How to Pitch Spotify Editorial Playlists (2026): The Step-by-Step Pitch and the Rules

Last checked: 2026-10-08 · How these guides are checked

Disclosure: MusicPromoLab sells music promotion. Every claim below links to its source at the end.

What is an editorial playlist, and who decides?

Editorial playlists are Spotify’s own. Spotify marks them in the byline and says they’re curated by its editors, “genre, lifestyle, and culture specialists with diverse backgrounds” [7]. They differ from personalised playlists such as Discover Weekly, which algorithms build per listener and which you can’t pitch to; what Discover Weekly is explains that side.

The pitch form is the direct route in. Spotify’s editors said so plainly in a 2020 Q&A: “Anyone can pitch music through Spotify for Artists, that’s the place where ALL editors go to look for new music.” Every pitch also reaches the whole team: “All pitches made through our tool in Spotify for Artists are made available to our entire global editorial team.” [2]

What do you need before you can pitch?

• Spotify for Artists access with Admin or Editor rights. Spotify says “Anyone with Admin or Editor access can view and edit the pitch.” [1] If you haven’t claimed your profile yet, requests are reviewed by hand and approval “can take a few days.” If your distributor is one of Spotify’s preferred providers, access comes straight away. Before a first release, you can contact Spotify with your artist link and the release’s UPC or EAN [5].
• A release your distributor has delivered. Music appears under Upcoming only after delivery, and it “can take around 48 hours to show” [4]. If it doesn’t show, Spotify suggests checking with your distributor that it went to the right artist profile.
• A song that qualifies. “You can’t pitch compilations or songs you’re a featured artist on.” [1] Studio and live recordings both count: the editors say they welcome “any type of recording, studio or live as long as it’s delivered to Spotify” [2].

How far ahead should you pitch?

Spotify’s rule is a minimum: “Deliver your music at least 7 days before release so our editors have time to listen.” The same page adds that a pitch made at least 7 days before release goes to your followers’ Release Radar [1].

Distributors advise more room than that. Ditto recommends uploading “at least 3-4 weeks before your planned release date” [9], and CD Baby tells artists to pitch “at least four weeks out” [8]. Delivery itself takes time: Ditto’s help centre says Spotify needs at least 5 business days to get a new release live [10].

One date trap: the release date shown in Upcoming is “the earliest date the release becomes available in any country” [4], so a midnight-UTC release can show a day early. Count your 7 days back from the date Spotify for Artists shows. The free music release planner lays the whole schedule out from your release day.

How do you pitch a song in Spotify for Artists, step by step?

1. Log in at artists.spotify.com. Use an account with Admin or Editor access [1].
2. Go to Music, then Upcoming. Your delivered, unreleased music is listed there [4].
3. Choose the one song to pitch. “You can only pitch one song at a time. Once your pitched song goes live, you can pitch another.” On an EP or album, pick the track you most want editors and followers to hear [1].
4. Complete every field of the form. The form records details such as genre, mood and culture tags [1], and the type of recording [2]. Spotify’s advice is one line: “More detail gives your song a better chance.”
5. Write the description. What to put in it is in the next section.
6. Submit at least 7 days before release day. You can still edit the pitch up to release day, “but there’s no guarantee our editors will see the changes” [1].
7. Pin it to your This Is playlist, if you have one. Spotify lets eligible artists pin the pitched song. Pinning takes around 3 days once the song is live, and songs stay pinned for up to 28 days after release [1].

Music videos have their own pitch. Spotify says video pitching is gradually rolling out, that song and video pitches are separate, and that an eligible video must be unreleased or released within the past 7 days [1].

What should you write in the pitch description?

Spotify’s editors asked for context in their 2020 Q&A: “Give us the who, what, why, when, where, and how of your song.” They were firm about the blank box too: “Whatever you do, we encourage you to NOT leave the note blank!” [2] In the same answer they listed what helps beyond the story: “any press, music video plans, release schedules, and promotions, as well as the social media accounts linked in your artist profile.”

Place helps as well. “If you get specific about your location and cultural sound in your pitches it’ll help the right local team discover your music.” [2] A workable order for the description:

1. One sentence on the song: its genre in plain words and the feeling it leaves.
2. The story: why you wrote it and what it’s about.
3. Who made it with you, and where.
4. Your plans around release: a video, shows, press, promotion.
5. Anything local or cultural an editor in your scene should know.

Length: Spotify’s help page doesn’t state a limit. CD Baby’s guide describes “the 500 characters Spotify allows for the pitch” [8], which is about 80 words, so lead with the most specific details. The free Spotify pitch writer turns your answers into a pitch that fits, and the pitch-readiness check scores your track across 8 signals before you submit.

What are the rules you can’t get around?

• No pitching after release. “Once a song has gone live, it’s no longer eligible for pitching.” [1]
• Editors choose the song. “Our editors might pick a different song than the one you pitched.” [1]
• No guarantee. “Pitching doesn’t guarantee playlist placement.” [1]
• Placement can’t be bought. The editors’ answer: “you cannot pay to get on an official Spotify playlist.” Knowing someone doesn’t help either: “Having a relationship with anyone at Spotify is never a leg up for playlisting.” [2]
• Your size doesn’t count against you. “Followers and monthly listeners don’t factor into our decisions.” Neither does your distributor: “We don’t look at distribution information when listening to new pitches.” [2]

How do you know if Spotify picked your pitch?

Spotify doesn’t send a decision, and its editors said in 2020 that they can’t reply to each pitch individually [2]. The answer shows up in your stats: “Check the Music > Playlists tab in Spotify for Artists when your song or video goes live.” [1]

That tab has two quirks. It shows the top 100 playlists ordered by your listeners, and “Your music needs at least 3 listeners on a playlist for the playlist to show.” It also covers only the last 12 months [6]. For a sense of the odds, the most recent figure on the Spotify pages cited here is from July 2020: “around 20% of tracks pitched through Spotify for Artists are placed on at least one playlist” [2].

Whatever the editors decide, a pitch made 7 or more days early means your followers get the song in Release Radar [3]. How Release Radar works covers who receives it and for how long.

What if the song isn’t picked?

Spotify’s own answer is that it isn’t the end: “If your song or video doesn’t get picked, it may still get discovered later.” [1] After release you can’t pitch the song again, but the editors said they “are definitely looking at signals from our data for songs that are resonating on our platform” [2].

So the work after the pitch moves from editors to listeners. A pitch gets the song considered. Release week is when it needs ears: people who press play, save it and come back for the next one.

Keep reading: Does DistroKid promote your music? · How Release Radar works · What is Discover Weekly? · All guides · Free artist tools