but it gives you a way to introduce the recording and its story to Spotify’s editors. Spotify’s pitching guide
Here is how to organize the process, write a useful description, and keep your release campaign moving beyond the submission.
1. Plan delivery before your pitching deadline
Your distributor upload and your Spotify playlist pitch are separate tasks.
Spotify’s Upcoming section displays unreleased music after delivery by your distributor or label. Spotify says it can take around 48 hours for a submitted release to appear. If it is missing, check with your distributor that it was delivered to the correct artist profile. Spotify’s Upcoming guidance
Build room into your schedule for reviewing the delivery and correcting problems. Avoid planning your entire campaign around everything working at the last possible moment.
Use this suggested planning framework, adjusting it to your distributor’s actual delivery requirements:
Stage | Your task |
|---|---|
Before submission | Finalize the master, artwork, credits, and release date. |
After delivery | Check that the release appears under the correct artist in Upcoming. |
Before the pitching deadline | Select your focus track and prepare its description. |
After pitching | Finish your promotional assets and listener communication. |
After release | Review the results and continue promoting the song. |
This is a planning framework, not a delivery-time guarantee.
2. Check eligibility and submit your song
You need Admin or Editor access to the relevant artist team.
To submit:
Sign in to Spotify for Artists.
Open Music → Upcoming.
Select an eligible song.
Complete the pitch form and submit.
Spotify allows one song pitch at a time. Once that song goes live, you can pitch another. Already-released songs, compilations, and songs where you are only a featured artist are not eligible for this song-pitching workflow. Check Spotify’s submission rules
For an EP or album, decide which track best represents the campaign before opening the form. Consider what makes that recording distinctive and how clearly you can explain it.
3. Write a pitch with specific, useful context
Spotify’s editors recommend accurate genre and mood information, background about the recording, and relevant promotional plans. They also encourage artists to explain the people, places, and circumstances behind the music. Advice from Spotify’s playlist editors
Start by answering these questions in your own notes:
What does the song sound like?
What experience or idea led to it?
Which detail makes this particular recording memorable?
What confirmed activity will support its release?
Then turn those answers into a short, readable description.
Replace broad claims with concrete details. “My strongest song yet” tells an editor little about the recording. “An intimate vocal over breakbeats and a live string arrangement” gives them something specific to listen for.
Mention genuine plans. If a performance video is scheduled, say so. If a tour is only an idea, do not describe it as confirmed.
Spotify playlist pitch example
The following is a fictional example showing how those details can fit together:
“Night Bus” is an English-language alternative R&B track built around muted guitar, restrained breakbeats, and close, layered vocals. Written after moving away from home, it follows the quiet journey back from a late shift. I recorded and produced it in my Berlin apartment. The release campaign includes a live performance video, three behind-the-song clips, and a hometown show.
Use the structure rather than copying the details. Your own recording, location, story, and campaign should determine the wording.
Before submitting, read the description aloud. Remove anything that sounds exaggerated or could describe almost any song. Respect the form’s current text limit.
4. Understand what Release Radar does
Release Radar is personalized for individual listeners and updates on Fridays. It includes new music from artists they follow or listen to, along with other recommendations.
Spotify says pitching at least seven days before release lets you choose the song from your release that goes into followers’ Release Radar. Without a pitch, Spotify may select a song itself.
There are additional conditions. For example, a listener who has already heard the track will not receive that same song in Release Radar, although another track from the release may appear. Spotify also limits it to one song per artist per listener each week. Spotify’s Release Radar guidance
That makes the seven-day deadline useful, but it should not become a promise of a fixed number of listeners or streams.
5. Avoid these preparation mistakes
Leaving delivery until your pitching deadline.
Set an earlier internal deadline so you have time to check the release.
Writing your entire artist biography.
Choose the background that helps explain this particular song.
Claiming support that is not confirmed.
Keep planned activity, completed activity, and hoped-for opportunities distinct.
Using the pitch as your entire marketing plan.
Prepare ways to reach your audience regardless of the editorial outcome.
Changing your description repeatedly without a clear reason.
Have a collaborator check the facts and wording before submission, then save a copy for your campaign records.
6. Keep promoting after release day
Build a small collection of assets around the recording: a performance clip, a lyric-focused video, and a short explanation of how the song came together.
Give each post a clear purpose. One might introduce the chorus; another could explain a production choice. Avoid repeating the same announcement with a different background.
When reviewing performance, keep a dated record of your promotional activity alongside the available listening data. Look for patterns across multiple releases. A single spike does not establish which action caused it.
This approach gives you something useful to learn even when the release does not receive editorial placement.
Prepare your next release with DistroVibe
A well-prepared campaign starts with organized files, accurate release information, and a realistic schedule.
Explore DistroVibe’s distribution plans and choose an option that fits your release schedule. After your music is delivered and appears in Spotify for Artists, complete your eligible playlist pitch there.
Keep delivery, pitching, and audience promotion on the same checklist, with a separate deadline for each.