Getting people to actually hear your music is one of the hardest parts of being an independent artist.

You can upload a great song to Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, post about it on social media and tell your friends.

Then you wait.

And sometimes very little happens.

This is where music promotion platforms such as SubmitHub can be useful.

SubmitHub connects musicians with Spotify playlist curators, music bloggers, influencers and other people who actively discover and share new music.

According to SubmitHub, more than one million artists, publicists and labels have used the platform, with more than 1,700 quality-checked curators currently available.

But simply uploading your song and submitting it to everyone isn’t necessarily the best strategy.

Here’s how SubmitHub works and how independent artists can improve their chances of getting featured.

What is SubmitHub?

SubmitHub is a music submission platform that allows artists to send their music directly to curators.

These can include:

• Spotify playlist curators
• Music blogs
• Influencers
• YouTube channels
• Record labels
• Other music discovery outlets

Instead of searching the internet for hundreds of playlists and email addresses, artists can browse participating curators and identify the ones that are most relevant to their music.

You then submit your track directly through SubmitHub.

The curator listens and decides whether they want to share it.

Importantly, submitting through SubmitHub does not guarantee that your song will be featured.

You are paying for consideration rather than placement.

That’s an important distinction because paying directly for guaranteed playlist placement can violate Spotify’s rules.

SubmitHub itself specifically warns artists against payola and guaranteed paid placement.

How does SubmitHub work?

The basic process is straightforward.

Step 1: Upload your music

Create a SubmitHub account and add your track.

You’ll normally provide information about the song, artist and genre along with links to where the music can be heard.

Step 2: Find relevant curators

This is probably the most important stage.

SubmitHub gives artists information that can help them evaluate potential curators, including their genres, recent shares and approval behaviour.

Don’t simply look for the biggest playlists.

Look for the best match.

A small indie-folk playlist that regularly features artists sounding similar to you could be much more valuable than a huge generic playlist where your song doesn’t belong.

Step 3: Submit your track

Once you’ve found appropriate curators, you can submit your song.

SubmitHub offers both free Standard Credits and paid Premium Credits.

Premium submissions come with additional guarantees around the consideration process.

SubmitHub says premium credits are automatically returned when certain requirements aren’t met, including feedback within 48 hours, at least 20 seconds of the track being listened to and at least 10 words of feedback when a submission is declined.

That doesn’t guarantee a placement.

It guarantees a defined level of consideration.

Step 4: The curator listens

The curator then decides whether your track is suitable.

If they like it, they might:

• Add the song to a playlist
• Write about it
• Share it on social media
• Feature it through another channel

If they decline it, you may receive feedback explaining why.

How to get more SubmitHub approvals

There is no trick that guarantees a curator will accept your music.

Ultimately, they have to like the song.

But there are plenty of things you can do to avoid wasting submissions.

Submit to the right genres

This sounds obvious.

It isn’t.

One of the easiest ways to waste promotional money is submitting your music to curators who don’t actually cover your genre.

Imagine releasing a melodic progressive house track.

Submitting it to every electronic playlist you can find probably isn’t the best strategy.

A curator focusing on hard techno might technically accept “electronic music”, but that doesn’t mean your song belongs there.

Go deeper.

Look at the songs they have recently featured.

Listen to their playlist.

Ask yourself:

Would my track sound natural if it appeared between these songs?

If the answer is no, don’t submit.

Look beyond follower numbers

Artists naturally gravitate towards the biggest playlists.

It’s understandable.

Would you rather appear on a playlist with 5,000 followers or 500,000?

But follower numbers don’t tell you everything.

A smaller playlist can have an extremely engaged audience.

A huge playlist can have very little meaningful activity.

SubmitHub itself recommends focusing on relevant, engaged playlists rather than simply chasing the largest possible numbers.

Relevance matters.

If Spotify sees listeners who genuinely enjoy your style discovering, saving and repeatedly listening to your track, that can potentially provide better signals than appearing somewhere completely unrelated.

Look at what the curator recently shared

Don’t just read the playlist description.

Listen.

If a curator says they accept “indie music”, that could mean almost anything.

Look through their recent selections.

Which artists are being approved?

Which genres?

What production style?

What mood?

What tempo?

You can learn a huge amount about a curator’s actual taste by looking at what they share rather than simply reading what they claim to accept.

Write a short personalised pitch

Don’t send an essay.

Curators are listening to large numbers of songs.

Give them useful context quickly.

Something like:

“Dreamy indie-pop track with a big synth-driven chorus. Think M83 meets The Japanese House. I thought it might fit the atmospheric side of your playlist.”

That’s much more useful than:

“Hello. My name is Steve and music has been my passion since I was four years old…”

The curator is primarily interested in the song.

