A curator reply is short, sent the same day, and carries no argument in it. Thank them, name the one thing worth naming, and stop. Six templates are below, three for an add and three for a pass, plus the lines to cut and the record to keep so the next release starts from the answer.
Most artists write back when the answer is yes and go quiet when it is no. Both are worth the same two minutes, and the second one is where nearly everybody stops.
A reply changes nothing about this song and it is the only thing that changes your position on the next one. Two minutes, three sentences, then it goes in the log.
In this guide you’ll learn
- Which answer earns which reply
- Six replies you can copy without editing
- The three lines that get an artist archived
- When to send it and how long to leave it
- What to write down beside the answer
- Where the reply stops mattering
Spotify Editors Email You Once and Only for a Yes
Worth settling first, because half the answers artists talk about never existed. Spotify’s support pages for editorial pitching say you get an email if the song is picked, and that you can check the Music then Playlists tab once the release is live. Nothing arrives on the other outcome, so there is nobody to write back to.
Everything below is about independent curators, the people running their own playlists who read a pitch in an inbox or a form and send an answer back.
Spotify’s own editor Q and A puts the reason plainly, saying individual responses to every pitch are impossible at the volume they receive, and reporting that around 20 percent of songs pitched through Spotify for Artists land on at least one playlist. A curator running one playlist has the same problem at a smaller scale, which is why the ones who answer are worth answering.
Six Answers Turn Up and Each Earns a Different Curator Reply
Sort the message before you write, because the answer decides the length.
| What came back | What it tells you | What to send |
|---|---|---|
| Added, with a link | They liked it enough to spend a slot | Two lines and one useful offer |
| Added, and they tagged you | They want the placement seen | A share, then the two lines |
| Added, and they asked for something | They work with artists, not just tracks | A plain yes or a plain no |
| Passed, no reason given | Only that a person read it | Two lines |
| Passed on fit | Your targeting missed, the song is fine | Two lines and one question |
| Passed, send the next one | The best outcome short of an add | Two lines and a month |
A seventh case is silence, which is a different subject and gets a follow up rather than a reply.
Three Replies for an Add
An add is the easiest reply to get wrong, because gratitude runs long and a long email lands on somebody who just did you a favour.
1. They Added the Song
Thanks for adding it, that is a good spot to be in. I have shared the playlist with my list this morning. If you ever want a version without the feature or an instrumental for something else you run, say the word.
Two lines and one offer that costs them nothing to accept. No follower report, no ask about the next release.
2. They Added It and Tagged You
Reposted, thank you. The playlist has been on in the studio all week and the two tracks after mine are new to me. Happy to send the next single your way when it is finished.
Do the share first and answer second, so the message is a receipt rather than a promise. Naming a track you found on their playlist is the part they remember.
3. They Added It and Asked for Something
Yes to the story post, that is easy. I cannot do the paid feature but thanks for laying out the options. Either way I appreciate the add and I will keep sending you things that fit.
Answer the ask in one sentence, either way. Anything that involves paying for the placement gets a plain no, since Spotify’s own guidance is to avoid services selling adds and no service can guarantee one.
Three Replies for a Pass
A pass with a person behind it is worth more than silence, and the reply is the only thing that keeps you on their radar.
4. A Pass With No Reason
Thanks for listening and for coming back to me, which most people do not do. I will keep an eye on the playlist. If a track of mine lands closer to what you run, I will send it over.
Send it, then close the tab. There is no question in it because there is nothing to ask.
5. A Pass on Fit
Thanks for the reply and for being straight about the fit. Quick one if you have a second, is there a mood or tempo you are short of at the moment? Happy to keep it in mind rather than send you the wrong thing twice.
One question, easy to answer in five words, and it treats their time as the scarce thing. Some will answer and some will not, and the ones who do have told you what to send next.
6. A Pass With a Note on the Song
Thanks for taking the time to say why. The comment about the intro is fair and it is the second time somebody has said it. My next single goes out in September and I will send it a week or so before then.
