The Playlist Committee, made up of producers and chaired by Jeff Smith, Head of Music Radio 2, meet each week to decide which new releases will be added to the station's playlist.

The playlist contains about 30 tracks which are divided into three levels: A list which receives the most plays, between 15 and 20 per week; B list between 5 and 10 plays and up to 5 plays per week for the C list.

The Radio 2 playlist is one of the most varied of any radio station in the UK and can include albums as well as singles. Before any track can be considered it must be commercially available or be within 3 weeks of commercial availability.