According to Chartmetric, Spotify boasts over 270k+ curators, 1.1m+ playlists and 8.6k+ self-curated playlists, providing a fertile ground for playlist pitching. While editorial playlist placements on Spotify are notoriously competitive and dealt with exclusively via Spotify for Artists, figuring out how to get an artist’s independent playlist strategy right (e.g. by brands, labels, curators or users) is timeconsuming research.
There are a few challenges connected to the third party playlist ecosystem. Firstly, we tend to judge a playlist’s viability by its number of followers, as this is the only direct engagement metric we can evaluate before being placed on it. Secondly, a whole industry has been created around charging money for guaranteed placement on independent playlists. (Sandbox would like to add here that any artist should avoid paying a service for guaranteed playlist placements.)
Spotify is known to crack down on curators and artists engaging in this practice and it can often result in fake streams, which will mess with an artist’s algorithmic trajectory in the long run. Thirdly, playlist follower numbers are often artificially inflated and provide no insight into how active the followers of this playlist are, in terms of listening to it.
Belgian software developer Julien Mahin created www.isitagoodplaylist.com as a response to this lack of insight into how engaged a playlist truly is. It’s a free tool designed to analyse if a Spotify playlist has real listeners and how much it is contributing to an artist’s discovery on the platform. Mahin explains: “Spotify does not share publicly the number of listeners of the playlist. The only way for you to know if a playlist has listeners is to be added in the playlist and then check how many streams you received in Spotify for Artists.”
His new website, therefore, is supposed to save time and effort pitching to playlists that don’t drive listenership. Mahin has developed multiple music industry-focused tools before, such as a historical tracker of the Beatport Top, Spotify, and Apple Music charts, and the playlist tracker ‘Spot On Track’ (in collaboration with industry professionals). He develops these projects often purely as a music fan and based on his own needs.
IsItAGoodPlaylist.com is based on the ‘Discovered On’ data on Spotify, displayed on each artist’s ‘About’ section. Here, Spotify displays up to five playlists that brought the highest number of listeners to the artist. Previously, Spotify also provided information on the number of unique listeners accumulated from each of these playlists, but – perhaps in an effort to decrease engagement with third party playlist marketing – the company ceased doing so in January this year.
The website retrieves data from ‘Discovered On’ and looks into the Monthly Listeners metric of the artists on the playlist you’re interested in. (Monthly Listeners is the number of users that have listened to at least one song from that artist in the last 28 days.)
By simply entering a playlist link (there’s no registration needed) and hitting ‘Analyze’, IsItAGoodPlaylist.com uses the ‘Discovered On’ and Monthly Listeners data points to judge if a playlist has a good amount of listeners or not. The results show a list of artists, their monthly listeners number, their position in the playlist, and the rank amongst the ‘Discovered On’ playlists.
If the playlist appears in no artist’s ‘Discovered On’ list, there is a high chance that the playlist doesn’t have many active listeners – and you could save time and effort by pitching to other playlists. On the other hand, if your chosen playlist appears in the ‘Discovered On’ list for several artists, it can be an indicator of a playlist with a good amount of active listeners.
By assessing whether the artist has a high number of monthly listeners, and if the playlist is ranking high for this artist, we can get an idea of how much listenership it is driving and thus if it’s worth pitching to. Mahin explains that “You also have to pay attention to the position of the song in the playlist. Songs at the top of the playlist tend to have more plays than the songs at the bottom”.
IsItAGoodPlaylist.com currently tracks the Top 10 ‘Discovered On’ playlists for each artist. It’s important to be thoughtful with what kind of playlists you’ll be looking at. An independent playlist full of blockbuster artists has a low chance of appearing in the ‘Discovered On’ section for an artist like Cardi B or Justin Bieber. Instead, it’s better to use Spotify’s search bar to find well-curated non-Spotify playlists featuring up-and-coming artists who may have never, or rarely, been playlisted in Spotify’s editorial playlists. If a playlist like this ranks in an up-and-coming artist’s ‘Discovered On’ list, and the artist has a substantial amount of monthly listeners, you could have a good playlist to work with.
The tool launched less than a month ago, but according to Mahin, has already received great feedback. Ideas from this feedback will be integrated as features into the platform – such as displaying the number of days a song has been on a playlist, and highlighting which artists are on a playlist that does not feature in their ‘Discovered On’ list. Mahin says that’s important because, “if an artist has a very small count of Monthly Listeners, but none of them comes from the playlist, this is information you want to know as well.” He’s also working on a free weekly newsletter featuring a list of playlists accepting submissions. “Those playlists will, of course, be manually selected and approved and will match our quality requirements,” – which are, “good playlists, with real listeners, not only filled with payola songs.”
