Playlist promotion has its own vocabulary. From algorithmic playlists to quality scores, understanding these terms helps you navigate the ecosystem effectively. This glossary defines 50 essential playlist promotion terms every artist should know.
TLDR: Key categories include playlist types (editorial, algorithmic, user-generated), metrics (save rate, engagement rate, completion rate), curator terms (placement, pitch, submission), and platform concepts (Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Radio). Understanding these terms enables more effective communication with curators, labels, and promotional services.
Playlist Types
Algorithmic Playlist: A playlist automatically generated by Spotify's algorithm based on user listening behavior. Examples include Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and Daily Mix. Artists cannot pitch directly to algorithmic playlists—they're triggered by engagement signals.
Editorial Playlist: A playlist curated by Spotify's in-house editorial team. Examples include RapCaviar, Today's Top Hits, and New Music Friday. Artists submit for consideration through Spotify for Artists, but placement is highly competitive.
User-Generated Playlist: A playlist created by an independent curator (individual, blogger, brand) rather than Spotify. These are the primary targets for independent playlist promotion since curators can be pitched directly.
Personalized Playlist: A playlist customized for each individual listener based on their listening history. All algorithmic playlists are personalized—your Discover Weekly differs from everyone else's.
Discover Weekly: Spotify's flagship algorithmic playlist, updated every Monday with 30 recommended tracks based on listening history. Learn more about Discover Weekly.
Release Radar: A personalized playlist updated every Friday featuring new releases from artists users follow or have engaged with. Learn more about Release Radar.
Daily Mix: Multiple personalized playlists per user combining favorite tracks with recommendations, organized by genre or mood. Learn more about Daily Mix.
Radio: Auto-generated stations based on a seed (artist, track, or playlist) featuring similar music. Triggered by save and listening behavior.
Engagement Metrics
Save Rate: The percentage of unique listeners who save a track to their library. Calculated as saves ÷ unique listeners × 100. High save rates (20%+) correlate strongly with algorithmic recommendations.
Completion Rate: The percentage of listeners who play a track to completion without skipping. Tracks with high completion rates receive positive algorithmic signals.
Skip Rate: The percentage of listeners who skip a track before completion. High skip rates, especially within the first 30 seconds, send negative algorithmic signals.
Engagement Rate: A playlist metric measuring listener interaction relative to followers. Calculated as (saves + active listeners) ÷ followers × 100. Healthy engagement is 5-15%.
Monthly Listeners: Unique users who streamed your music in the past 28 days. Spotify's primary audience size metric.
Follower-to-Listener Ratio: The ratio of your Spotify followers to monthly listeners. Higher ratios indicate a more dedicated, returning fanbase.
Curator And Pitching Terms
Curator: An individual or organization that creates and maintains Spotify playlists. Can be independent (user-generated) or professional (editorial team).
Pitch: A message sent to a curator requesting playlist placement. Can be email, Instagram DM, or through submission forms.
Submission: The act of sending your music to curators for consideration. Submissions can be direct (email/DM) or through platforms (Spotify for Artists for editorial, SubmitHub, etc.).
Placement: When a curator adds your track to their playlist. Also called an add or feature.
Cold Outreach: Contacting curators you have no prior relationship with. Most playlist pitching is cold outreach.
Warm Outreach: Contacting curators with whom you have an existing relationship or prior interaction.
Follow-Up: A subsequent message sent after an initial pitch to check on status. One follow-up is standard; multiple follow-ups can be counterproductive.
Rejection: When a curator declines to add your track. May be explicit (curator responds with no) or implicit (no response).
Quality And Authenticity Terms
Bot Playlist: A playlist with artificially inflated followers from purchased bot accounts. Bot playlists provide no real value and may harm your profile.
Fake Streams: Artificial streams generated by bots or stream farms rather than real listeners. Violates Spotify's terms and can result in track removal.
Quality Score: A metric (used by tools like Playlist Pilot) rating playlist authenticity based on engagement, follower patterns, and other signals. Learn more about quality scores.
Engagement Farming: Artificially generating saves, follows, or streams to trigger algorithmic recommendations. Violates Spotify's terms.
Payola: Paying curators for playlist placement. Violates Spotify's terms and industry ethics, though it persists in some corners of the ecosystem.
Audio Analysis Terms
Audio Features: Spotify's measurable characteristics for every track: tempo, energy, danceability, valence, acousticness, instrumentalness, speechiness, liveness. Used for algorithmic recommendations and AI matching.
Tempo (BPM): Beats per minute. A core audio feature used to match tracks with similar rhythmic profiles.
Energy: A 0-1 measure of track intensity and activity. High energy tracks are fast, loud, and noisy; low energy tracks are calm and quiet.
Danceability: A 0-1 measure of how suitable a track is for dancing based on tempo, rhythm stability, and beat strength.
Valence: A 0-1 measure of musical positivity. High valence = happy, cheerful; low valence = sad, angry.
Acousticness: A 0-1 confidence measure that a track is acoustic rather than electronic.
Instrumentalness: A 0-1 prediction of whether a track contains no vocals. Useful for instrumental and lo-fi playlists.
Platform And Distribution Terms
Spotify for Artists: Spotify's dashboard for verified artists providing analytics, profile management, and editorial playlist submission.
Distributor: A service (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, etc.) that delivers your music to streaming platforms. Required to get music on Spotify.
Pre-Save: A feature allowing fans to save an upcoming release before it's available. Pre-saves convert to automatic Release Radar placement on release day.
ISRC: International Standard Recording Code—a unique identifier for each track used for royalty tracking and metadata.
Metadata: Information attached to a track including title, artist name, genre, and descriptions. Proper metadata improves discoverability.
Campaign And Strategy Terms
Campaign: A coordinated promotional effort for a specific release, typically including multiple playlist pitches, social media promotion, and pre-save pushes.
Targeting: Selecting specific playlists, genres, or demographics to focus promotional efforts on.
Acceptance Rate: The percentage of pitches that result in playlist placements. Typical rates range from 5-25% depending on music quality and targeting accuracy.
ROI (Return on Investment): The value generated relative to resources spent. Playlist promotion ROI includes streams, followers, and algorithmic triggers.
Conversion: When a casual listener becomes an engaged fan (saves track, follows artist, joins email list, etc.).
Additional Important Terms
Canvas: A looping visual that plays behind tracks in the Spotify mobile app. Increases engagement and shareability.
Artist Pick: A highlighted track, playlist, or event on your Spotify artist profile. Premium real estate for showcasing current releases.
Verified Artist: An artist with a verified Spotify for Artists account, indicated by a blue checkmark. Enables full profile control and analytics access.
Related Artists: Artists displayed on your profile based on listener overlap. Influenced by who your listeners also stream.
Listener Geography: The distribution of your listeners by country or city. Visible in Spotify for Artists analytics.
Streaming Royalty: Payment received per stream. Spotify averages $0.003-0.005 per stream, varying by listener country and subscription type.
Summary
Understanding playlist promotion terminology enables more effective navigation of the ecosystem. Key categories include playlist types (editorial, algorithmic, user-generated), engagement metrics (save rate, completion rate, engagement rate), curator terms (pitch, placement, submission), quality indicators (bot detection, quality scores), and audio analysis concepts (tempo, energy, valence). This vocabulary is essential for communicating with curators, analyzing performance, and executing effective promotion strategies.