My Curators perspective on which Submission platforms can offer artists the most
Sorry, long post. I am one of the curators on a majority of these submission platforms listed below (disclaimer, throwaway account to stay on these platforms). I frequently see complaints here from artists about “Curators do not provide value for artists” or “playlist pitching is not worth it for independent artists.” If that is your take, that is totally fine, but I feel like it doesn’t have to be the case.
I feel like it is the current system that creates part of the trouble artists experience, and I would like to once and for all debunk the idea that it is “the curators” who lack to provide value for artists. A curator can only invest in their playlists based on the percentage they receive from the submission platform. The submission platforms often already take a 50%+ cut first. On top of that, curators must write lengthy reviews, which artists often don’t even care about. The first 1000 are fun, but at some point you want to allocate a bit of compensation for writing the 1,001st similar forced review. Here is my list, where I would suggest to support the platforms that allow curators to invest into their playlists, and you will be more likely to get good results in return.
An overview of all submission platforms and how revenue is shared with the curators:
| Name | Artists price per curator | Minimum package | Amount paid to curator | share back to curators (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Yougrowpromo | 10€ - 97€ | 97€ | 7,5€-75€ | 80% |
| 2. Playlistsforyou | 2,50$ | 49$ | 1,75$ | 70% |
| 3. Recordlabel | 10$-50$ | 97$ | 5,5$-28$ | 55% |
| 4. Submithub | 1$-5$* | 10$ | 0,5$-2,5$* | 50% |
| 5. Groover | 2€ | 10€ | 1€ | 50% |
| 6. Unhurd | 6£ | 70£ | 3£ | 50% |
| 7. One-submit | 1$-5$ | 50$ | 1$-2,50$ | 50% |
| 8. Songrocket | 3$ | 3$ | 1,5$ | 50% |
| 9. Curator Club | 2$ | 30$ | 1$ | 50% |
| 10. Submitlink | 2$-5$ | 30$ | 1$-2,5$ | 50% |
| 11. Playlist Push | 8$ | 285$ | 1.25$-15$* (avg: ~3,5$) | 44% |
| 12. Orion Promotion | 5,5$ | 79$ | 1$-14$* (avg: 2$ | 36% |
| 13. Wallstream | 1-10$ | 10$ | 0-4$, royalty deal of 1-25% | 30/40%** (and a 15% wallstream-fee) |
| 14. Soundcampaign | 10$ | 150$ | 1$-14$* (avg: 3$) | 30% |
| 15. Muso Soup | 0$ | 42$ | 1-25% of royalties | 0%-25%** |
| 16. Songtools | 0$-3$ | 70$ | No data available (NDA), often 0$. | 10% |
| 17. Daily Playlists | 0$ | 0$ | 0$ | NA (Free submission platform) |
| 18. Soundplate | 0$ | 0$ | 0$ | NA (Free submission platform) |
| 19. Pitch Playlists | 0$ | 0$ | 0$ | NA (Free submission platform) |
* = Depending on the estimated curators “level” of engagement (not always reliable)
** = With a lucky super-viral song you might get something worth it. On average though, with 250 streams from a playlist, a curator earns 0,25$ (assuming 25% equity, 4$ per 1000 streams) (+ base pitch fee for wallstream, so 0-4$.
NDA = No Data Available
Methodology:
On many submission platforms, I am a curator (though I want to stay anonymous to not be banned). For the ones where I am not a curator, I used Google to fill the blanks. If no data is shared, they get an NDA (No Data Available). For simplicity, I do not take discounts into account unless they are included in the smallest available package.
Disclaimer:
I am part of the United Curators Association, which tries to balance the payment between curators and submission platforms, as the situation is unsustainable. I am posting this individually. They are trying to make the conditions more fair for curators, as most of the major submission platforms are happy to squeeze out the curators.
tl;dr: If you want to actually get value-for-money results from a submission platform, look at the top of this list I made. By supporting platforms that give a larger share to curators, you’ll likely get better results for your money.