Chartmetric probably has the broadest and most advanced features when it comes to playlist strategy: providing detailed curator profiles and a filter that allows you to see which curators have social URLs, to help you get in touch with them. These profiles also feature a ‘Playlist Journey’ tool, providing insights into which smaller playlists tend to feed into larger playlists. However, IsItAGoodPlaylist. com provides new insights and makes for a great – and free – additional playlist strategy tool.
Sign Up For Music Ally's Free Weekly Newsletter
The Knowledge - at-a-glance analysis of the modern music industry
Get A Free Music Ally Account
Access unlimited News articles on the site, PLUS a trial of Music Ally’s subscriber-only services, including our industry-leading daily Bulletin email.
Related posts
FAQs
How do I make sure my Spotify streams are counting? ›
- Song stream: Counted when someone listens for 30 seconds or more.
- Release stream count: All song streams from the release added up. ...
- Downloaded music: We count streams when the listener goes online (which must happen at least once every 30 days)
How does Spotify detect fake streams? Spotify tracks listening habits and will flag up suspicious streams. In terms of paying for playlisting, it removes user-generated playlists that claim to offer huge stream increases in exchange for payment – so you'll just end up losing those streams anyway.
How do I analyze a Spotify playlist? ›Spotilyze lets you analyze your Spotify playlists to give you a deeper understanding of your music. It also lets you create new custom made playlists based on your favourite tracks. Spotilyze uses the Spotify API to gather information about your playlists and displays the result in a beautiful manner.
How do I know if my Spotify playlist is good? ›Genuine playlists will usually see a gradual increase in followers over time. A fake Spotify playlist will see sudden jumps in followers. It may also see sudden drops as fake bot accounts are kicked from Spotify. You can see the growth of followers using third-party websites.
Does repeating a song on Spotify increase streams? ›Spotify will count streams on repeat, as streams are not counted based on what song was streamed previously. So if someone listens to one of your songs for at least 30 seconds, and then listens to it again for at least 30 seconds, then that would count as 2 streams.
Is stream farming illegal? ›Yes! Streaming farms are an illegal way to buy streams and make money from royalties. If there is even a whiff of illegal streaming, companies like Spotify, UnitedMasters, DistroKid and others will not pay you for those fake streams.
Can you manipulate Spotify streams? ›It is Illegal and There Are Safer Options Out There
Again, make sure you always use a reputable Spotify curator. Other than that, you can research music marketing and learn how to engage more listeners and increase your audience.
Weird stream-to-follower ratios. Weird cities driving streams. Unrelated artists showing in “Fans also like” sections. Follower spikes (this is the top one to look out for).
Can you see how many times someone listens to your Spotify playlist? ›Unfortunately, the answer is no. Spotify does not have any feature that allows you to view the list of people who like or follow your playlist. You may come across websites claiming they can show you exactly who liked your Spotify playlists but most of these are scams and should be avoided.
Is Spotistats for Spotify safe? ›Safe & secure
Unless you import your streaming history no data is saved on the servers.
What your Spotify playlist says about you? ›
It shows you how many minutes you listened, your top artists, songs, and genres. It also tells you your musical personality. These characteristics say a lot about your personality. If you listened over 100,000 minutes this year, you definitely have an emotional attachment to your headphones.
How can you tell if someone is faking streams? ›Streams / Listeners ratio
The ratio between streams and number of listeners of a song should be between 40-60%. So you have about twice as many streams as listeners. Bots often play a song only once, if streams and listeners are virtually identical, this is suspicious.
Believe it or not, the oldest song on Spotify is actually the oldest song in the world. Titled “The Hymn Of Ugarit,” the track is a modern recording by Al-Pha-X of what is the oldest known piece of music ever discovered. The song dates back to 14th century B.C.E. and was discovered on a clay tablet in the 1950s.
Does Spotify very high quality make a difference? ›Spotify Premium adds Very High quality streaming at 320 Kbps, which can make for better, more detailed audio output if you use high-end headphones or speakers. You can adjust these settings if you're listening on desktop, mobile or tablet by navigating to Audio Quality under Settings.
How many streams on Spotify to make $1,000? ›How many streams on Spotify = $1000? On average, you'll have to earn 300,000 to 350,000 streams to generate roughly $1000.
What happens if you leave Spotify playing overnight? ›The Spotify app has a sleep timer feature which will automatically turn off your music after a set amount of time. The sleep timer is great for making sure that Spotify doesn't kill your phone's battery overnight. You can only use Spotify's sleep timer in the Spotify mobile app, not on a computer.
Can you get in trouble for listening to your own music on Spotify? ›You might be tempted to play your own music on repeat to help increase your streaming numbers, but don't overdo it. Listening to your own music is fine.
