What is Discovery Mode?
Discovery Mode is a program where Spotify will help get you more listeners by inserting your songs into other artists’ radio stations and general “autoplay” sessions - for an additional commission.
How this works is, if you opt-in (eligible) songs to Discovery Mode, these songs will start to appear more often in other artists’ Radio playlists. You’ll see in your Spotify for Artists reporting more Radio plays. And your songs will also autoplay more frequently after people finish listening to similar artists’ albums and playlists. Your songs most likely are getting inserted into other artists Radio playlists as it is now via the algorithm, but this juices it up. Spotify will basically test your song in more Radio playlists and prioritize your song within the autoplay feature.
In exchange for the chance of increased streams Spotify takes 30% of the algorithmic royalties generated in the Discovery Mode program. There are various reasons Discovery Mode is not the best option for every (eligible) track is. For newer releases Discovery Mode can get in the way of organic growth because new releases are already liable for good positions in the algorithm. Another reason why Discovery Mode might not be suitable is the specific genre of your music. Discovery Mode is more efficient for some genres than others. For example ambient or noise audio are unsuitable for Discovery Mode.
FAQ
What tracks are eligible for Discovery Mode?
You can request the eligibility list by sending a mail to
labels@the-source.eu The criteria to qualify for Discovery Mode are not entirely transparent. For the most up-to-date criteria check out
Spotify for Artists. Nevertheless, there are some known criteria:
- The artist must be credited as a main/primary artist or remixer
- The track must have been released on Spotify 30+ days ago
- The track must have at least 1 radio or autoplay stream in the last 7 days
I submitted my list of tracks to The Source, when will my tracks enter Discovery Mode?
Discovery Mode works with monthly rotation. Every first of the month we submit our releases to Discovery Mode so the first of the month your submission or cancellation will start.
How long will the selected tracks remain active in Discovery Mode?
After you have submitted tracks for Discovery Mode they will remain active unless you request otherwise. Note that submission are available monthly so exiting and entering tracks will start/stop at the end of the monthly rotation.
How to read the Discovery Mode excel sheet?
This excel sheets contains all your tracks that are eligible for Discovery Mode, if your preferred track is not on here it is not eligible. There are several columns in this sheet, we explain some that might be confusing below:
- Recommended: Spotify selects tracks that they think would benefit from participation in Spotify Discovery Mode.
- Select for campaign: here is where you can enter or exit a track from the Discovery Mode program, starting at the next rotation
- Stream and listener lift: Spotify provides data that shows the increase you’ve gained from participating in the Discovery Mode program.