In today’s musical climate landing your music on the right blogs can give your career a major boost. As a music blog that prides ourselves on helping to break new artists our eyes, ears and inboxes are always open for new submissions. With that said, there are a ton of artists who frequently ask, “how can I get music featured on blogs?” The answer is: it’s simpler than you think. To help out budding artists we’ve created a step-by-step guide below to help you get your music featured on your favourite blogs. A lot of the takeaways are built upon our own experiences but will be applicable to all publications.
Make good music
This may sound pretty simple and overtly obvious but it’s the most important part of this article. Before you start contacting blogs or plugging yourself online, take the time to make something that’s truly good. Be confident in what you create and ask yourself, “is this truly something special?” The first time you contact a blog with your music is their first impression of you. If they take the time to listen to your work and it sucks they’ll remember it. And every time you resubmit a track it’ll go straight to the trash. Come correct the first time, impress us and you’ll have a feature on our site every time you drop (assuming the music is consistently good). Take the time, perfect your craft and it’ll pay dividends.
The first time you contact a blog with your music is their first impression of you.
Find Blogs that post similar content
Think of it like a a job interview. Before you go to an interview you’d do some company research right? Same thing goes for blog submissions. Comb through the site in detail to see what genres they post, what artists they feature and how you see yourself fitting in. By submitting to blog that doesn’t feature related music you’re wasting your time and theirs.
Find the preferred method of contact
As part of your research be sure to find what their preferred method of contact is. Most blogs will have a contact or submissions section dedicated to receiving new music. Generally it’s a form or email address. Some blogs use third party services. Blogs outline the way they want you to contact them for a reason. Don’t just spam them with Twitter mentions or emails to the wrong addresses. This approach only serves to annoy bloggers.
Blogs outline the way they want you to contact them for a reason.
Follow them on their social channels
This connects with the previous point. While doing your research check their social platforms and be sure to follow them. Not only does this make it easy for you to keep up with the future content they post, but it shows you’re actually interested. Furthermore it helps to make you become familiar to the publications, especially with smaller ones. I’ve personally had artists follow us on Twitter and then see their email submission and think “hey this artist sounds familiar, I should check this out.”
Draft an irresistible pitch
The bigger the blog the more submissions they get. You need to be able to stand out from all the others. This doesn’t mean write your subject line in all caps (please don’t) or making outlandish claims (MOST LIT MIXTAPE OF ALL TIME FAM!”). Just be concise and cleverly articulate what your music is about. Are you a Flume influenced future bass producer with an emotional twist? An emcee with a 90’s style, commitment to lyricism with new age production? Perfect. Put that in your subject line. Once the subject line is done it’s time to move onto the copy. Like the subject line keep it concise and to the point. We don’t want to read your entire life story, just why you think your music should be on our site. A few sentences or a single paragraph is all you need. Who are you? Why do you want your music featured on our site? Flattery never hurts, as long as it’s genuine. What makes you special? Then include a link to stream the track and the hi-res artwork. Chances are if they decide to feature the song they’ll need both so cut down on the back and forth and put everything in that first communication.
Just be concise and cleverly articulate what your music is about.
Another tip is to offer unreleased previews or premiere opportunities. Blogs are hungry to be the first one to break an artist or track and dangling that carrot can make their eyes and more importantly ears perk up. This needs to be done tactfully though. There’s nothing worse than promising a premiere to multiple publications and having to tell them you can’t deliver. It makes you look shady and disorganized.
Follow-up (but not too much)
It’s been two hours, 6 hours, 24 hours and you still haven’t heard back? It’s okay, just chill. It takes time for blogs to go through submissions and decide if they want to feature your content. Haven’t heard back in almost a week? Time to follow-up. A simple reply to your previous email will bring your submission back to the top of their inbox. Sure, sometimes no reply means no interest but often times things get lost and that follow-up email might be the reminder that they needed.
Build relationships
Throughout my life people have always told me “it’s not what you know but who you know.” I always passed it off as another hollow expression but over time I’ve realized how real this is, especially in the music industry. How does this relate to you? Well, if you follow the steps above and actually get a response it’s time to jump on it and build that into something bigger. If they like your music and are going to post it thank them and let them know how much it means to you. If they responded from a personal address ask if they would like to receive future submissions directly. Getting out of the general inbox and directly into their personal email can help increase your chances greatly. Once you’re there build a rapport and you’ll be amazed how far it can take you.
…it’s time to jump on it and build that into something bigger.
Keep grinding
Keep in mind that getting your music out takes time. Be persistent and keep grinding. If you’re truly talented and driven it’s only a matter of time before you get to where you want to be. Liked these tips? Be sure to share your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Think we missed the mark? Let us know in the comments below.
