How To Get On Spotify Algorithmic Playlists (Spotify’s Algorithm Playlists Explained)

One of the best ways to boost your Spotify streams is to get your music on Spotify algorithmic playlists. 

But how exactly do you get your music on algorithmic, or "personalized playlists", as Spotify calls them?

So you just have to have your song perform well and get a lot of streams, saves, and playlist adds within a relatively short period of time. Easy, right?

Yeah, not so much. This is much easier said than done, so keep reading as I'll break down how to help your music perform better so that you get those juice algorithmic playlist placements. 

Or, if you don't feel like reading more...

Just grab my free step-by-step playlist placement guide here. 

This will show you how to get your music added to more targeted user-created playlists, which means more streams, saves, and playlist placements for you...

Boosting your music in the eyes of the Spotify algorithm, and increasing your chances of getting algorithmic, and even editorial, playlist placements. 

Just click the button below to download the free guide.

By the way, if you're curious how much Spotify pays artists per stream, check out my article here. 

How To Get On spotify algorithmic playlists

According to Spotify, "the more followers you have, the more personalized playlists you get on."

This is a rather vague statement, but it's still valuable in that it summarizes Spotify's intention with algorithmic "personalized" playlists. 

Spotify wants music that performs well (i.e. has a lot of followers) to be added to algorithmic playlists because this creates a better user experience. 

The whole goal of Spotify (and every other online site, platform, and social media entity) is to keep users on their platform for longer. 

The more time users spend on the Spotify platform, the more opportunities Spotify has to:

• Show adds to users (and make money)
• Keep users happy and paying for Spotify Premium
• Keep investors happy with their high user engagement numbers

Therefore, if your music can help Spotify achieve THEIR goals (keeping users happy, and on the platform), then Spotify will want to spread your music far and wide. 

So how do you show Spotify That Your Music Is Good...

And therefore, worthy of being shared and added to algorithmic playlists? 

Below you can see a graphic that breaks down the Spotify algorithm and all the elements that Spotify deems positive or negative. 

So the question you're probably asking now is...

So how exactly do I get more streams, saves, and playlist features for my music so that I get added to Spotify algorithmic playlists? 

I'm glad you asked! Here's how to do it...

Spotify Algorithm Hack (Actually Get On Personalized Playlists) 

You need to drive highly-targeted traffic (listeners) to your music within a relatively short period of time. 

Remember, listening velocity matters. 10,000 streams in two weeks means a whole lot more than 10,000 streams over the course of two years.

You also don't want to send just anyone to listen to your music, as if they aren't people likely to enjoy your music, this will just hurt you in the eyes of the algorithm, as these listeners won't save your music or it to playlists, and are more likely to skip. 

There are two great ways to do this, one free, and one paid.

1. Free strategy: Get your music added to more user-created playlists
2. Paid strategy: Run Facebook/Instagram ads to target people who listen to music similar to yours

By getting your music on user-created playlists that include music that is similar to yours, you're immediately getting your music in front of listeners who are likely to love your music too...

Which means more streams, saves, and playlist adds for you. 

I've put together a free step-by-step guide that walks you through how to get your music on more user-created playlists that you can download here.

By implementing this strategy, you can eventually build up a network of playlist curators who are willing and happy to add your latest release to their playlist. 

Imagine the spike in streams you can get for your new release after it's added to dozens of playlists within days of being released. 

When Spotify sees your song performing well, it's much more likely to get added to algorithmic playlists...

Or even picked up by editorial playlists. 

By the way, if you want to learn how to get your music added to editorial playlists, then check out my article here. 

How many spotify algorithmic playlists are there?

There are 5 main Spotify algorithmic playlists, which include Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Daily Mix, On Repeat, and Repeat Rewind. These playlists are created by algorithms that look at listener habits (what they play, save, like, share, skip, etc.) and the habits of people with similar tastes.

Each of these "personalized" playlists are a little different and have different parameters which determine what music gets added to them. 

Keep reading to see what it takes to get your music added to each of these playlists. 

How to get music on release radar

Release Radar is a playlist of new releases that updates every Friday.

Listeners get new music from:

How to get your music on Spotify’s Release Radar algorithm playlist

To get your music on Spotify’s Release Radar playlist, you just need to release new music, and it will appear for those who follow you. You can increase the odds of your music being shown to non-followers by increasing your song's engagement by running ads or getting added to user-created playlists.

That said, if your next release has multiple songs, you can only pitch 1 song in the Spotify For Artists dashboard 7 days before release day to have that song show up in your follower’s Release Radar playlist.

This means it's a good idea to release only 1 song at a time every 28 days in order to maximize the exposure your music can have through the Release Radar algorithm playlists...

And you give yourself more 'at bats' or chances of getting added to a Spotify editorial playlist. 

