Where to submit music in 2026

Start with the release, not the list

Every submission is a request for someone to do something specific: add a track, write a piece, play a song, sign a record. Before you send music anywhere, decide which of those outcomes you actually want for this release and what you can prove — genre, city, release date, any support you already have.

That decision changes the destination. A first single with no story is a playlist and blog release. An EP with a live run behind it is a press and radio release. A finished album without a team is a label and distribution conversation.

1. 01Write one sentence describing the release: sound, place, date.
2. 02Choose the main outcome: streams, coverage, airplay or a deal.
3. 03Collect five comparable releases from the last year.
4. 04Note who supported them — those are your first targets.

Spotify editorial playlists

Spotify's editors only accept pitches through Spotify for Artists, for one unreleased song at a time. Pitch at least seven days before release — that is also what places the track on your followers' Release Radar — and earlier is better.

Editorial placement is never guaranteed and nobody can sell it to you. Fill in every field honestly: genre, mood, instruments, the story behind the song and any marketing you have planned.

Independent playlist curators

Most streams for new independent artists come from independent curators, not editorial lists. Match on the playlist's recent adds, not its name or follower count, and avoid any curator who asks for payment in exchange for a guaranteed placement — that breaks Spotify's rules and can get tracks removed.

Virtual Publicist's curator Collections group independent curators by genre and mood so you can see who fits before you write.

Music blogs and press

Blogs and online magazines work one to three weeks ahead of a release; print and long-lead outlets work six to twelve weeks ahead. A short, specific email with one private streaming link outperforms a long biography with attachments.

Pick writers by what they covered this year. A blog that has never posted your genre will not start with your track.

Radio

Community, college and online radio are the most open doors for new artists, and in the UK BBC Introducing accepts uploads from UK-based artists through its own uploader. Commercial radio usually needs a plugger and a release with momentum behind it.

Send broadcast-quality files only when asked; first contact should be a link, a clean radio edit and the release date.

Record labels

Labels sign artists who fit their catalogue and already show momentum. Send a demo only to labels that release your genre, through the route the label publishes, and lead with what is already working — streams, shows, an audience in a specific city.

Where Virtual Publicist fits

Virtual Publicist reads your music and ranks the curators, writers, radio hosts and labels whose published work overlaps with it, with a written reason for each match. You pitch them directly from one place and keep a record of every reply.

It does not guarantee placements or coverage, and it does not send mass mail. It removes the list-building and the guessing.