Music promo is a fickle business. You want your fans to discover new music you release, but the best way to make that goal happen isn’t always straightforward.
There seem to be more playlist-pitching companies these days than ever, but with so many shady stipulations, how do you know which ones you should invest your money into? Because independent artists like you are often running on a shoestring budget when it comes to music promotion. While services like Playlist Push are at the top of many Spotify promotional service lists and recommendations, that doesn’t mean they are the best for you. So we did the heavy lifting and found our favorite alternatives to Playlist Push. Sites like these are unusual ways to place your music on playlists and connect you with curators and artists.
But before we start diving into which playlist-submitting platforms are the best, take a moment to consider building your playlist from the ground up. Nobody knows the topic better if you’re looking for advice than Sekora’s label boss, UOAK. In a recent interview, he drops some game-changing knowledge on the subject, so check it out.
Can I Get My Music Promoted On Spotify For Free?
As with most things in the music industry, you get out of it what you put in, and you always get what you pay for. Many services online excite free music promotions, but they are rarely worth the time and energy. From my experience, I would avoid any free music marketing hacks or services when it comes to hearing your music.
This is why all of the promotional services on this list of Playlist Push alternatives are paid-for services. If you want the best results, it takes an investment. But if you’re serious about your music career, you will likely know investing money in your music marketing is worthwhile.
Groover
Groover is a French-based company whose curator list reflects that with mostly European curators. But they do have some non-European curators as well. If you’re looking to target the EU market, that’s a big plus. However, suppose you’re primarily looking for US-based coverage. In that case, you might think twice before putting all your Grooviz into the pot. Overall, I have been pleased with using Groover.
While the stream counts aren’t blowing my career out of the water, my coverage was higher than the average for a PR campaign.
I always say that music promotion is like building a snowball; it gets more prominent over time. If you think you will go viral with your first Groover campaign, you must get your expectations straight. But a Groover campaign can be a great tool if you’re looking to build steady progress with multiple placements.
SoundCampaign
While exploring more alternatives to Playlist Push, consider SoundCampaign a valuable addition to your Spotify playlist promotion strategy. SoundCampaign offers effective and professional Spotify promotion services to help independent artists like you gain visibility and attract new listeners. With their expertise and dedicated approach, SoundCampaign can be a powerful asset in growing your music career.
Partnered Projects
I’ve been in the music game for a while and worked with my fair share of PR agencies and marketing firms. I know how many of these online playlist promotion services work. I can tell which ones are legitimate. Partnered Projects is one of the few legitimate companies and that also brings results for an affordable price. Their streams don’t come from specific click-farm city locations; they are quality, and the authenticity helps build your fanbase organically instead of only pumping up your numbers for a short time.
I’ve had an incredible experience so far with Partnered Projects. It’s a legitimate platform worth investing in if you’re confident in your abilities. It’s incredible and deserves the first position on this list of recommendations.
Indie Music Academy
This can be seen as positive or negative, depending on how you view it. Indie Music Academy focuses on quality over quantity regarding its relationships with curators and the music lists they create, so there is less chance you will be placed in many playlists. However, this may also make it more difficult to get recognized.
It’s okay if you’re not getting added to many playlists. Adding to a few highly active lists is better because you’ll get more streams. We tried running a Playlist Push campaign that got a similar number of streams. Still, it would’ve cost $200 less if I’d gone with Indie Music Academy.
However, more risk was involved – we weren’t guaranteed to get any streams from Playlist Push. So, while some other platforms might have had better cost efficiency, they were often more of a gamble.
Submit Hub
SubmitHub was created to simplify communication between musicians and people with influence in the music industry. As an artist, gaining popularity and receiving feedback cannot be easy. Your friends and family will probably say that your music is excellent. Still, you must leave that comfort zone quickly and see how your music resonates with strangers! SubmitHub is a superb way of getting honest feedback on your tracks promptly.
Some feedback is constructive and goes into great detail. I have seen playlists that have taken the time to be specific and give their honest opinion about tracks. Rejections often happen without any explanation. This could be in the form of an unanswered email or people not responding to your music. The responses on SubmitHub are not always sugar-coated. You may get constructive criticism, vague rejections, or unhelpful and obnoxious comments.
Honestly, I’m not super impressed with this one and would likely recommend options higher on this list to my friends looking to up their music promotional game.
Boost Collective
I’ve been working with Boost for years, and I can say that they’re always professional and go above and beyond to make sure you’re satisfied. Their services are excellent, and their Spotify marketing is legitimate and gets you consistent listeners and fans. I’ve acquired more fans because of them! I’ve also met other artists through them, and they’ve been beneficial to me in developing my music career.
Suppose you’re searching for excellent services to promote your music or add it to streaming platforms. In that case, I will use them without hesitation!
They provide music to stores like Spotify and Apple Music. They aren’t as well-known as some other music distributors you may have heard of, like CD Baby, DistroKid or some other top distributors for artists and labels. They’re a new company in the field, but they can get your music into stores without any upfront cost, and on top of that, they offer a bunch of free services, too. I’ve used their Spotify promotion and talked with the company’s co-founders, Damien and Ronan.
They’re legitimate. But at the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide if this model makes sense for you and your artist project.
Pitch Playlist
We’ve been thrilled with PitchPlaylist’s service—they’re a breeze to work with, have excellent communication, and are always professional. David is quick to respond to any questions we have. We’ve tried other music promotion services, but PitchPlaylist is the most organic and transparent one.
PitchPlaylist’s reports make it easy to understand and follow where our songs are being played, which we’re grateful for. We believe they’ve been a big part of growing our Spotify presence and look forward to working with them in the future.
Omarimc
Omari is honest, relatable, and somewhat successful. Though they did not meet their prediction, the part could be because the song was inappropriate for playlists. Compared with other social media campaigns, their dollars-to-streams ratio is better than what many producers can do if they promote themselves.
Predicting success as an artist is complex. It is similar to running a business in that sometimes decisions work out, and sometimes they don’t. The key is to evaluate the pros and cons and make your best guess as to what will happen. Paid promotion can help, but the best growth comes from organic growth.
You cannot purchase success, but you can invest to increase your chances. Omari is an excellent option to begin with. Still, it is not ideal for everyone because everyone’s musical tastes are unique.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