How much does 1 million Spotify streams pay? ›The average price per stream is $0.004. $4 for every 1,000 streams. $4000 for each million streams.
How much money is 100k streams on Spotify? ›As for how much Spotify pays per stream, they pay roughly $0.04 per 10 streams. So, 1000 streams would be around $4, and 100,000 streams would be $400. Remember, this result may be lower based on certain factors such as if only half of your song was listened to.
Who is the #1 artist on Spotify? ›Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd is the artist with the most monthly listeners as of March 2023, additionally being the artist with the highest number of listeners ever and the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Are cracked streams illegal? ›
Downloading pirated movies and TV shows is against the law in the United States. The same is true for those who operate a pirate streaming site.
How much do illegal streams make? ›There are now thousands of pirated TV services around the globe. Their collective revenues, according to most estimates, have reached nine or 10 figures. Websites make their money primarily by selling cheap ads, via services like PopAds, who offer a few bucks per 1,000 impressions.
Can you get sued for streaming illegally? ›Aside from criminal prosecution is the civil side of unauthorized streaming where the copyright holder could very well sue you and hold you liable to pay a hefty fine.
Can a VPN trick Spotify? ›Luckily, there's an easy fix for those of you wondering how to unblock songs on Spotify – using a VPN. With a VPN, you'll be free from Spotify's geo-restrictions as it helps to make it seem as if you're based in a location where the streaming platform's geo-blocking doesn't apply.
How do you beat Spotify algorithm? ›- Stop worrying about your aesthetic. ...
- Run a pre-save campaign. ...
- Use solid metadata. ...
- Claim and customize your artist profile. ...
- Encourage your fans to like and follow you. ...
- Use Spotify's experience enhancement tools.
“I Hate U” by #SZA has reached 100 MILLION streams on Spotify.
Does Spotify know if you buy streams? ›Spotify can indeed know if you buy fake Spotify plays or followers. Unreliable promotion service companies offer fake stream activity. These low-quality boosting packages give you bots instead of real follower accounts manned by humans, making them easier to be detected as fake streams and flagged for suspicion.
Can you buy monthly listeners? ›Buying monthly listeners on Spotify is a real way of promotion that will help you organically promote your channel. Whether you're sharing music or podcasts on Spotify, it will surely bring you a new audience. The biggest benefit of this way of promotion is that it can actually help you to build your fan base.
How many streams per listener is good? ›A healthy ratio is usually somewhere between 0.1 and 1. If it's lower than that, you should consider avenues that will help you grow long-term fans that will support you throughout your career.
Do Spotify artists know who listens? ›In Spotify for Artists, you can see stats for your listeners and followers. Overall stats for your artist profile show in Audience. Stats for individual songs and releases show in Music. Set a timeframe, or see daily listener and follower stats by hovering over the timeline graphs.
Can you buy followers on Spotify? ›
You can also buy playlist followers, artist followers, and monthly listeners to get more comprehensive engagements to help boost your Spotify reputation. This is vital in getting more followers and becoming a more popular musician.
What happens when someone deletes a playlist you follow on Spotify? ›When you delete a Spotify playlist, it'll disappear from your Library, but it'll still be available to anyone who subscribed to it. If you don't want to delete a public playlist, consider hiding it through the "Make Secret" option in the playlist's Settings menu.
What is considered bedroom pop? ›A brand-new genre of self-produced songs and artists that are calling the shots and cranking out hits from their bedrooms.
What is Obscurify Spotify? ›Obscurify is a platform developed by Alex Olivero and Nirmal Patel with the aim of helping you "better understand your own music taste." Using Spotify's Web API, it analyses listening history to give you your top genres as well as recommend some songs you might enjoy.
What is permanent wave Spotify? ›Permanent Wave is an umbrella music category that clubs indie, alternative, post-punk, and folk bands from the 1980s onwards. It could be broadly defined as “a less electronic version and more introspective version of New Wave music released in the last 40 years.”
Are Spotify playlists made for you? ›Made for you
Spotify makes playlists based on your listening habits (what you like, share, save, skip) and the listening habits of others with similar taste. Or, Search the name of any playlist made for you.
Personalized playlists are different for each listener, based on their unique taste. They're created by algorithms that look at listener habits (what they play, save, share, skip, etc.) and the habits of people with similar taste. The more followers you have, the more personalized playlists you get on.
How do Spotify bots work? ›Most of these bots pose as a fake user profile that loops the same song or playlist multiple times in order to increase the amount of streams for that song.
