TJ Jones

Blog Posts for Artists

The Ultimate Guide To Record Label Contracts

Understanding Record Label Contracts In 2025, it's entirely possible for artists to succeed independently of record labels. However, a record deal can still offer significant support and fuel an artist's development. Conversely, it could hinder growth if the label prioritizes short-term profits over the artist's long-term career. Whether you're a bedroom producer, a buzzing rapper on TikTok, or a band selling out local shows, understanding record label contracts is essential. These contracts d

· 7 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

Lyric Sheets: What They Are and Why Every Indie Artist Needs One

Being an independent artist today means wearing a lot of hats. You're the writer, the performer, the marketer, sometimes even your own manager. There’s one underrated tool that often gets overlooked, and that’s the lyric sheet. If you’re not using one (or not sure how to even put one together), don’t worry. We’ll cover what a lyric sheet is, why it matters, and how it can help you look way more professional in the eyes of the music industry. So, What Is a Lyric Sheet? In simple terms, a lyri

· 4 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

Top Music Analytics Tools for Independent Musicians

For independent musicians today, making music is only half the battle. The other half? Knowing what happens after you release it. Understanding your audience and tracking your music's performance is crucial. Music analytics tools provide valuable insights that can help you make informed decisions about your career and the best steps to take next. Here are the top tools available for independent musicians right now. Platform-Specific Analytics The top streaming platforms offer their own analyt

· 4 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

Top 5 New Instagram Features for Musicians in 2025

Over the past few months, Instagram has dropped some new game-changing features for musicians, making connecting with fans and promoting music easier than ever. Whether you're looking to add music to your Instagram profile, schedule DMs to your fans, or link Spotify to Instagram, these updates are a must-know. 1. Schedule DMs to Your Fans Stay Connected Without Being Online 24/7 Ever wish you could engage with your fans without having to be online all the time? Now, you can schedule Instagr

· 5 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

How To Use Instagram's New Music Sharing Feature in Direct Messages

Instagram's latest update includes a music sticker for DMs, enabling users to share 30-second music clips in private conversations. This feature, which is part of Instagram's ongoing collaboration with Spotify, provides a quick and easy way to share music with friends without requiring them to listen to an entire song. This new capability complements Instagram's existing music integration features, which allow users to add songs to their profiles and save music directly from Instagram to Spotify

· 2 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

The Best & Worst Times of Year to Release Music

Releasing music at the right time is crucial to its success. Whether you're an independent artist or signed to one of the Big 4 record labels, timing your release strategically can make the difference between your song getting lost in the noise or gaining traction. If you're wondering what the best time is to release music on Spotify or the worst months to release music, this guide will help you determine the most effective release strategy.  Remember to always schedule your release at least 4

· 3 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

How To Claim Your Artist Page on Spotify, Apple Music, and other Streaming Services

In today's music industry, managing your digital presence on streaming platforms is essential for artists and labels. Platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music serve as gateways to your audience. Claiming and updating your artist profiles on these platforms ensures you’re represented correctly and your music is easily discoverable. This guide will show you how to claim artist profiles on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and other major platforms while optimizing yo

· 4 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

Top 5 Spotify Features for 2025

Spotify is no stranger to innovation. These new features show that Spotify is continuously staying ahead of competitors and remains the most used app for streaming audio. These new features benefit artists, podcasters, and music listeners alike. Let’s explore these top features in detail. 1. Spotify Countdown Pages Spotify Countdown Pages have revolutionized the way fans of your music anticipate and interact with upcoming releases. What Are Spotify Countdown Pages? The Spotify Countdown Pa

· 4 min read

Blog Posts for Artists

How To Report Artificial Playlists on Spotify

Every artist on Spotify knows that botted/artificial playlists are to be avoided at all costs. At Playlist Push, we are fully aware of the potential harm it can do to artist accounts and have an extensive auditing process for new curator sign ups to prevent these playlists from entering our network. All artists should be aware of how to report artificial playlists, regardless of if you promote your music or not, it can happen to you. Until recently, reporting a suspicious playlist was a murky p

