Is un:hurd music Legit? We Put Your Mind at Ease

By Sam Blackie, Head of Growth at un:hurd music

Last updated: 27 October 2026

Key Takeaways

• un:hurd music is a legitimate music marketing platform for independent artists, and more than 160,000 independent artists have joined it. It brings Insights, Planning Cycles, playlist pitching, social ads and Fan Hub into one app.
• Membership costs £12.99 a month with one £6 playlist pitch included, or £69.99 a year with 12 pitches included. There's a 7-day free trial, and the app is membership only.
• un:hurd's playlist pitching never guarantees a placement. Curators decide, every declined pitch gets written feedback and three scores, and a pitch is refunded if the curator doesn't respond within 7 days.
• un:hurd music never sells or shares artists' data. The full detail is in the privacy policy at unhurdmusic.com/privacy-policy.
• In the three months to 14 October 2026, curators on un:hurd accepted 2,424 pitches and declined 5,310. Most pitches are declined, which is normal for independent curators.

un:hurd music is a legitimate music marketing platform that more than 160,000 independent artists have joined. You connect your Spotify and social profiles, and the app reads your data and suggests what to do next. You can then act on it in the same place through playlist pitching, social ads on Spotify, Meta, TikTok and YouTube, release planning and a Fan Hub link in bio. Membership is £12.99 a month or £69.99 a year after a 7-day free trial. Playlist pitching gets your song in front of curators who decide for themselves, so no placement is ever guaranteed and un:hurd never sells paid placements.

This guide covers what you pay, what happens to your data, what playlist pitching can and can't do, results artists have had and where to read independent reviews.

What you pay for un:hurd music and what's included

un:hurd music costs £12.99 a month, including one £6 playlist pitch each month, or £69.99 a year, including 12 pitches worth £72. Both start with a 7-day free trial. The app is membership only, so you'll need to be on the trial or a membership to use it.

On top of membership you can buy extra pitches:

• Single pitches are £6 each
• Bundles cost £28 for 5 pitches, £80 for 15 and £150 for 30
• Bundle pitches don't expire, so you can save them for your next release

Social ads are paid separately. Campaigns start from $100 and are priced in US dollars, converted to your local currency at checkout. un:hurd takes a 20% ad fee from the budget you set, so the budget you see is the total you pay. You pay at booking by card or PayPal, and the receipt is emailed to you with your campaign report link. If a campaign doesn't fully run, un:hurd refunds you or offers credit.

What you get in the app

As a member you get the tools that turn your data into next steps:

• Insights reads your streaming and social data together and gives you the next move in plain language, such as running a geo-targeted ad in the city where your Shazams have spiked
• The daily summary leads with your biggest highlights and opportunities each day
• Planning Cycles build a marketing plan around your time and goal (a release, live shows, content or the business side) and walk you through each task in order
• Social ads run campaigns on Spotify, Meta, TikTok and YouTube without you needing your own ad account
• Fan Hub is a link-in-bio page where fans can sign up to your mailing list, included in both memberships
• Lyra content creator drafts EPKs, bios, press releases and editorial pitches

What happens to your data when you connect your accounts

un:hurd music uses your data to give you insights and never sells or shares it. When you sign up and connect Spotify, un:hurd connects the social and streaming profiles it can find for you. That can include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, streaming profiles such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music, plus Bandsintown and Songkick.

From there, Insights and the daily summary refresh every day. They count your fans per city across connected platforms, spot movement such as follower growth doubling in a week and suggest what to do about it. Your home screen shows data pills such as followers per platform, streams and your Spotify Popularity score.

For the full detail on what's collected and how it's handled, read the un:hurd music privacy policy. If you have a question about your account, message live chat in the app, where you can ask Woody or speak to the un:hurd team.

What un:hurd's playlist pitching can and can't do

un:hurd's playlist pitching puts your song in front of independent Spotify curators, and each curator decides whether to add it. un:hurd never sells or recommends guaranteed streams or paid playlist placements. In the three months to 14 October 2026, curators on un:hurd accepted 2,424 pitches and declined 5,310, which is about 31% of decided pitches accepted.

