How Release Radar Works (and How to Get Added)
Release Radar is a personalized playlist that refreshes every Friday with new music from artists each listener follows. Pitch your song at least 7 days before release through Spotify for Artists to control which track lands in your followers' Radar. A track stays eligible for 4 weeks after release, and each listener gets one song per artist per week.
when Release Radar refreshes for every listener
pitch lead time to control which track gets placed
eligibility window after release
per listener per artist in any Release Radar
Key takeaways
- Release Radar refreshes every Friday with personalized new music. It reaches people who follow your artist profile, people who already listen to you, and listeners Spotify predicts will like you.
- Pitch at least 7 days before release through Spotify for Artists to choose which song lands in your followers' Radar. Miss the window and Spotify picks for you.
- A track stays eligible for 4 weeks after release. New followers you gain during that window can still receive it.
- Each listener gets at most one song per artist per week. If they missed it last Friday, they may get it the following week while the window is open.
- The ask to your audience before a release is 'follow my Spotify profile.' Streaming is a good signal, but following is what builds the Release Radar channel.
What Release Radar is and who it reaches
Every Friday, Spotify builds a fresh Release Radar playlist for each listener. It’s personalized: the tracks come from artists that specific listener follows, artists they already listen to frequently, and artists Spotify’s system predicts they’ll like. The last layer works similarly to Discover Weekly’s collaborative filtering, but Release Radar is restricted to music released in the past 4 weeks.
The follower path is the one you have the most direct control over. When someone clicks Follow on your Spotify artist profile, they’re opting into receiving your new releases in their Radar every Friday they come out. A save, a stream, or a like on a single track doesn’t do that. Only a follow does.
This is part of the Spotify algorithm’s broader architecture, where different surfaces respond to different signals. Release Radar responds to follows. Discover Weekly responds to taste overlap across listeners. Understanding which system you’re trying to move determines what you should actually ask your audience to do. For the full map of how the three discovery types connect, see the Spotify algorithm guide.
The 7-day pitch cutoff
Pitching through Spotify for Artists does two things at once: it submits your song to Spotify’s editorial team for playlist consideration, and it tells the system which track from your release should go into your followers’ Release Radar. Those are separate outcomes from the same form.
To control your Release Radar placement, you need to submit at least 7 days before release. Miss that window and Spotify picks which track goes in. You don’t lose the Release Radar placement entirely. You lose the choice. Since most releases have a focus track, not having a say in which song reaches your followers first is a real cost.
To pitch: open Spotify for Artists, go to Music, then Upcoming. The pitch form appears on your scheduled release. Fill in the genre, mood, and instruments fields first, because those inform both the editorial team and the algorithmic context the song gets placed in. Then write the 500-character description. You can pitch as soon as the release is scheduled, and earlier is better. For the full editorial pitch process and what to write in the description, see how to pitch your music to Spotify editors.
The 4-week eligibility window
A new track stays eligible for Release Radar for up to 4 weeks after its release date. During that window, followers who missed it one Friday might receive it the following week. The system also starts to reach the “listeners Spotify thinks will like you” layer, which is the taste-based path into people who don’t yet follow you.
One practical implication: new followers matter throughout the window, not just before release. Someone who follows your Spotify artist profile in week two of your release can still receive that track in their Release Radar while it’s eligible. So the call to follow doesn’t expire on release day. Keep making it.
Followers gained after release still count
The 4-week window is why a release campaign doesn’t end on release day. Followers you pick up in week one and week two can still receive the song through Release Radar. Keep pointing people to your Spotify artist profile throughout the window, not just in the days before release.
When the window closes, that’s one of the reasons streams typically drop. The Release Radar feed stops including the track, editorial adds have rotated, and the concentrated day-one push is done. That’s normal post-release decay. What sustains streams past that point is a different mechanism, covered in why streams drop after release week.
Building the Release Radar channel
A first release with zero followers gets near-zero Release Radar reach on the follower path. That’s just the math. The people who follow you are the ones who reliably receive your music in their Radar when it comes out, without needing you to reach them through paid promotion or luck on an editorial pitch.
