How to submit your music for online music promotion: Dos and Don'ts
Spamming! Spamming is the last word you want to hear when describing emails that you send to submit your music for online music promotion. It is highly likely though, considering that a regular reviewer receives 50 music submissions every day, while the most popular ones can receive up to several hundreds of emails! What are the opportunities to stand out!
Like any other business, you have to come up with a strategy to give a professional pitch and to make each of your music submissions count. These submissions have become an integral part of online music promotion.
Read the guidelines
The most important and also the easiest thing to do is to read the guidelines.
Don’t be lazy. Each music promotion service has its own requirements. Meeting the basics is not going to guarantee any response but failing to meet even just one will leave you no chance. For example, most services don’t accept unsolicited music; some prefer an URL to the music instead of physical copies; some reject any email with attachments; on some sites, it could also take you a while to fill in the standard permission forms. But these are the things that distinguish you from the majority in the very first step.
Create an eye-catching bio
Every site requests a bio on you or your band. The typical bio can vary from a few lines to several paragraphs. Think about the unique elements of your team or your music and the message you want to express through it. A unique while professional profile picture is also an important piece. We have seen low quality selfies that artists put on their profile pages for their online promotion. Avoid this misstep.
Be personal
Address the reviewers’ names, show the research you have done on them, and tell them how you are relevant to them. People appreciate the time and effort you spend on them, and they are also particularly critical when they know you haven’t done your homework.
Make sure to follow up
There’s always a possibility that an important reviewer accidentally missed your email or forgot to get back to you. Technical issues also happen and prevent you from communicating with each other. So, follow up.
It is true that some explicitly mention to not follow up, but they are mainly referring to the ones who fail to meet the above guidelines and still send out emails to ask for a reply. Every opportunity counts when it comes to promote your music, so let’s not miss it when it is right at the corner.
Please bear in mind how many artists are out there waiting to promote their music with the same music promotion ideas that you are thinking about. When you submit your music in an effective way, it will increase opportunities for your music to shine.