How it works (FAQ)

The Cool Top 20 is a Spotify chart for independent and undiscovered artists. This is how it works (FAQ).

We have multiple playlists sorted by genre. New submissions will be added to one our frontline playlists, which will be updated with new music twice a week. Some songs will enter our Cool Top 20 chart, others might be added to one of our catalogue or genre based playlists.

COOL TOP20 curates the following frontline playlists at Spotify. Click the link for a listen (requires a Spotify login).

  1. COOLTOP20 Weekly Chart and Blog (Our main playlist with the best new indie releases)
  2. Indie Rock (indie Rock, alt Rock)
  3. Indie Guitar Hits (all guitar based, not too loud)
  4. Loud and Heavy (all louder and heavy rock genres)
  5. Chill LoFi Vibes  (Chill, LoFi, Instrumentals)
  6. Cool Jazz (Jazz and jazz fusion, no LoFi)
  7. Dance Hits  (Dance, House, Electronic, EDM  
  8. The Sound of Singer Songwriters (Singer-Songwriter, folk, country, etc)
  9. Rap Worldwide (rap, hiphop and spoken word, etc)
  10. INDIE Mixed Sounds (Electronic. Mostly dark vibes. Synth influences)
  11. INDIE Mixed Sounds – Alternative (for an alternative sound)
  12. INDIE Mixed Sounds – International (international sounds, non-english)
  13. at the Cinema (Instrumentals cinematical)
  14. Instrumentals (All other Instrumentals)
  15. Release Radar Nederland (Dutch artists and producers)
  16. New Music Friday (a collection of the best submissions. Updated weekly)
  17. New Music Mixtape  (Open for all genres)

All of the above mentioned frontline playlists are updated frequently.

How do I submit my music?

Go to our submissions page and submit your music to our frontline playlist via dailyplaylists, it might end up in the TOP20 chart too.

Problems with submitting via the website/dailyplaylists? No worries. Your track can also be submitted via direct message (DM) to our main Twitter account, @cooltop20. Please note this might take longer time to process.

It may take some time before we are able to add your music to one of the frontline playlists. The frontline playlist are usually updated twice a week. 

Please note: We do not accept submissions via our public timeline in social media or via our mail account.

What are the conditions?

  • You are an independent artist.
  • Your music must be available on Spotify.
  • The music you submit must be yours. We won’t accept submissions on behalf of friends or artists.
  • The track must be a recent release. (The CoolTop20 is a frontline playlist, not a catalogue.)
  • Only one track per artist per playlist is allowed. If you submit a second track, the first one will be replaced.
  • We will only accept single tracks, so don’t ask us to pick one of the tracks from your album/EP.
  • You give our CoolTop20 playlist a follow and listen to the other submissions.
  • Tell us what you like. Let the world know what you like.
  • It’s all free!

Why was my song removed from the playlist?

We update the frontline playlists on a regular basis. If your track hasn’t entered the Cool Top 20 chart after a couple of weeks, it will be removed from the frontline playlist, based on first in, first out. Lot’s of tracks are placed in catalogue playlists. Even if the track didn’t enter the CoolTop20. Please feel free to submit another track.

How do I enter the Cool Top 20 chart?

A spot in our chart is not for sale. Each week we will pick the best 3 to 6 tracks from all of the frontline playlists to enter our Cool Top 20 chart. If there are difficult choices to make, we will favour the track in the playlist that performs best or the artist that is most supportive of the Cool Top 20 and it’s artists.

The Cool Top 20 chart will be updated every Saturday. Every Friday we’ll publish an in-depth interview with a Cool Top 20 artist in our spotlight feature.

How do I get selected for an ‘In the spotlight’ interview?

An ‘in the spotlight’ feature is a privilege for artists/bands who’ve entered the Cool Top 20 chart only. We pick the artists we would like to learn more about. Make sure to follow Lean on Twitter, otherwise she won’t be able to reach out.

How do I get selected for a ‘Release Talk’?

A Release Talk is a short interview about a new release. The Release Talks usually feature artists/bands who’ve entered the Cool Top 20 chart and/or our Hall of Fame. Every now and then we also offer this opportunity to artists/bands from our playlists who haven’t made the chart yet. Lean will ask for new releases on her Twitter account regularly, so keep an eye out for those. She will send you a Direct Message if she’s interested. Make sure to follow Lean on Twitter, otherwise she won’t be able to reach out.

What’s the Hall of Fame?

Tracks that have featured in the Cool Top 20, even for just one week, will be added to the Cool 20 Hall of Fame playlist. This is a catalogue playlist. The Hall of Fame will provide easy access to previous tracks to be discovered by our (future) listeners. Updated weekly. 

How do I enter the Hall of Fame?

All of the tracks that have featured in our Cool Top 20 chart will eventually enter the Hall of Fame.

What’s the TOP175?

The TOP175 will be released at the end of each year. The TOP175 will be sorted by the results of the TOP20 chart of the particular year.

How do I enter the TOP175?

Made it to our TOP20 chart? The 175 tracks with the best results (sorted by highest position, number of weeks) in the chart will automatically end up in the TOP175.

Can you add my video to your YouTube channel?

All videos (no stills) are added to the NEW INDIE VIDEO playlist on Youtube and will automatically be added to our VIDEO playlist at the website. 

If your track is selected for the Cool Top 20 chart your music or lyrics video (no stills) will automatically be added to our COOL TOP20 YouTube Channel. If you’re in the chart and we haven’t added your video to our channel, please let us know.

If the track is not selected for the Cool Top 20 you can send a DM to our main twitter account @cooltop20. We will add your video if it meets the quality criteria.

Can you review my music?

We listen to a lot of your music, but we simply don’t have time to write reviews for all of the submissions. This website is a labour of love and we do have day jobs. Every now and then we will provide a random shout-out and a small review on our website.

What else can we do to support you? 

Listen to the playlist, share the playlist and support each other. Help each other out. Stream the playlist a daily basis. Like what you hear? A shout-out on Twitter may help! It will not only increase the changes of the track you liked to enter the chart, but it also increases the chance your music is heard too.

Optional: Donate a coffee and grow together

We don’t ask for money. If you do however feel like donating a coffee, we will certainly appreciate this. If you buy us a coffee, we will spend the amount donated on the website and advertising campaigns on social media to attract more listeners to the Cool Top 20. Thanks for your support! Let’s grow together. 

Do you have another question?

Feel free to contact us at cooltop20@gmail.com

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