If there's still something unclear or you have further questions, feel free to reach out on Instagram or via the Contact Form!
[Note: There's a lot of text with "rules" on this page, which I wrote back in 2021, when there was a lot of spam and stuff going on 😅]
[🚧 I'll probably rework these sections at some point, so please don't mind the "strict tone" of those too much 😅] _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
📶 Log-in to your Spotify account to use the embedded players.
◽ The embedded players will then directly play from your browser on desktop computers.
◽ The mobile version may ask you to open the Spotify App on your device.
🔃 How to navigate the blog:
◽ You can show all playlists for a specific genre by navigating to the "Labels & Tags" below on the left side of the page.
◽ The genre images under "Genre Quickslots" on the left side below also work as links to these genres.
◽ Clicking on the tags below the individual playlists will show you all other playlists with this specific tag.
◽ To quickly browse every available playlist on the blog, use the "Archive" on the left side, which is sorted by date.
▶️ Important to know!
◽ Use the Direct Playlist Link to view the complete playlist, follow it and use features like shuffle and repeat.
◽ If a player doesn't show the playlist tracks, please refresh the page and they should appear normally.
🚩 The embedded players only play 30-second-previews of the tracks if you run scriptblockers like uBlock Origin or Ghostery.
To get them to play the full tracks instead, you have to unblock the related Spotify URLs "spotify.com", "spotifycdn.com" and "scdn.co".
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🔎 Table of content:
1️⃣ General FAQ and info
2️⃣ Info about playlist featuring
3️⃣ Info about the opportunities and events on the 'News' page
4️⃣ FAQ about the 'Local Ambient Hub' sub page 🚧
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1️⃣ General FAQ and info:
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🔎 "Do the streams with these players count as regular plays?"
💬 Yes, the embedded players are official players by Spotify, so the streams count as if you would play them on the app or webplayer.
🔎 "Help! The link to the curator's page doesn't work!"
💬 It's most likely that
◻ they changed their name (the link) on Instagram,
◻ I made a typo
◻ or less likely (but possible) that they deleted their account.
🚧 Please try to search them manually for now and let me know, so I can fix the link.
🔎 "What's the thing about the "[A]" in front of the playlist title?"
💬 The "[A]" stands for "Abandoned".
◻ Playlists which haven't been updated for over a year get marked with it when I check back to them, so you can easily spot the inactive ones.
◻ An "abandoned" playlist doesn't necessarily mean that the curator is inactive completely! There might be other active playlists still being curated.
◻ Sometimes playlists are made for a single occasion or curated for a certain time, or maybe even curated to perfection, so no more changes are made.
◻ Those playlists can still provide value in form of inspiration after years, so they are kept on the blog until they get deleted or don't work any more.
◻ If an abandoned playlist gets reactivated by recent updates, the "[A]" will get removed again during the next review cycle or when you inform me.
🔎 "Your blog is really great but I can't deal with all the groupies hitting my DMs any more! Can you please remove the link to my Instagram or change it to my website/linktree/submithub/etc?"
💬 Sure thing!
☑ Just send me a message or mail from your official account so I know it's really you.
☑ I'll remove the link or change it to a legit and relevant page of your choice!
🔎 "I'm interested in your blog, but what's the catch here? Who wins? :o"
💬 Everybody wins! 😊🙏
☑ The artists have a better chance of being discovered, get more streams and can use this blog to find new relevant playlists to submit their music to.
☑ The curators can grow their playlists further as more listeners may find them and probably get more messages and playlist submissions by artists.
☑ The listeners can discover many amazing playlists, new artists and just have a great time listening to their favourite music genres.
✅ In the end, everybody - the whole atmospheric music community wins 😊
▶ "But to get featured here, why do I have to put your music on my playlist first? That seems like you're just grabbing streams! :o"
💬 >>"Life is a lot more relaxed for those, for whom it's not about 'give and take' but instead about 'give and be given to'."<<
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2️⃣ FAQ and info considering playlist featuring:
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🔎 "How does a playlist get featured here? What's the criteria?"
