Discovery Mode feature.
Spotify’s Discovery Mode was announced last November as a pilot program for artists to opt in to get paid out partly in exposure. For a fee, Spotify agrees to push music into various personalized playlists, which could arguably be a beneficial tool for lesser known artists — as long as they’re protected.
In Spotify’s words, “Labels or rights holders agree to be paid a promotional recording royalty rate for streams in personalized listening sessions where we provided this service.” However, the success of any given track is still up to the listeners and overall streams.