Claire Donzelli, founder of Clarity Music Marketing, spent years pitching her own music to Spotify editorial and third-party playlists before building a playlist network with more than 50,000 followers. Now a curator and marketer, she identifies five regrets from that experience.
Personalization over volume
Donzelli says she once treated playlist pitching as a numbers game, customizing only the curator and playlist name. That detail helps curators sort submissions, but it rarely separates an artist from hundreds of similar messages. Mentioning a specific artist already on the playlist or a curator’s social media post can be more effective than many copy-and-paste pitches.
First lines and authentic voice
The first sentence of a pitch is the most important, according to Donzelli. Misspelling a curator’s name or opening with filler such as “hope you’re doing well” can leave a message unread. She advises reading a pitch aloud and asking, “Does it sound like something you’d actually say?”
Donzelli recommends recording a voice memo describing the song to a friend instead of using ChatGPT or Claude for the first draft. AI can clean up spelling, but a personal tone is a differentiator.
Brevity and vetting playlists
Long messages deter curators, especially on mobile. Donzelli suggests trimming every word that does not affect meaning or tone.
Not every playlist is worth pursuing. She points to free tools such as artist.tools, where artists can paste a playlist URL to check for bot activity. Donzelli also asks curators how they grew their playlists and sometimes requests Spotify for Artists stats for a song on the list. One botted playlist can cause a distributor to flag a song, so she advises trusting suspicion and doing research. “Your music is worth it, and authentic curators will understand,” Donzelli says.
Owned audience and rejection
Despite operating a playlist network with more than 50,000 followers, Donzelli says those listeners belong to Spotify. She spent too much time hunting playlists while her own supporters were commenting on posts, joining an email list, and starting conversations. Building owned channels, such as social posts, a Substack, or a community playlist, can drive more active engagement than many playlist adds.
Donzelli also cautions artists not to take silence personally. Larger playlists receive more pitches, and curators cannot respond to all of them. She says artists should keep creating and pitching because an audience exists for the music.
Claire Donzelli is the founder of Clarity Music Marketing, a Los Angeles-based agency helping artists, labels, and creative brands grow through release strategy and audience development. Through her agency and a playlist network with more than 50,000 followers, she has led national PR and advertising campaigns and helped hundreds of artists expand their fanbases. She also created Clarity Indie 50, a rotating editorial feature spotlighting emerging independent artists.
