How I Pick Songs for My Spotify Playlists (and Why I Reject 80%)

At least once a week, I get a DM or a comment from a musician who's confused about payola and says what I do is "against Spotify's terms of service."

I wouldn't care, except this confusion causes two problems:

• If my account gets reported enough, it could get banned without appeal, even when the reports are unjustified.
• Musicians miss out on good opportunities because they're scared of playlist promotion.

So let me clear this up once and for all.

Getting paid to review songs, like curators do on SubmitHub, is totally okay. Getting paid to guarantee a playlist placement is payola.

I get paid to listen and give feedback. Whether I add the song is 100% based on quality and fit.

Some people also say playlists aren't a cost-effective way to get fans. Playlists work best as one part of a plan, next to things like ads, and I explain how in why playlists and Meta ads work best together.

How many songs I approve

Now let's talk about what you want to know. I've reviewed over 50,000 song submissions, and my approval rate on SubmitHub is 20%.

Yes, I reject 80% of submissions. But it's nothing personal (unless you left a hate comment).

Why songs get rejected

• Wrong playlist, about 40%. "Why are you sending rap to my EDM playlist?"
• Personal taste, about 30%. I have to love the song myself, or I can't honestly recommend it.
• Production issues, about 30%. The song doesn't meet basic industry standards.

You could avoid every one of these with a little work before you send a curator your song.

What makes me accept a song

1. You listened to my playlist.

I can tell immediately. When someone mentions a specific song or artist from the playlist, I'm automatically invested.

2. The production fits the playlist.

Your song doesn't need a $10K mixing engineer, but it needs to match the quality of the other songs. If a bedroom recording sounds out of place next to the rest, listeners might unfollow my playlist.

3. My personal taste.

Would I replay this? Would I recommend it to a friend? Does it add something special to the playlist?

4. The artist already has momentum.

When I see 10K+ monthly listeners that didn't come from bot playlists, I know people choose to listen to this artist. Even if it's not my cup of tea, thousands of fans can't be wrong.

5. The pitch.

Lines like "Thanks for adding my last song!", "Produced by Taylor Swift" or "I'll share your playlist with my 100K followers" get my attention.

How to raise your chances from 20% to maybe 80%

• Listen to at least 5 songs from the playlist. Note the tempo, energy, production style and common themes.
• Reference specific songs, like "Similar to [song] by [artist] on your playlist."
• Explain the musical fit. Skip your life story and tell me why I should care.
• Know your genre. If it's borderline, say so, because alternative and experimental music is harder to place on playlists.
• Make a personal connection first. Send me a DM on Instagram to say you just submitted a song, and I'll review it with more attention.

Pitches I approved

Here are three pitches that worked on me in one week (with the artist names left out):

• "Hi, this is the latest release of [artist] and [artist]! Getting support from various artists like Tiësto, HI-LO and Laura van Dam. Curious to hear what you think!"
• "Hi friends! I'm a Canadian artist signed to a 2x Grammy-winning songwriter. This is my 6th release and one that I'm super excited about! I'll share press and playlists on my socials!"
• "Recorded and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Hope you like it!"

Each one gives me a reason to care in one or two sentences.

If you want me to hear your song, you can submit it to my playlists and I'll send you personal feedback. You can also find me on SubmitHub. And for the full pitching process, read how to get your music on Spotify playlists.

A content idea to try: from this to this

For a while, every fifth reel on my feed was this trend, and musicians were crushing it.

A musician films themselves recording in their bedroom with the text "No one talks about how hard it is to go from this:" and then cuts to their day job, folding pizza boxes, with the text "To this."

How to make one:

• Film yourself making music: playing guitar, playing a show, producing, whatever you do.
• Add the text: "No one talks about how hard it is to go from this:"
• Cut to your day job. The more ordinary, the better.
• Add the text: "To this."
• Keep each clip to 3 to 5 seconds, and add a trending sound.

Why it works so well:

• It builds watch time. People stay to see the plot twist, even when they know the trend, because they want to see your day job.
• Every musician can relate. Even big artists had day jobs once, so people see themselves in you and like, comment or share.
• The algorithm already likes the format, because Instagram and TikTok know it works.
• It takes 10 minutes to make. Film yourself making music, film yourself at work, add the text, and you're done.