Other elements of Release Radar to keep in mind:

• Spotify doesn't include a song in a listener’s Release Radar if they’ve already listened to it (but they might include another song from the release)
• Spotify only includes songs where you're a main or featured artist (not remixer)
• Spotify doesn't include songs by Various Artists
• Spotify doesn't include re-releases of songs already on Spotify
• Each listener only gets one song per artist per week
• Spotify will include a song for up to 4 weeks if a listener hasn't heard it

So if you want more people listening to your music on Release Radar, then you just need to encourage more of your listeners to follow you on Spotify. 

If you want help converting your fans into Spotify followers, then check out my article here.

How to get music on discover weekly

It is not known for certain how to get music on Discover Weekly; however, many artists say that they started to see placement on Discover Weekly once a song surpassed the 20,000 total stream mark, and after their music has been out for at least a few weeks. 

Discover Weekly is a playlist that updates every Monday, and is personalized for each individual user.

Discover Weekly is essentially a "mixtape" of new music that the user hasn't heard before, but that Spotify thinks they will enjoy based on past listening history. 

Since you can't control whether or not your music gets added to Discover Weekly, the best strategy for increasing your odds of placement is simply to release music frequently and work to promote each of your releases. 

You can check out my article here on 22 tips for getting more Spotify streams.

Or, even better...

Grab my free Spotify Playlist Placement guide here.

This will walk you through how to build up a network of playlist curators willing and happy to add each new song you release to their playlists. 

By building up your curator network, you'll be able to ensure that each song you release can get a surge in streams...

Which will increase your chances of triggering the Spotify algorithm so that it gets added to playlists like Release Radar, Discover Weekly, and more. 

How to get music on spotify radio

Spotify Radio is a series of Spotify algorithmic playlists that can be based on any artist, album, playlist, or song on Spotify. These playlists update over time and usually contain about 50 tracks.

Your music can appear in Spotify Radio when a user creates a radio playlist based on your artist profile, album, playlist, or song. Your music can also appear on the Radio playlsts of other artist’s, albums, playlists, or songs if the algorithm determines you are similar to those other artists.

The more you can establish a link between your music and the music of other artists, the greater the chances that the Spotify algorithm will start to display your music in Spotify Radio playlists. 

To do this, you'll want the listers of similar artists to also listen to your music. You can do this by:

Building up your own Spotify playlists, and mixing your music in with artists who sound similar to you is also a great strategy for helping your music appear on Spotify Radio playlists. 

If you need help coming up with Spotify playlist theme and name ideas, check out my article here.

Or...

If you want help growing your Spotify playlist followers organically, seem my article here.

How to get music on spotify repeat & repeat rewind

Spotify's On Repeat playlist includes a users favorite music from the past 30 days, whereas repeat rewind features a user's favorite music from the past, and updates every 5 days. 

Whether or not your music appears on On Repeat or Repeat Rewind is completely up to your listeners, and how many of them listen to one or more of your songs enough so that it becomes one of their most listened to songs. 

How to get music on spotify daily mix

Daily Mix is a Spotify algorithmic playlist that creates up to 6 personalized playlists based on songs that the user has been playing often as well as some related music that Spotify thinks the user might enjoy. This playlist is updated daily.

There is no way to make sure your music appears on Daily Mix playlists. All you can do is continue to release and promote new music so that you build up a fanbase of listeners who enjoy listening to your music frequently.

The Daily Mix playlists are more conservative than discover weekly, and will feature music more familiar to the user. 

How long does it take to get on spotify algorithmic playlists?

How long it takes to get on Spotify algorithmic playlists depends on the type of algorithmic playlists, and how popular your music is. Assuming you're getting a lot of streams, you music should appear on algorithmic playlists within 1-3 weeks.

Again, this all depends on what playlists we're talking about. 

You should appear on Release Radar as soon as next Friday; however, it can be several weeks before you appear on Discover Weekly. 

You should also appear on Spotify Radio almost immediately if you're already built up a listenership. 

Conclusion: Consistency Is Key

Whether or not you get placed on algorithmic playlists really just comes down to how much of a residual listenership you've built up on Spotify.

So the more consistent you are at releasing and promoting your music, the greater likelihood that you'll start to consistently see your music appear on algorithmic playlists.  

If you're looking for more tips on increasing your streams and monthly listeners, then read my article here.

How to trigger the spotify algorithm

In order for Spotify to promote your music for you, the algorithm first wants to see that your music if performing well on its own.

One of the best indicators that your music is performing well is that is being added to playlists. 

So if you want to trigger the algorithm so that your music gets added to algorithmic and editorial playlists, then you need to get your music onto more user-created playlists first.

In fact, I've discovered a system that has helped me to get my songs on Spotify Playlists without having to spend a dime. 

By getting your music on user-created playlists on Spotify, you can start to rapidly grow your streams, and even trigger the Spotify algorithm so that Spotify itself starts to show your music to more people. 

If you want to learn my simple approach to getting your music on Spotify playlists for free...

Then just grab my free guide below!