· 4 min read

Spotify AI Playlist Generator: Everything You Need To Know

Spotify recently launched a new “AI Playlist” feature that allows premium subscribers to type in a prompt and have a “personalized” playlist with a unique title created in seconds. Premium subscribers in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland can now access AI Playlists in beta. What is Spotify Playlist Maker AI? Spotify Playlist Maker AI is an advanced feature designed to create custom playlists for Spotify subscribers based on the prompts they feed to the AI. This AI-powered tool combines

· 3 min read

Artist Interviews

From Brooklyn to LA: The Homegrown Sound of Fake Dad

Hometown: NYC Currently Based In: Los Angeles, CA Favorite Hobby: Reading/Hiking (Andrea) & Crochet (Josh) Favorite Artist(s): Brittany Howard (Andrea) Porches (Josh) Who Is Fake Dad? Andrea de Varona (she/her) and Josh Ford (he/him) aka Fake Dad are a bilingual songwriter/vocalist/producer duo based in Los Angeles. Formed in 2020, the two met at a college party in the East Village and have been inseparable ever since. Melding their own unique artistic visions to build a shared sonic shorthan

· 10 min read

Music Marketing

How to Spot Bot Playlists on Spotify Before It's Too Late

There is no doubt fake Spotify playlists have the potential to ruin an artist’s chances of succeeding on the platform. In 2021, Spotify removed over half a million songs released through Distrokid that were added to fake playlists and received artificial streams. At Playlist Push this comes as no surprise, we have been fighting and weeding out fake/botted playlists since late 2018. Every playlist that applies to our network is scanned by an algorithm and manually verified by a human to determin

· 4 min read

Should you be making AI-Music? Why Human Curators Resist the Rise of AI

Reshaping the Melody The world-shaking advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have had a significant impact on various industries, including television, film, medicine, and notably, the music industry. Throughout history, the music industry has been at the forefront of embracing and adapting to new technologies. The introduction of Apple's iPod and the iTunes Store revolutionized the way people purchased music, replacing physical formats like CDs and traditional vinyl records with digi

· 6 min read

Blog Posts for Creators

Spotify Deleted My Playlist Title and Cover Photo...Now What?

As the Curator Community Manager at Playlist Push, I see this happen all the time. A curator reaches out because they receive a “Notice of removal of your edited content” email from Spotify. This vague subject line often leads to panic as, at first glance, it may sound like Spotify has removed your entire user account. This notice, however, means that someone has flagged your playlist as violating Spotify’s Profile and playlist user image guidelines. No need to fret. If you’re using roya

· 3 min read

Music Marketing

The Fall of FN Meka and The Rise of The Virtual Influencer

FN Meka was created in 2019 by Factory New Records as what appeared to be a run-of-the-mill virtual influencer. The avatar quickly gained notoriety on TikTok for posting videos featuring Gucci Tesla Cybertrucks, Lamborghini gaming chairs, and other (now deleted) Artificial Reality powered content, amassing millions of followers on the platform. The virtual influencer was also heavily involved in the NFT Marketplace and has been known to “auction off” things like the virtual Lamborghini-styled “

· 5 min read

5 star series

How Kai Crushed Youtube Music and Became a 5 Star Spotify Curator

Kai has helped 36 of our artists reach over 600,000 new listeners! Hometown: Brighton, United Kingdom Top Genres: slowed & reverb / dance pop Favorite Artist: xxxtentacion & playboi carti Favorite Hobby: Thrifting / Fashion 1) How did you get into curating playlists? I've always had a big influence in music from a young age with my uncle Chad Jackson who is a DMC world champion DJ who helped my find creativity within music & always supported my interest in the industry. I started out creat

· 4 min read

We are not available in your region

Playlist Push runs on a network of curators and creators who we pay for reviews and videos, and we can only do that in countries where we have a supported way to pay people out. Unfortunately, we cannot do that in your region.