💬 It's most likely that I add it here and even give it a shoutout on Instagram, mentioning you and linking to your feed, if your playlist
☑ is public - this blog is for publicly available playlists only, and the embedded players don't even work with playlists set to private,
☑ has a focus on atmospheric music - because that's what we're here for,
☑ has a theme, topic or purpose - rather than just being a loose collection of tracks which don't seem to have anything in common,
☑ sticks to this theme - and especially doesn't have tracks sprinkled in which are startling/aggressive, charts/pop or just don't fit the vibe,
☑ features several different artists - and not to a large extend only your own or just one specific artist/label/collective's tracks,
☑ is for everyone - without any non-music related restrictions, like featuring only artists of a special location/personal attribute/way of life/etc,
☑ and features one or some of my titles - because it's way more fun to row a boat sitting in it together, than just pushing it from the outside.
🚩 These are "guidelines", not "rules", and I'll always decide for each playlist on it's own. Exceptions are possible - features are not guaranteed!
▶ Always keep in mind that
❗ fairplay is encouraged - so please don't just remove my tracks from your playlist again after getting the shoutout and grabbing some quick streams,
❗ this is a very time consuming project - so I want to make it worthwile supporting artists and curators, who are also seriously interested in helping the community grow - and not just their personal gain,
❗ I won't support you if you try to gain streams by urging the artists to stream the playlist themselves - as like:
◽ "Remember to stream the entire playlist three times a week, so we can grow together!"
◽ "Send me screenshots of you streaming the playlist in order to stay at the top!"
◽ or anything like these real life examples - I've seen this stuff actually happening several times so far!
❗ I won't support you if you ask for any kind of fee to place people's music on your playlist - as like:
◽ "I ask for a fee because I spend a lot of money on promotion!" - again, real life example.
❗ I won't support any kind of "artificial streaming" nor the curators involved in that!
◽ It's an violation of basically every streaming service's terms of use and can result in the permanent ban of all artist accounts involved!
◽ If you're involved into anything like that, I have no further interest in working with you at all.
🚩 Make no mistake and don't be so desperated, trying to just grab some quick streams!
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🔎 "Do the playlists expire from the blog?"
💬 Usually not. There are exceptions to this, though.
◽ Back in 2021 I used to mark expiring playlists with "[Exp]" in front of the title, so listeners still had enough time to save it.
◽ By now I usually just take expired playlists down without any prior info, for the reasons below.
▶ Takedowns usually only happen if
◻ my music has been removed from a playlist shortly after the shoutout or being featured on the blog,
◻ the theme or topic of the playlist got completely changed to something which doesn't fit on the blog at all,
◻ the curator added way too many of his own tracks, leaving almost no space for other artists on the list any more,
◻ the playlist has been set to private or got deleted, and therefore can't be found any more.
▶ I take playlists down without futher info because
☑ I rather promote and present playlists that value fairplay and provide some real support for the artists on it,
☑ I try to save people from taking their time to pitch music to playlists owned by curators, who delete it again shortly after anyway.
✅ If a playlist doesn't get (m)any streams but at least features artists for a long time, this won't get it expired from the blog.
▶ Exceptions are also usually made on playlists which are
☑ very popular and successful, so listeners definitely might find some value in it,
☑ made by people I work with or who are simply friends, curators and artists I want to support, even if my music isn't on their playlist any more.
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🔎 "I'd like to submit my own playlist for getting featured on the 'Ambient Playlist Blog'. How do I do it with the best chance for success?"
💬 Make sure it meets the criteria mentioned above - that's already getting you very great chances!
☑ If my music is on your playlist and it's already frequently listened to by several people, it will most likely get my attention at some point on it's own.
▶ You can make things quicker and easier for me by sending me a short message in one of the following ways (sorted by how I prefer it):
◻ the contact form on the blog (it works via e-mail and directly ends up in a dedicated inbox, unlike all the mails I get which may or may not be spam)
◻ a comment on Instagram (I don't check the DM folder regularly (it's usually spam), so "Hey, I added you on my playlist XYZ" as a comment works)
◻ a DM on Reddit (I don't use it much, so that's why it may take a while to see it, but I rarely get spam so I actually do check the DMs if they pop up)
◻ an e-mail (look up my address on my Linktree and mention the 'Ambient Playlist Blog' in the header, nothing with "promo", "collab", "streams" etc.!)
