Why Spotify Private Playlists are Crucial for Music Promotion and Artist Success

Nowadays, the topic of music promotion is still not very clear: many artists focus only on being added to the most popular editorial playlists, unaware that inclusion in these playlists actually provides only temporary benefits and overlooks some of the early steps of the journey.

In fact, access to editorial playlists is not immediate or available to all artists, but only to those who are already fairly well-known in the music scene.

It’s not uncommon for emerging artists to be featured in editorial playlists, but this is a short-term promotion that provides an initial boost, followed by a significant drop in listeners once the track is removed from the playlist.

The solution to maintaining consistent monthly listeners on Spotify?

Develop Spotify's algorithm and leverage private playlists.

One constant trend that has emerged since 2016 is the close correlation between an artist's monthly listeners and private playlists. This ratio is about 1/3: for each artist, more than a third of their streams come directly from these user-curated playlists.

This highlights the strategic importance of smaller playlists, which are often undervalued compared to official or major curator playlists. While editorial or trending playlists attract attention for their ability to generate immediate impact, private playlists represent a more consistent and repetitive listening behavior.

When a user adds a track to one of their personal playlists, they don’t just listen to it once, but tend to play the song multiple times throughout the month.

This behavior leads to a significant increase in an artist’s monthly streams, often surpassing initial expectations.

Smaller but more efficient playlists

Private playlists, therefore, act as a key driver of loyalty. While public playlists can amplify reach and discovery, it is within smaller, personal playlists that a song becomes part of an everyday listening routine.

In this context, repetition plays a fundamental role: a song in a private playlist is much more likely to be played multiple times, fostering an emotional connection between the listener and the artist.

This dynamic suggests that for an artist, it’s not only important to be featured in large official playlists, but also to cultivate a presence in users’ personal playlists. Music promotion strategies should therefore focus not only on inclusion in high-visibility playlists but also on encouraging listener engagement so that they save tracks to their private collections.

In an era where personalized listening and auto-generated playlists dominate, it’s clear that these smaller playlists have a significant and lasting impact on an artist’s growth and the consolidation of their fanbase.

Spotify's Algorithm Power

Spotify's editorial playlists, curated by the platform’s internal team, are a powerful tool for generating immediate streams in the first few weeks following a track's release. However, after about three months, the stream count tends to decrease, and what keeps the track in circulation are primarily the private playlists that have added it.

This phenomenon raises a crucial question for artists and their promotion teams:

how many private playlists have added the track after its inclusion in the editorial playlists?

Private playlists not only extend a track’s lifespan but also play a key role in feeding Spotify’s algorithms. These algorithms, in turn, become a driving force behind the track’s visibility, recommending it to new listeners based on their tastes and listening habits. Algorithms can account for up to 1/3 or even 2/3 of an artist's total streams.

This highlights how important it is to go beyond mere inclusion in editorial playlists and focus on cultivating a lasting presence in private playlists, where listener loyalty and Spotify’s algorithmic push can truly make a difference.

Conclusions

While editorial playlists can provide a powerful initial boost, it is the consistent support from private playlists that sustains an artist's growth and engagement over time. This highlights the need for artists to not only seek visibility in high-profile playlists but also to foster connections with listeners through their personal collections.

To further explore these opportunities, Matchfy stands out as an innovative platform that specializes in promoting music through these smaller, curated playlists.

Our platform focuses on the entire community: the plans we offer are designed for fully organic promotion, enabling emerging artists to unlock the algorithm and be recommended to an ever-growing number of users, allowing them to continuously expand their audience.

Discover how Matchfy can help elevate your music and connect you with listeners who will truly appreciate your sound!