Here's how a pitch works:

• You can pitch up to 3,000 playlists from 598 curators, once your song is live on Spotify
• un:hurd recommends playlists by sound fit and by overlap between your similar artists and the artists already on each playlist
• Each playlist card shows the curator's average response time and a placement rate, which is the percentage of songs pitched to that curator that get placed on the playlist
• The un:hurd team vets curators by checking each playlist's weekly follower growth and adding a track to monitor engagement
• Curators have 7 days to respond. If they don't, the pitch is refunded
• Every declined pitch gets written feedback from the curator plus scores for production quality, track appeal and playlist fit
• Each campaign has a stats screen showing how your Spotify monthly listeners and followers change over the 4 weeks after it starts

For a step-by-step look at choosing playlists, read how to use data to choose playlists and pitch curators. For the full cost picture, see how much playlist pitching costs.

How un:hurd compares with pitching curators yourself

Pitching through un:hurd saves you the research and the chasing that manual outreach takes. When you pitch curators yourself, you have to find them, check they're legitimate and track who replied, and you may never hear back. On un:hurd you can see a curator's response time and placement rate before you spend a pitch, and you always get an answer or a refund.

Manual outreach costs nothing but time, and some curators only accept pitches on socials, so many artists do both. Alex Brees, un:hurd's founder, recommends seeding curators 14 days before release, including those who accept pitches organically on socials, then pitching on un:hurd as soon as the track is out. For a side-by-side with other services, read un:hurd vs Groover vs SubmitHub.

Results independent artists have had with un:hurd music

The artists below are named with their permission, and the figures come from un:hurd's own data.

George Bone got about a third of the streams on his track 'Til the world ends' from the playlist Slow Dance, which he reached through un:hurd's playlist pitching. As of 14 October 2026 he'd had 21 pitches accepted and 24 declined. Declines happen to artists who land placements too.

Atomic Bruno ran a $400 Spotify audio campaign through social ads, targeting Brazil from April to July 2026. The campaign report shows 1,067 new listeners at about $0.37 each.

Katya's Insights flagged her London fan count passing 500 across her connected platforms and suggested a live show there. She went on to support Parra For Cuva at the Roundhouse in London on 17 October 2026, using a Live Planning Cycle to build awareness.

Valliore, an independent artist from Honduras, ran his October 2026 single through a release Planning Cycle, working through his pre-release tasks and pitching to playlists in release week.

Across a group of about 74 un:hurd artists who used Planning Cycles in a 30-day window and completed at least 5 tasks, 81% grew at least one of their Spotify monthly listeners, followers or Popularity score month on month.

Can managers and labels use un:hurd music for several artists?

If you're a manager or label running campaigns for several artists, CONTXT is un:hurd's managed option: the team runs a bespoke strategy for each artist, which can include pitching curators by hand inside or outside the un:hurd app. You can find out more on the CONTXT website.

Where to read independent reviews of un:hurd music

The best place for independent reviews is the un:hurd: Music Marketing listing on the App Store, where artists rate and review the app. Artists also discuss pitching services in communities such as r/musicmarketing on Reddit, and it's worth reading a few threads before you pay for any service.

FAQ

Is un:hurd music free?

un:hurd music has a 7-day free trial, then costs £12.99 a month or £69.99 a year. You can buy playlist pitches during the free trial as well as on a membership.

Does un:hurd guarantee playlist placements?

No. Curators decide whether to place your song. If they decline, you get written feedback and three scores, and if they don't respond within 7 days the pitch is refunded.

Does un:hurd music sell my data?

No. un:hurd music never sells or shares artists' data. Its privacy policy is at unhurdmusic.com/privacy-policy.

How many artists use un:hurd music?

More than 160,000 independent artists have joined un:hurd music.

Practical tip: check any pitching service before you pay

Before you pay any playlist pitching service, check that you can see who the curators are and how quickly they respond, and that you get feedback or a refund if nothing happens. Walk away from any service that promises placements or streams, because legitimate curators choose what goes on their playlists themselves. Our guide to spotting fake Spotify playlists explains what to look for, and is playlist pitching worth it covers how to judge your results.

The short version

un:hurd music is a legitimate platform that more than 160,000 independent artists have joined. It costs £12.99 a month or £69.99 a year after a 7-day free trial, with playlist pitches included in both. Playlist pitching never guarantees a placement. Every decline comes with feedback, and unanswered pitches are refunded. un:hurd never sells or shares your data. For independent reviews, read the App Store listing.

Start your 7-day free trial

If you want to see what un:hurd suggests for your music, start a 7-day free trial at app.unhurdmusic.com and connect your Spotify. Insights and your daily summary start reading your data straight away, and your first playlist pitch is included in the monthly membership.

About the author

Sam Blackie is Head of Growth at un:hurd music, where he works on how independent artists plan releases, pitch to playlists and run ads.