Why Every Artist Should Be Making Playlists

Institucional

 

Every artist has found themself tired of posting the same thing about their new single. “Out now,” you announce, but is that really sufficient for something you put so much time and effort into? Of course you should tell your current fans about your latest masterpiece – but something else you should think about is finding a way to give both your current and your potential fans some context about the world in which your latest song lives. Who were your influences, how do you imagine people listening to it, what sort of subcultures does it echo? A playlist provides the perfect opportunity to answer those questions and introduce yourself to fans in those spaces.

 

One thing we’ve seen time after time here at ONErpm is that artists need the space to express themselves fully – and one place they can do that is by referencing some of their favorite artists! A good playlist is like an old-school mixtape, showing attention by the curator to the listener’s time, interests, and intention. The place to start is on Spotify, but you’ll find that it’s worth your time to mimic that playlist across other platforms like YouTube, Pandora, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, AudioMack and more too. 

 

When you set out to create a playlist on Spotify, you should set out to capture a vibe – limit yourself as much as possible, so that instead of trying to include your whole discography, you’re building a short listening experience for the listener around just a couple tracks. This accomplishes two things – it keeps it short, (so that you’re not asking too much time from someone that’s never heard of you) and it makes sure that the songs you’re slotting in around your newest release really sound like it. That way you’re telling your listeners (and Spotify’s algorithm) exactly what artists you think this release falls under the category of. 

 

People’s minds run on a lot of heuristic patterns. They might not know your work well, but if they see a track from Fleetwood Mac on there, they’re going to think “witchy, 70s, flowing rhythms, and soaring vocals”. 

 

Beyond some of those bigger names for context, it’s worthwhile to include a couple smaller names. This is your chance to shout out other artists in your scene that you love and think deserve more attention. If you play your cards right (and tell them about it), they just might include your track in their playlists too! Or at least post on their socials about the playlist to help introduce their fans to you. 

 

If you’re having trouble building your playlist, you can always use Spotify’s collaborative feature and invite fans or friends to contribute, but remember – keep it short, and cut off the collaboration when you think it’s “done”. The best playlists tell a whole story and capture a mood in less than an hour. If you find yourself going over that benchmark, maybe you just have enough inspiration to make two or three playlists! Maybe you’ll inspire the editorial team at Spotify to create a new playlist that picks up on the mood you’re describing.

 

Lastly, the marketing. Remember to put a lot of keywords in your playlist’s description, and post about it on social media using some of those hashtags. Find your niche, and tell those folks about your music. Maybe it’s folks on BookTok, maybe it’s foodies watching Reels while they cook their dinner, maybe it’s people that love outer space, or rock-climbing, or sports-betting, or gaming, or pet squirrels, or steampunk, or anything! But find that niche, and show them why your playlist speaks to them with a video that shows you’re steeped in their sensibilities. After that, you can pick a new niche!