Spotify Wrapped Just Gave Artists Two Video Slots. Book the Shoot Before Nov 6.

Most artists meet Wrapped the same way their fans do: on launch morning, scrolling share cards and reposting the ones with their name on them. By then, everything an artist can control inside Wrapped is already locked. This year the lock date is November 6, and there's more to lock than a selfie video.

Spotify for Artists has opened Wrapped 2026 submissions. The 30-second artist message is back. New this year, artists can submit a full-length live performance video that appears alongside their songs in fans' Your Top Songs 2026 playlists, then stays on the artist's profile after the campaign ends. Both are due November 6, more than two weeks earlier than last year's November 21 cut-off for clips.

Stop treating Wrapped as a recap you react to. Plan it as a release with a delivery date. It's the one week of the year when your most engaged listeners are primed to share you, and Spotify is now handing you two placements inside it. Teams that shoot, deliver, retarget and convert on a plan will get far more out of it than the ones uploading a phone clip on November 5.

What Spotify opened, and when it closes

• The artist message. A vertical video of 30 seconds or less, with no music, explicit content, logos, text or filters, plus a caption under 100 characters. Upload it from Spotify for Artists on desktop, through the Wrapped banner in the Video & Visuals tab, between October 6 and November 6. Every submission is reviewed and placement isn't guaranteed, Hypebot reports from Spotify's notice to artists.
• The live performance video (new). Full-length, landscape, MP4 or MOV, under 20 minutes and at least 1080p. You pick the song it relates to, a thumbnail and a go-live date. On Wrapped launch day it shows up in fans' Your Top Songs 2026 playlists; afterwards it lives on your profile. Labels and distributors can deliver it, and artists in Spotify's direct-upload beta can upload it themselves, according to RouteNote.
• The window. Wrapped launched on December 3 last year. Hypebot expects a similar date, with Apple Music Replay, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and Bandsintown recaps landing around the same time.
• The scale. Spotify said 2025 Wrapped passed 200 million engaged users and 500 million shares in its first 24 hours, CNET reported. Spotify told artists more than 70,000 of them uploaded a Wrapped message last year; the year before, its own Wrapped guide counted just over 18,000.

What Spotify hasn't said matters too. There's no published logic for which fans see which performance, or how many. Treat the placement as a bonus and make sure the asset earns its keep on its own.

Why the live video is the bigger deal

The message is a thank-you. The live video is an asset that works twice: inside Wrapped, and on your profile for as long as you leave it there.

Spotify's own numbers explain why that's worth a shoot. In a July post on how video takes fans further, Spotify said listeners who stream a full-length video go on to stream that song 64% more over the next three weeks than similar fans who only heard the audio, are 1.4 times more likely to save, share or playlist it, and stream the rest of the catalogue 57% more. That's Spotify measuring Spotify, so read it as direction, not a promise. Spotify also says videos uploaded through its direct-upload beta are royalty-bearing and may be chart-eligible.

Pick the song from data, not from the release schedule

The one lever you control is which song the performance is attached to. Because it sits in fans' Top Songs playlists, choose the track your listeners actually lived with this year. Open Spotify for Artists and check which song held up across the year, especially with your most engaged listeners. That's often a catalogue track or last spring's single, not whatever you released in September.

Shoot for landscape, 1080p and one great take

You don't need a concert film. One song, one take, a room or stage with character, and sound you'd be happy for a stranger to hear first. Existing tour footage works if the audio is clean and the rights are yours: check who shot it, whether the venue allowed filming, and whether your label or publisher needs to sign off. Under 20 minutes is the cap, not the target.

The 30 seconds: write it like a script

No music, no text, no logos, no filters. You have a face, a voice and a setting. Spotify suggests three prompts: a milestone, a song that changed your journey, or what's next. The third is the one that does campaign work.

Think about who's watching. Super listeners are about 2% of an artist's monthly listeners but drive about 18% of monthly streams and roughly half of ticket sales on Spotify, according to the 2025 Spotify for Artists Recap. The message goes to the people who buy tickets, so talk to them that way: name the city, the tour, the month the next record lands. If a release is coming in the first quarter, set up a Countdown Page so the pre-save sits one tap away on your profile. Use the 100-character caption for one clear next step.

