How To Send Me Music
Dear musician/label/PR representative,
Thanks for considering me when sending music out.
Please remember that I get sent a lot of music. I love the fact that I get sent music all the time, but because of the amount of tracks, releases, dubs, albums, EPs and music that I get sent, it can be difficult to organise, listen to and keep track of it all.
To get your music heard by me in the best way, and for me to keep my sanity when receiving and organising music, I’ve put together some guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t do when sending me music.
Do Not
Do not send me an mp3 as an attachment to an email
My inbox is already big and busy enough. I don’t want to spend ages waiting for your email to load in my inbox because it’s downloading a 12Mb file on to my machine.
Do not send me an incomplete track
I would prefer to get a full track please. Then I can get a feel for the entire piece, as well as play it out, or in a mix if I want to support your music.
Do not send me music via a Facebook message
Facebook is not a great platform for sending music, and I don’t always check my messages and notifications there. It is easier for me to handle things I am sent with my email inbox.
Do not send me music via a Twitter message
140 characters is barely enough room for a URL and a couple of words. I don’t keep track of my Twitter direct messages either. It is easier for me to handle things I am sent with my email inbox.
Do not send me an empty email with just a link
It will probably be flagged as spam for a start. I will not click a link unless I know what it is, and I would prefer you to put in a bit of effort when you write me an email. I am not a URL parsing machine.
Do not send me the track in 3 different ways
You emailed me, sent me a Soundcloud message, a Twitter notification and a Facebook note about this track. I got it the first time. Please just tell me once, via email.
Do not add me to the huge CC list on your email
It’s not very nice to get an email that has been sent to 200 other people. It’s not very personal. It’s even worse, when everyone else who got the email can also see all the email addresses. Please use either the BCC, or write to me directly. A little care and attention goes a long way.
Do not give me your life story
This is not about writing ten paragraphs about how you grew up listening to music, or how you would describe your sound with a million genre names. Please just be concise and try not to write too much. I don’t have time to read it all, and it will most likely get skimmed. This is more to do with the music.
Do not remind me every day about the track you sent
I got your email (unless you got a failed delivery note) so I will check it when I get the chance. If you don’t hear back from me, then I may not have had time to check it, and I don’t need reminders every day. One polite reminder after a week or two would be sufficient.
Do
Do try to make sure it’s not less than a 320kbps mp3 file
If you send me a low quality file, then I probably won’t enjoy listening to it much, and I won’t be able to play or support it. if you send me a 320kbps mp3 file then at least I can use it and enjoy it to the fullest.
Do name your track properly
Please name your music properly. I don’t have time to check back through all the emails I got sent to find out who the artist or label is. Make sure the information is in the filename (and even mp3 file tags). Here is a helpful guide to naming your track:
Single Tracks:
Artist Name - Track Name [label & cat no’ or “unsigned”]
Remixes:
Artist Name - Track Name (Remixer Name Remix) [label & cat no’ or “unsigned”]
Folder names (for multiple tracks):
Artist Name – Release Name [label & cat no’ or “unsigned”]
Do upload the track somewhere online and send me a URL
Please upload your track to somewhere like MediaFire or to your own hosting (if you have it) so that I can easily visit the link and download the track. Please also check that the link works.
Do tell me if you don’t want me to play this in mixes or podcasts
I occasionally create mixes or podcasts and put them online. Sometimes my DJ set or radio show may be recorded and go online. If you do not want me to play your music on the radio, DJing or in a podcast, then please let me know
It Would Be Nice
It would be nice to get the option to download a .wav or uncompressed file
If I love your track enough to want to play it out when I’m DJing or cut it on to a dub plate, then it’s always nice to have the option of downloading a wav file, to save me asking again.
It would be nice to be able to stream the track before downloading
It’s always nice to be able to preview a track quickly before downloading it, to make sure that it’s not a waste of time. Occasionally I get sent things that are definitely not the sort of thing that I would even consider listening to, so a streamable version or clip helps avoid that problem.
It would be nice to get a little note about the track, or a short introduction
I’m not looking for your life story, or a huge biography but it’s nice to know who I’m getting email from, maybe how you found me or something about the track, as a precursor to me listening to it.
It would be nice to get just one reminder email
Please don’t bombard me with reminders. I get enough email as it is, and just one polite email reminder after a couple of weeks will be more effective than lots of notes every day.
None of these guidelines are difficult to follow, and most are just common sense.
If you can follow these simple guidelines, then I will be able to easily file and listen to your music, and I should be able to feedback to you if I can.
If you don’t hear back from me, then you can safely assume that your music was not for me. It may have been good, but often I am on the look out for something exceptional. This is just the nature of dealing with such large amounts of music.
Written by Alex / DFRNT