Playlist Success Isn’t a Marketing Plan
Playlist Success Isn’t a Marketing Plan
SEO: Why Playlists Can’t Be Your Only Growth Strategy
Angle: Passive vs owned audiences
For the modern artist, playlists are the new radio: they can deliver scale, credibility and a sudden spike in “something happening”. But they’re also the fastest way to mistake attention for traction.
Because playlisting—especially algorithmic playlisting—is predominantly a rented distribution layer. The platform can switch it on, switch it off, or reroute it elsewhere at any time. Spotify’s own product evolution has repeatedly underlined that discovery is designed to optimise platform retention, not to build artist-owned relationships (Spotify, 2025a; Spotify, 2025b). The uncomfortable truth: a big playlist moment can be a brilliant outcome, while still being a weak strategy.
The playlist paradox: reach without relationship
Playlists create what looks like growth: more streams, more saves, a lift in monthly listeners. But those metrics often describe consumption behaviour inside someone else’s ecosystem, not commitment to you.
Algorithmic playlists, by design, are engineered from behavioural data—skips, repeats, completion rate—feeding recommendation systems that keep users listening (Capolongo v Spotify, 2025). That’s not evil. It’s just the business model. The platform’s job is to reduce churn. Your job is to build a career.
So when artists treat playlist placement as “marketing”, they’re often outsourcing the most important part of marketing: building an audience you can reach tomorrow without asking permission.
Passive audience vs owned audience
Think in two buckets:
Passive audiences (rented):
Playlist listeners
Algorithmic recommendations (Discover Weekly / Radio / Autoplay)
Short-form discovery loops that don’t convert into identifiable fans
Owned audiences (portable):
Email + SMS lists
Community spaces you control (membership, Patreon-style models, Discords where you own the relationship layer)
Ticket buyers, merch customers, direct purchasers (Bandcamp-style behaviour)
First-party data and direct consent
Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans” remains one of the cleanest explanations of why depth beats scale when you’re building something sustainable: you don’t need everyone—you need enough people who reliably choose you (Kelly, 2008). Meanwhile, Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail” is a reminder that digital abundance doesn’t guarantee viability; it guarantees competition—so the winners tend to be those who convert attention into repeatable demand (Anderson, 2004).
Why playlists don’t reliably convert
If playlists are so big, why don’t they build more durable careers?
Identity dilution
A playlist is a context. In “chill”, “focus”, “fresh finds”, the brand is the mood—often not the artist. That creates streams that may never become name recognition.Data asymmetry
Streaming platforms share performance dashboards, but not the kind of first-party access that lets you build direct relationships at scale. Even Spotify’s transparency framing tends to focus on macro payout numbers and ecosystem narratives, not artist-level customer ownership (Spotify, 2025a; The Guardian, 2025).Incentive mismatch
Discovery tools increasingly resemble a “marketplace” dynamic: visibility mechanisms, often tied to platform priorities, that can pressure artists to compete inside the system rather than building outside it. Spotify’s “Discovery Mode” debate is a case study in how exposure can be structurally linked to reduced rates—raising fundamental questions about who carries the risk (Stassen, 2021; Stassen, 2025).The wrong KPI wins the meeting
Streams are easy to screenshot. But streams don’t automatically equal: ticket sales, email sign-ups, merch conversion, or superfans. If your reporting doesn’t track those downstream behaviours, you’re optimising the wrong machine.
The “playlist-first” trap (and why it’s seductive)
Playlists feel like a plan because they’re measurable, external, and socially validated. They also reward the kind of output streaming systems favour: frequent releases, low-friction listening, mood-fit. MBW’s reporting on “functional” audio and the economics of low-value listening shows how streaming can drift toward content that maximises hours, not artistry—or artist development (Ingham, 2023). That doesn’t mean your music must become wallpaper. It means your strategy can’t rely on being included in someone else’s wallpaper.
A better model: playlists as the top of funnel, not the funnel
Use playlists as awareness, then build conversion paths into owned channels.
Here’s a practical framework educators can teach and artists can implement:
1) Instrument your conversion points (before you pitch).
If you can’t capture interest, you can’t benefit from reach.
One link hub with a primary CTA: email list (not “listen on Spotify”).
Pixel/UTM tracking where relevant.
A clear “welcome journey” (automated email sequence: story, best tracks, live dates, offer).
2) Build a two-speed content engine.
Platform content (snackable): drives discovery.