Build the campaign around the drop

Wrapped week is a traffic spike you can see coming two months out. Plan it like release week.

Profile: dress the room before the guests arrive

New listeners will arrive from friends' share cards, so your profile is the landing page. Pin the live video or a 2026 favourites playlist as your Artist Pick, update photos and bio, connect merch, and make sure tour dates sync from Bandsintown. At MusicPromoToday we've already broken down how Spotify's video surfaces became campaign inventory in Taylor Swift's catalogue case. The same logic applies here, on a smaller budget.

Creators and UGC: give fans a reason to post you

Fans will share Wrapped cards without being asked. Give them a reason to tag you: a launch-day repost routine, a simple prompt ("in your Top Songs? show us"), and your own Wrapped for Artists cards, which Spotify offered in 27 languages last year. If creators already make content around your music, brief them for that week instead of paying for cold posts.

Paid: retarget the warm wave

Wrapped week is when your warm audiences are biggest. Holiday advertisers crowd the auction in December, so keep spend narrow: retarget people who engaged with your Reels or visited your release page, and send them to the live video, the Countdown Page or your own site. As we wrote this week about Meta blocking ads that link to TikTok, point paid clicks at destinations nobody can switch off.

PR: the year-end angle writes itself

November is when editors build year-end lists and ones-to-watch pieces. Pitch the story early, with the live performance as the visual, and add numbers only when your own Wrapped for Artists data lands. Never round up a stat for a pitch.

Owned: catch what Wrapped stirs up

Send your email or SMS list something on launch day: you're probably in their Wrapped, here's the live version. The video gives you something new to send instead of "thanks for a great year." We made the broader case in our piece on physical sales, email lists and real fan conversations.

Don't stop at Spotify

Log into Apple Music for Artists, YouTube, Amazon, Deezer and Bandsintown too. Hypebot notes their year-end deadlines usually fall two to three weeks before each recap goes live.

Three audiences, three jobs

• Top fans see the message. The job: tickets, pre-saves, merch.
• Regular listeners find your song in their Top Songs playlist and may meet the live video. The job: save, follow, go deeper into the catalogue.
• New listeners arrive through friends' share cards. The job: a profile that makes a good first impression and a song worth a second play.

What to do before November 6

1. Oct 12–18: pull your Spotify for Artists data, pick the song, decide between existing footage and a new shoot, start rights checks.
2. Oct 19–25: film the message and the performance, or cut the existing footage.
3. Oct 26–Nov 1: deliver the video through your distributor (ask for their internal cut-off; it may be earlier than Spotify's) or upload it in the beta. Upload the message. Set up a Countdown Page for your next release.
4. Nov 2–6: buffer. Don't plan around the last day.
5. Rest of November: pitch year-end press, brief creators, build retargeting audiences, write the launch-day email.
6. Launch week: repost fans, run the warm ads, send the email, post your Wrapped for Artists cards.

One caution if you also want Spotify's editorial video playlists: Spotify says a video must be unreleased or released within the past seven days to be pitched. Ask your distributor how a Wrapped-dated go-live fits that window before you set it.

Wrapped is the one campaign every artist on Spotify gets, planned or not. This year Spotify gave you a stage inside it, with a delivery date. At MusicPromoToday we build Spotify promotion, PR, creator campaigns and advertising around moments like this one. If you want Wrapped season to work like a release, plan your release with MusicPromoToday.

FAQ

When is the Spotify Wrapped 2026 deadline for artists?

November 6, 2026, for both the 30-second artist message and the new live performance video, per Spotify's notice to artists as reported by Hypebot and RouteNote.

What are the rules for the Wrapped artist message?

Vertical, 30 seconds or less, with no music, explicit content, logos, text or filters, and a caption under 100 characters. Upload it from Spotify for Artists on desktop via the Wrapped banner in Video & Visuals.

How do I submit a live performance video for Wrapped 2026?

Deliver a full-length landscape video (MP4 or MOV, under 20 minutes, at least 1080p) through your label or distributor, or upload it yourself if you're in Spotify's direct-upload beta. Choose the related song, a thumbnail and a go-live date.

Does submitting guarantee my video appears in fans' Wrapped?

No. Spotify reviews every submission and doesn't guarantee placement, so make the video useful on your profile either way.