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.”