🚩 No matter how you reach out, please make sure to avoid the usual "check this real quick" stuff & promo slang!
◽ I get so many mails and DMs with this generic salesman/promoter slang, so I automatically assume that it's spam.
◽ "Real quick" isn't the vibe here anyway. 😋
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🔎 "I want to send you my music / my playlist / my collab offer / my [insert promotion here]! Is it fine to just send it?"
💬 Generally, please don't send me links to anything unrelated to my project or things which don't bring direct value to this blog, thanks!
☑ When messaging me, please mention your intention, so I know why you send me your music, links, etc.
◽ The list below doesn't claim to be complete; it's here to give you an idea of what's fine to send and what's not.
✅ Here are things you can send to me:
☑ Your publicly and freely available atmospheric music playlist on an official streaming service like YouTube, Spotify, etc.
☑ Your already released music which fits for consideration for my own playlists.
❌ Here are things you cannot send to me:
▶ In general:
⛔ Any unspecified material - If I don't see what I'm supposed to do with the content you sent to me, I may just not do anything about it, sorry.
◻ Please mention why you sent it to me and let me know what the purpose and intention is. Playlist pitching? Feedback? Something else?
⛔ Irrelevant things - anything that clearly misses the whole point of my project and directly classifies as spam.
◻ This includes any sort of promotion/offer/deal which is just intended to sell me something.
⛔ Your newsletter or any other frequent messages I didn't ask for - please keep it reasonable and purposeful.
◻ If you release some new music every three weeks, it's better to bundle it up than to message me every time individually.
⛔ Direct follow up messages - less is more.
◻ Please give me some time to reply. I've seen your message - sometimes it just takes me some time to get back to it.
◻ If I didn't reply after 14 days, feel free to send a reminder.
▶ For pitching your music to my own playlists:
⛔ Exclusive premium content, which is only available for subscribers, patrons, etc.
⛔ Music on Bandcamp - Bandcamp is generally considered premium content / free downloads without playlist features.
⛔ Unreleased music for "pre-saving".
⛔ Music which doesn't fit the playlists you're pitching to - please check the My Playlists page for the criteria.
⛔ Only a link to a different platform - like only a link to your music on platform A, though you're pitching to my playlist on platform B.
◻ Links to different platforms are completely fine, but at least include the relevant one.
🚩 If in doubt, please think twice:
◻ Is there any extended value in sending it to me? Anything more than just me checking it out once?
◻ Who benefits from it, except yourself?
◻ Does it make sense?*
(*The universal question. Honestly answered, it saves a lot of time, resources, energy and prevents stress.)
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3️⃣ Info about the opportunities and events on the 'News' page:
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🚩 I'm not affiliated with or sponsored by the labels, locations or companies mentioned, if not otherwise stated.
▶ I'll mark things directly related to my project with "me", "my", "my project", "my release", "by Imagine The Sea" or in such manner.
🚩 I do a check on the mentioned opportunities and events before adding them to the page, to ensure a certain quality of the entries.
▶ This check includes gathering the public available info about the event on the associated webpages, social media, Bandcamp page etc., if available.
⛔ Not all info is always included in the public info! Don't assume anything - make sure to gather the missing info yourself, before contributing!
⛔ Don't sign contracts or agree upon things unless you're absolutely sure what you're doing!
⛔ I won't take responsibility for missing or wrong info on any of the mentioned opportunities or events!
▶ Furthermore, I don't suggest that you HAVE to take these opportunities. Everything is optional - you will decide for yourself and at your own risk.
🚩 Not all opportunities and events are a good fit for your individual project.
▶ Please consider if it makes sense for you and the general path of your project, to participate in certain things.
⛔ Keep in mind that contributing to opportunities outside of your core genre may harm your reputation and expertise in it!