Answer the note in one sentence, agree or say nothing, and never explain the song. Name a month while you are there, because a vague promise to send more music is what everybody writes and a date is what makes the second message make sense when it arrives.
Three Lines to Cut Before You Send
The reply is short, so the mistakes are all things people add.
The Second Pitch
Asking a curator to reconsider, or offering a different track from the same release, turns a courtesy into another submission. They already answered once in the email you are replying to.
The Question That Costs an Hour
What could I improve, what did you think of the production, would you listen to the other two songs. Each of those is a favour, and somebody who has just spent their evening on submissions has no reason to do one.
The Apology
Sorry for bothering you, sorry to take your time. It reads as somebody who does not expect to be answered, and it makes the next message easier to skip.
Should You Reply When a Curator Adds Your Song?
Yes, and keep it to two lines. A same day thank you costs nothing and puts you in the small group of artists a curator can remember by name. Skip the reply when the message is an automated form response with nobody’s name on it, since that inbox goes unread.
Send It the Same Day and Leave It There
Reply while their message is still near the top of their inbox. A thank you arriving eleven days later reopens something they had finished with.
Then leave it alone. No second message, no update when the song does well somewhere else, no check in three weeks later. The next contact is the next release, with a new song attached, which is the only thing that gives you a reason to write.
Log the Answer Beside the Playlist It Came From
A reply you never write down is a reply you spend again next year. Beside the playlist, keep the date, which of the six answers it was, anything they told you about fit, and the month you said you would send the next one.
Keeping that record together is the part that stops working around the third release, when the sheet has two hundred rows and the names blur. On PlaylistFeed the pitch and the answer sit on the same screen, so a March reply is still attached to that playlist in June. Making an account and searching the verified playlists costs nothing. Pitching is on the paid plan.
The point of the record is the split on the next send. Names who answered get the new song first, and the rest of the list gets it a week later.
A Curator Who Answered Once Already Knows Your Genre
This is the whole reason the reply exists. Somebody who wrote back has listened to you, formed a view, and spent a minute on it, which is three things a cold contact has not done.
Spotify’s page on seeing your playlists shows the top hundred lists carrying your music, ordered by how many of your listeners they brought over the last twelve months, so a curator who passed in the spring and added you in the autumn turns up there without ever emailing you again.
Second pitches also read differently. You open with what happened last time rather than with the playlist title, and that opening is the one thing no cold pitch can copy. Building the group who have answered you at all is what PlaylistFeed is for, and it is why the reply is worth two minutes today.
Where This Stops Mattering
This is a two minute job and it is not a strategy. Nobody publishes how often a courteous answer turns into a later add, and any page quoting a percentage made it up.
It also does nothing on a first campaign. If fewer than ten people have ever answered you, the work is finding more curators to pitch rather than tending the ones you have, and the replies start to matter once there are enough of them to split a send list by.
And an answer from a form with no reply address is where this ends. Log it and move on.
Common Mistakes With Curator Replies
- Writing back on a yes and going quiet on everything else.
- Arguing the answer, in any wording, including a polite version.
- Attaching a second track to the thank you.
- Asking for feedback that takes the curator longer to write than their answer did.
- Waiting a week so the reply looks casual, by which point it reads as odd.
- Sending the same paragraph to every curator, which is the thing they spot fastest.
Conclusion
A curator reply takes two minutes and no more than that. Thank them, take the one useful thing out of the message, name a month if they invited a next one, and send it the same day.
Then write it down. The reply is what keeps the contact, and the record is what makes that contact worth having when the next single is ready.
Names on your list who answered you once are the shortest route to a second add you have, and they came from an email most artists never send.
Next Step
You now know what to send back on either answer. The harder part arrives on the next release, when you need somewhere for those replies to live and more names beside them that answer at all.
On PlaylistFeed you find curators by genre, write the pitch, send pitches, and track who answered, so a March reply is still sitting there in June.
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