Artist Followers and Playlist Followers Are Different Products
Spotify uses one word for two things. An artist profile has followers, and a playlist has followers, and they behave nothing alike beyond sharing a button.
Following an artist puts that artist's new releases into the follower's Release Radar and can trigger a notification on release day. It is a subscription to future output. Following a playlist adds it to the listener's library so they can return to it, and it is what makes a playlist look established to the artists and labels who might pitch to it.
The two are ordered separately because they serve different objectives. If you run a playlist and want submissions, playlist followers are the number curators and pluggers look at. If you release music, artist followers are the audience that hears about it.
| Following | What the listener gets | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| An artist | New releases in Release Radar | Automatic reach on release day |
| A playlist | It saved to their library | Credibility when pitching for placements |