Spotify is testing submissions of unreleased music for playlist consideration

Spotify has introduced a new feature for streamlining the process of submitting unreleased music for consideration on its curated playlists. The feature is in beta testing on the Spotify for Artists and Spotify Analytics dashboards. Labels or artists can upload their unreleased songs for consideration and submit them to the company.

According to the blog post with the announcement, Spotify’s editorial team benefits from having as much metadata as possible about a submitted song. They will review details such as mood and genre against internal stats about what else that performer’s fans listen to and other playlists where they have appeared. Submissions can also be considered on the personalized recommendation charts, and can be automatically included in followers’ Release Radar playlists.

Spotify and other streaming services have occasionally been accused of playlist payola, with critics questioning how the placement process works. Spotify laid out its policy in the announcement: “We want to make something crystal clear: no one can pay to be added to one of Spotify’s editorial playlists. Our editors pick tracks with listeners in mind. They make these decisions using data about what’s resonating most with their community of listeners.”

Anna Washenko