How to pitch a Spotify playlist curator
Updated 5 October 2026 · 2 min read
Curators are not gatekeepers looking for reasons to say no. They are people maintaining a playlist with an audience, and they are looking for tracks that fit it. A pitch either helps them decide or adds to their mental load.
Before you write
Most bad pitches fail here, before the first sentence.
- Listen to the playlist. If your track does not belong beside those songs, skip it.
- Check when it last updated. Dormant playlists are not worth your time.
- Find the correct contact and their preferred format.
- Have a clean link ready — the track, not a link tree.
The structure that works
Five short parts, under 120 words. Longer pitches are read less, not more.
- One specific line about that playlist or that curator — proof you listened.
- Who you are and where you are from, in one line.
- What the track is: genre, tempo feel, closest comparison, explicit or clean.
- One sentence on why it fits their audience specifically.
- One link, and a thank you without pressure.
What to leave out
No press-kit attachments. No "I think you will love it". No follower numbers, no streaming totals, no demands, no follow-ups every three days. One polite follow-up after a week is the maximum.
Doing it at volume
Ten personalised pitches beat five hundred identical ones. That is the constraint most artists hit: personalising takes time, and sending from a personal mailbox gets filtered long before you reach ten a day.
Our library holds over 22,000 verified contacts across 13 categories including playlist curators, with managed sending and free verification included, so pitch volume is a workflow decision rather than a deliverability gamble.
The follow-up rule
One follow-up, one week later, four lines maximum. Anything more turns a neutral curator into a hostile one and gets your address filtered for every future release.
If the answer is no, reply once to thank them and ask whether they would like to hear the next one. That single question converts a rejection into a relationship surprisingly often, because most artists disappear after a no and almost nobody asks to come back. Keep a note of who said no and when — that list is worth more on your second release than any purchased dataset.
Frequently asked questions
How many curators should I contact per release?
Between twenty and fifty well-matched curators is a realistic and effective run. Quality of fit matters far more than volume.
Should I offer money for a placement?
No. Paying for placement breaches the platform’s terms and most curators refuse. It also puts your release at risk of removal.
How long should I wait for a reply?
Give it a week, then send one short follow-up. After that, move on — silence is an answer.
Keep reading
- How to Pitch Music Bloggers and Journalists
A pitch structure that works for music writers and editors: the angle, the timing, what to attach, and why most press releases never get opened.
- Spotify Editorial Playlists: How Pitching Works
How the official playlist pitching tool works, what editors consider, why most submissions are not selected, and how to build a realistic plan around it.
- Music Promotion Scams to Avoid
Guaranteed placements, paid blog features, fake A&R interest and royalty advance traps — how to recognise a promotion offer that cannot be delivered.
- Growing Spotify Listeners as an Afrobeats Artist
How Afrobeats listening is distributed across markets, what curators in the space look for, and how to pitch without leaning on the genre label.