What do you feel about Playlist placements and sites that help you with that?

Akuko

Hey, I’m an independent electronic producer from Goa, India. I have been trying to get playlisted into Spotify and Apple music through various channels. I have come across sites like dailyplaylists, soundplate, etc. and even though I have been getting placements often, there isn’t any significant change in my streams, reach or listeners. I mean, its better than nothing but I don’t know how to feel about this. What are your thoughts on this? What is the best way to sustain a living as an Independent producer in today’s time?

Chatsongcrew

@Indie artists what do you think any suggestions or advices ? drop it below in the comments ⤵️⤵️

Akuko

Well, the best advice is -

‘Keep on making music’. Tracks that you feel are amazing today, may seem amateur tomorrow (there is always room for improvement in one aspect or the other).
Keep on listening to new music. The best advice I got from the Legend ‘Iggy the Doctor’ was : “ To make mad music you need to listen to a lot of mad people.”
Rather than keeping a dream of ‘reaching for the stars,’ try ‘surviving doing what a love’ first. You’ll be happier.

That’s all from my side.
Happy producing!

Akuko

Oh damn! I thought this was a fresh post and @Chatsongcrew you posted!😅

Chatsongcrew

Akuko it was my , i added only the group tag users so they can give you feedback or advice !

Dark Company

Hi Akuko and welcome to Chatsong! We’re cricket fans and loved hearing on the radio yesterday when Jasprit Bumrah was bowling to the england boys.

Spotify playlists are a minefield of potential disasters.

Don’t pay anyone for a submission. Nearly all people demanding payment are scammers. If what they are offering seems too good to be true, it is. Avoid them! Spend your hard earned musical coins on something useful.

We’ve had a few songs added to playlists without our knowledge or permission and these have been removed from spotify by our distributor CD Baby and we have been issued fines for such misdemeanors, even though none of us did anything to warrant such a thing.

Our record label have been trying to argue the case with CD Baby and spotify but have got nowhere yet. If spotify sees one of your tracks suddenly getting a big spike of plays, it will probably be removed along with whatever album that track belongs to. Speaking from experience.

As such, our A&R guy is considering changing our distributor from CD Baby to Soundrop. A couple of other acts on our label are distributed through them and they are just as good as CD Baby.

Probably the best thing to do is to try to develop relationships with people who curate such playlists and approach them for an add in that way. You should probably warn your distributor and your label/publisher that you are doing this, in case there are any problems.

You could always become a curator of such playlists yourself and include a track or two of your own at the beginning.

All of these things take time and that means you have less time for creating the music, which is what you do best. If you can delegate to a sibling/parent/child/spouse/buddy who is reliable, that is tremendously helpful.

Best of luck!

Akuko

Thanks @Dark Company for the reply. Yea, makes a lot of sense! Playlist placements actually doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to be honest. Yes, I have committed the mistake of playing once a year ago and yes, it was a disaster. You are right, the most my music has ever gained reach is by word of mouth.
Do you have any advice how and where I can get in touch with record labels? It is very difficult in my country as it is practically impossible to get into one without paying them insane amounts of money or be associated with someone popular from the mainstream music industry. The ones that actually claim to take independent artists are very genre specific and want near-mainstream music. It’s not sour grapes, it is what it is, sadly.
Anyway, is there any way you can guide me to a record label that are willing to take independent electronic artists? Any information will be appreciated ! Thanks

Chatsongcrew

Akuko about that recorlabels i have a few which you can talk with there are some on here , let me sort it out for you !

Akuko

Chatsongcrew For sure. That would be great. You can share them here or DM me on Instagram

Dark Company

Hey Akuko! Thanks for your reply. 🙂

You should never pay a label to take you on. They should be paying YOU for the privilege of working with your music! If they demand payment, it’s a scam.

The way things are today, you’re probably better off remaining independent and keeping control over your artistic integrity. Our label didn’t take on a new act in over 15 years and Sam, the head of A&R, thinks they’ll never take on another one. Why? There are lots of opportunities to go viral yourself what with the internet being the way it is.

It takes time and investment for a label to take on a new act, and that involves risk. Many labels are not prepared to take that risk. By all means keep trying, you might strike lucky. But even big acts have been abandoning their labels and going independent for years now. It seems like the way to go, unless you get lucky.

Wishing you all the best with it, whichever way you go.

Akuko

Yes. Makes a lot of sense! Thanks