Spotify just announced a game-changing move which could mean big changes for some of their biggest playlists. 

As reported by Billboard, the streaming service this morning (July 20) launched a feature, still in beta, that allows any artists with a Spotify for Artists account or labels using Spotify Analytics to share unreleased tracks directly with Spotify’s team of over 100 editors worldwide.

The team is responsible for programming Spotify’s playlists – the lists on which a new track’s inclusion could become a make or break point for an emerging artist, and are a key part of album promotion.

The company says that, today, more than 75,000 artists are featured on its editorial playlists every week, plus another 150,000 on its flagship playlist, Discover Weekly. 

Prior to the announcement, the process on how artists reach the Spotify editorial team to suggest music has been unclear and has come under much scrutiny, with many suggesting that record labels ultimately have the upper hand when it comes to which artists are featured in some of Spotify's biggest playlists. 

However, the new submissions feature aims to change this process, while also driving artists and labels to use Spotify’s own software for managing profiles and tracking their stats on the service.  

“The number one question we get from labels, artists and their teams is: who do I speak to to get on Rap Caviar, Hot Country, ¡Viva Latino!, Ultimate Indie or other Spotify playlists?,” said Nick Holmsten, Vice President of Content & Global Head of Shows & Editorial, Spotify. “We’ve listened to feedback from the creative community, and developed a new feature that enables them to easily submit unreleased music for playlist consideration to our entire worldwide team of playlist editors.”