The ask that builds the channel is specific: “Follow my Spotify artist profile.” Streaming the song is also good, and saving it matters for other reasons. But following is the action that opts someone into receiving your next release without you having to reach them again from scratch.
Every follower you gain is a person who gets your next release in their Release Radar without you having to find them again.
For a first release, the follow ask goes out before the song drops so those people are in the channel by the time it hits on Friday. For every release after that, the Release Radar reach grows with the follower count. That compounding is why building followers consistently matters more than any single release’s stream count.
If you’re building toward a first release and want to understand how Release Radar, pre-saves, and editorial fit together in the first month, see getting your first 1,000 Spotify streams.
Release Radar vs Discover Weekly: why they need different approaches
Because they work on different signals, the playbook for each is different. Release Radar is something you build toward by growing your follower count and pitching on time. Discover Weekly is something you earn over time by accumulating genuine engagement from listeners with consistent taste profiles.
In the first weeks after a release, Release Radar is the algorithmic surface doing the work. Discover Weekly picks up later, if it picks up at all, once the system has enough signal to start matching your track against listeners who’ve never heard of you. The full Discover Weekly mechanics, including what vendor research says about which signals matter most, are in how to get on Discover Weekly.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I miss the 7-day pitch deadline for Release Radar?+
You lose control of which track goes in, not the placement itself. Spotify picks a track from your release to include in followers' Release Radar regardless. The 7-day cutoff is what lets you choose the specific song. Miss it, and Spotify decides. Since most releases have a clear lead single or focus track, you want to be the one making that call. The pitch is also your chance to give the editorial team context about the song, even if it doesn't land on an editorial playlist.
Does Release Radar reach people who don't follow me?+
Spotify says Release Radar is built from artists the listener follows, artists they already listen to, and artists Spotify thinks they'll like. So yes, non-followers can receive your song in their Release Radar, but you have much less influence over that. The follower path is the one you can actually build toward. The 'Spotify thinks they'll like you' layer is based on listening behaviour and taste overlap, similar to the collaborative filtering behind Discover Weekly.
Can a song be in Release Radar more than once?+
Each listener gets at most one song per artist per week in their Release Radar. If someone missed it the first Friday, Spotify may include it again in subsequent weeks while the 4-week eligibility window is open. New followers you gain after release can still receive the song during that same window. The window doesn't restart on each appearance; it's a 4-week total period from the release date.
Does following matter more than streaming for Release Radar?+
For getting your music into someone's Release Radar, yes. Following is what puts you in their playlist directly. A stream without a follow means someone heard the song but won't automatically receive your next release in their Radar. That's why the right ask to your audience before a release is 'follow my Spotify artist profile' and not just 'go stream it.' Both are good, but only one builds the Release Radar channel.
How do I pitch my song through Spotify for Artists?+
Go to Spotify for Artists, open Music, then click Upcoming. You'll see your scheduled release and a pitch button. The pitch form asks for genre, mood, instruments, and a description up to 500 characters. You can pitch as soon as the release is scheduled, and the 7-day window before release is your cutoff for controlling Release Radar placement. The pitch is for editorial consideration and Release Radar placement both. For what to write in the description, the editorial pitching guide covers that in detail.
Get better release strategy in your inbox
Release planning checklists, royalty explainers, and artist strategy notes from Velveteen. No daily noise.
Was this useful? Send a signal or flag a correction.
Keep reading
Pillar guide
How the Spotify algorithm works
The map of Spotify's recommendation system: editorial vs algorithmic vs listener playlists, the signals (saves, skips, completion, follows) that drive them, and the editorial-to-algorithmic pipeline.
Related guide
Get on Discover Weekly
Why following doesn't help, what real signals (saves, playlist adds, completion by similar listeners) move Discover Weekly, and the honest limits of chasing it.
Related guide
Streams drop after week one
The normal post-release decay explained: the 4-week Release Radar window, editorial rotation, and the spent day-one burst, plus what actually sustains streams past week one.
Free tool · no signup
Write a stronger pitch in 30 seconds
Drop in your release context and get a critique-first Spotify pitch draft, weak spots, and a copy-ready description inside the 500-character limit.