Give them enough context to understand why you’re submitting it to them.

Explain why your song fits

One of the smartest things you can do is show that you actually looked at the curator.

Don’t say:

“I think you’d love my new single.”

Explain why.

Maybe they recently featured three artists similar to you.

Maybe the song fits a particular playlist.

Maybe their blog focuses on emerging Australian electronic artists and that’s exactly what you are.

SubmitHub itself recommends identifying precisely where you fit and explaining that in your pitch.

Don’t submit to everyone

More submissions do not automatically produce better results.

Imagine spending 50 credits submitting to 50 vaguely relevant curators.

Now imagine spending 20 credits submitting to 20 highly relevant ones.

The second campaign could easily outperform the first.

Treat every submission like a small advertising decision.

Ask:

Is this person genuinely likely to enjoy my music?

If not, keep your credit.

Should you submit unreleased music to SubmitHub?

For music blogs in particular, earlier can be better.

SubmitHub recommends approaching blogs with newer or unreleased tracks and having supporting material available such as an artist biography, photographs and an Electronic Press Kit.

That makes sense.

A journalist is much more likely to care about:

“New single arriving next Friday”

than:

“Song I released 14 months ago.”

Playlist curators can sometimes be more flexible with release dates, but building your campaign around the launch of a new song gives you a clear promotional window.

Can SubmitHub get you on Spotify editorial playlists?

Not directly.

There is an important difference between independent Spotify playlists and Spotify editorial playlists.

SubmitHub can connect you with independent playlist curators.

Spotify’s own editorial playlists are controlled by Spotify.

To pitch directly to Spotify’s editorial team, you should use Spotify for Artists before your song is released.

SubmitHub itself recommends pitching every eligible new release through Spotify for Artists separately.

These two approaches can work alongside one another.

Submit to Spotify editorial.

Pitch relevant independent curators.

Contact blogs.

Promote through social media.

Run advertising.

There shouldn’t be just one part of your release strategy.

Can SubmitHub help Spotify’s algorithm?

Potentially, but don’t think of playlist promotion as a magic button.

The important thing isn’t simply generating streams.

It’s generating the right listeners.

SubmitHub argues that being included alongside stylistically relevant music can help Spotify better understand where a song belongs.

The more important metrics are what listeners actually do.

Do they skip?

Do they listen?

Do they save the track?

Do they visit your profile?

Do they follow you?

Do they listen to another song?

Ten thousand streams from people who don’t care about your music aren’t necessarily better than 1,000 streams from people who become genuine fans.

How much should you spend on SubmitHub?

There isn’t one perfect budget.

If you’re trying SubmitHub for the first time, starting smaller can make sense.

Use an initial campaign to learn:

• Which genres respond best
• Which curators like your sound
• Which descriptions work
• What feedback keeps appearing
• Which placements generate meaningful listeners

Then use that information when promoting your next release.

Music marketing should become smarter with every song.

Don’t ignore rejected submissions

Nobody enjoys being rejected.

But SubmitHub feedback can sometimes be useful.

Look for patterns rather than individual opinions.

One curator saying your vocal is too quiet doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Seven independent curators saying your vocal is too quiet?

Maybe you should listen again.

Repeated feedback can help identify problems with:

• Production
• Mixing
• Song structure
• Vocals
• Genre positioning
• Introductions
• Track length

Don’t change your music every time somebody dislikes something.

But don’t ignore consistent feedback either.

Is SubmitHub worth using?

SubmitHub can be useful if you approach it correctly.

It isn’t a machine where you insert money and receive Spotify streams.

And it shouldn’t be treated that way.

Its value comes from giving artists direct access to people who are actively looking for new music.

The key is targeting.

Find the right curators.

Understand their audience.

Submit your strongest music.

Write a relevant pitch.

Then use what you learn to improve your next campaign.

For an independent artist trying to get their music featured on playlists, blogs and music discovery channels, SubmitHub can be another useful tool in a much larger music promotion strategy.

SubmitHub FAQs

Is SubmitHub legitimate?

SubmitHub is an established music submission platform used by more than one million artists, publicists and labels, according to the company.

Does SubmitHub guarantee playlist placement?

No. Paying for a Premium submission pays for consideration under SubmitHub’s submission rules, not guaranteed placement.

Can you use SubmitHub for free?

SubmitHub supports both Standard free credits and paid Premium Credits.

Can SubmitHub get music featured on blogs?

Yes. SubmitHub includes music bloggers alongside playlist curators and other music discovery outlets.

Can SubmitHub get you onto Spotify playlists?

SubmitHub allows musicians to submit tracks to participating independent Spotify playlist curators. It does not replace Spotify for Artists when pitching Spotify’s own editorial playlists.