▶ Your existing audience may get alienated, your "Other listeners also like" Spotify page may change to some completely unrelated artists, decreasing the chance of people discovering your music based on your core genre and even your entire project path may change as well.
⛔ Not every opportunity will automatically be good or bad for you, just by assuming it's done by an (un)known artist, a label or any other entity!
▶ There are labels which entirely operate non-profit or donate the royalties to charity (check the cause beforehand, if it aligns with your personal motivations!), so you likely won't make any money on your contributions. Only you decide if that's worth your time. If yes - fine. If not - fine.
▶ There are people who don't pay contributors at all - for various reasons - but it may be still a great opportunity to get discovered by or work with other people who have more experience and can offer additional ways to grow your project.
▶ There are occasions where everyone involved is having a great time and all is fine - but nobody else cares about the actual or even any results.
▶ Choose the things which fit you best (besides making money), go for the best experiences you can make with your project - and enjoy your time!
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4️⃣ FAQ and info considering the 'Local Ambient Hub' sub page:
(🚧 under construction)
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🚩 First and most important:
🚩 I value privacy very high, so here are some rules for submitting your info to the 'Local Ambient Hub' page!
⛔ Don't ever submit anyone's location without consent or without the location being made known to the general public by the artists themselves!
⛔ Don't ever submit location-themed playlists which include artists who didn't gave consent or made their location known to the general public!
▶ By submitting an artist's location info, you signal that you're allowed to do so and agree to take responsibility for me sharing this info publicly online!
🚩 Mind your privacy! Don't submit, if you don't want to make it public! If in doubt, keep your location vague!
▶ You can feature your country, state or area to connect with people from your place.
▶ If you want to include your city, feel free to name 2-4 additional cities around your place, to increase the range from where people might connect!
▶ If you live in a small town or village, please name the next "big" city and up to 2-4 additional cities around your place instead!
🚩 A takedown of your info can be requested also via the Contact Form on the left side of the page.
▶ Please keep in mind that this is a spare time project and it may take a while until your info is removed!
🚩 I will decide individually if I accept to post a feature on the page or not - features are not guaranteed!
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✅ How to submit:
☑ Please use the Contact Form on the left side of the page to reach out to me.
☑ In your message, mention that you want to be featured on the 'Local Ambient Hub' page, so I know why you message me.
☑ Include a link to your social media page(s), preferably Instagram. This is the link I will post here, so people can reach out directly to you to connect.
▶ I won't make your mail address public!
▶ I may reach out to you on social media to verify that it's actually your account!
☑ Include your role, if you're an artist, label, venue or otherwise.
☑ Include your genres, so people know what kind of music you make.
☑ Include your location as mentioned above, so local people have a chance to connect with you. Please mind your privacy!
☑ Include what and who you are looking for, for example generally other artists, jam sessions, collaborations, live gig opportunities, etc.
☑ Feel free to include a personal message to display on the page in your local language, additionally or instead of an english version.
▶ You can use this format. It's how the info gets displayed: (🚧 under subject of change, as the page is currently under construction)
✅ Project/Name: [Insert your project name here]
🔗 Link: [Your link to social media]
🌆 Area: [Up to 5 cities from your area]
🎵 Genre: [Name your music genres]
🎼 Role: [Are you an artist, label, venue and/or otherwise?]
🔎 Looking for:
☑ [A short point about what you're looking for]
☑ [Another short point about what you're looking for]
☑ [...]
💬 Personal Message:
📝 [Include a personal message in English. Please keep the messages short]
📝 [If you want, you can include also a message in your local language]
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🚩 Please note:
◾ The 'Local Ambient Hub' is supported and hosted by the 'Ambient Playlist Blog' but it's rather an additional feature and not an essential part of it.
◾ I'm not neccessarily placed on the playlists featured there and they are submitted by users as a showreel for projects in their area.
🚧 The page and project is under construction and also relies on people actively participating, so it may take some time to get traction.
🚩 This is a spare time project and I do my best to get back to every request as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience! 😊
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