Relationship content (depth): drives belonging.
Berklee’s current artist-marketing guidance consistently emphasises fan engagement behaviours beyond raw reach (Wares, 2025).
3) Create at least one direct-value exchange.
Give fans a reason to cross the bridge:
Unreleased demo pack
Behind-the-scenes breakdown (especially powerful for producers)
Ticket presales
Limited merch drops
A monthly “studio letter” (email)
4) Tie releases to audience capture, not just distribution.
Release plans should include:
Capture goal (emails/SMS sign-ups)
Conversion goal (pre-saves are not conversion; purchases and tickets are)
Retention goal (repeat listeners in owned channels)
5) Monetise deliberately outside streaming.
Streaming is exposure + long-tail income. Direct is margin + relationship.
Bandcamp’s positioning is explicit: it’s built around direct support and community—an alternative set of behaviours to passive streaming (Bandcamp, 2025a; Bandcamp, 2025b). MIDiA has repeatedly argued that the future hinges on fandom mechanics rather than raw play counts (Mulligan, 2021; Tadesse, 2025).
The bottom line
Playlists can be fuel. They are not the engine.
A sustainable growth strategy treats streaming as discovery and social proof—then prioritises the unsexy work: capturing attention, nurturing trust, and converting casual listeners into identifiable fans. In a world where platforms can rewire discovery overnight, the most valuable asset an artist can build is not a playlist position—it’s a portable audience.
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Wider reading
Anderson, C. (2004) ‘The Long Tail’, Wired, 1 October. Available at:
https://www.wired.com/2004/10/tail/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Bandcamp (2025a) Artist Guide. Available at:
https://bandcamp.com/guide
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Bandcamp (2025b) About Bandcamp. Available at:
https://bandcamp.com/about
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Capolongo, G. v Spotify USA Inc. (2025) Complaint (Case filing PDF hosted by Music Business Worldwide, 4 November). Available at:
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/files/2025/11/GENEVIEVE-CAPOLONGO-v-SPOTIFY.pdf
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Ingham, T. (2023) ‘Where is the growth going to come from?’, Music Business Worldwide, 14 February. Available at:
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/where-is-the-growth-going-to-come-from/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Kelly, K. (2008) ‘1000 True Fans’, The Technium, 4 March. Available at:
https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Mulligan, M. (2021) ‘How Bandcamp could really fix the music business’, MIDiA Research, 25 June. Available at:
https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/how-bandcamp-could-really-fix-the-music-business
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Spotify (2025a) Loud & Clear. Available at:
https://loudandclear.byspotify.com/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Spotify (2025b) ‘Beyond Profits: How the Music Industry’s Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025’, Spotify Newsroom, 12 March. Available at:
https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-03-12/beyond-profits-how-the-music-industrys-cultural-and-financial-impact-define-its-success-in-2025/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Stassen, M. (2021) ‘Indie labels slam Spotify’s Discovery Mode – but DIY giants love it’, Music Business Worldwide, 30 June. Available at:
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/indie-labels-slam-spotifys-discovery-mode-but-diy-giants-love-it/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Stassen, M. (2025) ‘Learnings from Spotify’s Q2 2025 earnings call… including Music Pro tier’, Music Business Worldwide, 29 July. Available at:
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/learnings-from-spotifys-q2-2025-earnings-call-music-pro-tier/
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Tadesse, T. (2025) ‘New MIDiA Research Data Shows Why Virality Is Not Building Fandom’, MIDiA Research, 16 September. Available at:
https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/new-midia-research-data-shows-why-virality-is-not-building-fandom
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
The Guardian (2025) ‘Spotify is trumpeting big paydays for artists – but only a tiny fraction of them are actually thriving’, The Guardian, 12 March. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/12/spotify-is-trumpeting-big-paydays-for-artists-but-only-a-tiny-fraction-of-them-are-actually-thriving-loud-and-clear-report
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Wares, C. (2025) ‘Music Marketing: 5 Practical Strategies for Independent Artists’, Berklee Now, 21 May. Available at:
https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/music-marketing-strategies
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
Apple Music for Artists (2025) ‘Understand your analytics’, Apple Support for Artists. Available at:
https://artists.apple.com/support/1105-understand-your-analytics
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).
IFPI (2025) Global Music Report 2025 (PDF). Available at:
https://www.ifpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GMR2025_SOTI.pdf
(Accessed: 28 December 2025).