What happens if Spotify detect fake streams? ›They remove user-generated playlists that offer paid placement and violate Spotify's terms of service. Spotify may withhold royalties, correct stream numbers, and chart positions. Your music may even be removed from Spotify.
Why am I losing followers on Spotify? ›Did you see a significant drop in Spotify followers for an artist in 2020, here's what happened. Users of the Spotify for Artists platform received this email advising that fake or artificial accounts will no longer count towards the follower number for an artist.
What is the shortest song on Spotify? ›
...
You Suffer.
| "You Suffer" | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Grindcore novelty |
| Length | 0:01 |
| Label | Earache |
| Songwriter(s) | Justin Broadrick Nicholas Bullen Mick Harris |
Speaking of Spotify study playlists, do you know what the longest Spotify playlist is? Answer: The record for the longest Spotify playlist is held by Willis Orr, with about 10,000 songs (the maximum limit of a Spotify playlist) and over 800 hours of music.
Which country uses Spotify the most? ›Spotify users by region
Spotify's largest market in 2021 was Europe, with 146 million users. The country with the most users is the United States, with over 88 million Spotify users.
Spotify HiFi quality
Given that bitrates for lossless audio can be around 1411kbps, Spotify HiFi should be a big step up from existing Spotify Premium quality, which maxes out at only 320kbps. For the initiated, lossless audio files carry more data, consequently richer in detail.
What sets Spotify HiFi apart from Premium is that it offers streaming at CD-quality audio – that is, resolutions upwards of 44.1kHz/16-bit. Spotify Premium, set at its highest quality, offers playback at 320kbps, which is a measurement of data transfer rates for playback on a device.
How long does it take for Spotify to count a stream? ›Spotify classifies a single stream of a song when it has been listened to for 30 seconds or more.
Does Spotify count streams if the volume is down? ›The app does not have the capabilities to track volume levels on the hardware it's running, so the mute will not affect the stats. Hope this helps!
How long do you have to listen to a song for it to count as a stream on Apple Music? ›Plays are recorded when a user initiates song playback in Apple Music for more than 30 seconds. We provide a wholistic view of all Plays, including Plays from Apple Music radio stations.
How often does Spotify update streams? ›Your stats update once a day at approximately 3 PM EST / 8 PM UTC. We count days based on the UTC timezone. So if you release a track at 7 PM EST, you won't see any stats for that release day because it's already 12 AM UTC. You get a live stream count for the first 7 days of a new release.
What counts as a skip on Spotify? ›Spotify 'skips rate' or 'skips count' is a metric that indicates the number of times a user skipped a song on a playlist. The user must have listened to the track for more than 30 seconds for a listener's stream to count. When a listener gets off a track within the first 30 seconds, Spotify counts the action as a skip.
How many Spotify streams is a hit? ›
In fact, today a song with a million streams doesn't really get you on the industry's radar - you need at least 10 million for that. A very minor hit now comes in at around 50 million. Real hits start at around 100 million, but most blockbusters are in excess of 500 million.
Do you have to listen to the whole song for it to count as a stream Spotify? ›Spotify classifies a single stream of a song when it has been listened to for 30 seconds or more. If you restart the song, whether by having it on repeat or clicking it again, it will count as another play after 30 seconds have been listened to again.
Who is the most streamed artist on Spotify? ›Canadian music artist Drake is the most-streamed artist in Spotify's history. American music artist Taylor Swift is the most-streamed female artist in Spotify's history.
How much should you silence before a song? ›To avoid abrupt track starts or audio being chopped off when playing back, always leave a small amount of silence before any audio starts. We recommend leaving at least 100-200 ms at the beginning of each track. However, leave more silence if you feel like the track starts too quickly.
How long should you listen to music daily? ›A new study by the British Academy of Sound Therapy (BAST) suggests that listening to 78 minutes of music each day is recommended for maintaining good mental health. Furthermore, it can only take an average of five minutes of music each day to feel happier.
Does listening to music count as a hobby? ›If you are looking for a new hobby, music should top your list as the health and wellness benefits are remarkable. Music is capable of raising states of consciousness, changing your mood, developing the brain, lowering stress levels and accessing different states of the mind.
How many Spotify streams can you have twice? ›Artist · 11.4M monthly listeners. Listen to content by TWICE. TWICE · Album · 2019 · 7 songs. Almost 2 BILLION streams in 2022.
What's the difference between listeners and streams? ›Streams are calculated by how many times people listen to an artist's song; monthly listeners are how many people listen to an artist in 28 days.
How accurate is Spotify for artists? ›Although it's possible that, just like Apple Music, Spotify Wrapped only counts online streams of songs and doesn't track offline streams of songs. In other words, a portion of your listening habits could be missing. That being said, for the most part, your results should be pretty accurate.