Email Promotions: How To Get Review Editors To Actually Listen To Your Music

Music Business: Before You Email, Take the 30-Minute Challenge!


Your baby has arrived. And you want to tell the world.

Which is not only natural, it’s smart. Once your CDs come back from the duplicating company, it’s time to market them. You need to get the word out so people will want to buy them, and then you’ll get more bookings, and then you’ll make more fans and sell more merchandise, and eventually you’ll make a good enough living that you’ll finally be able to go to your boss at your day job and tell him to take that pile of work off your desk and shove it right up his tightly-wound -

Um, sorry. It’s been a tough week.

By Jennifer Layton

When it comes to looking for indie press, you’re in luck. You have many, many options. Indie music web sites and magazines want your music. They want to hear it and write about it. Their reason for existing is to encourage you to submit your work.

I work for one of those sites. And I am constantly amazed at how difficult artists make it for themselves. For some reason, artists and their press representatives think it’s a great idea to collect the email addresses of people like me and send out one generic email, announcing the CD release and asking me to contact them if I want a copy.

When I see emails like this, I look up from my desk at the three large boxes in the middle of the main room of my one-bedroom apartment. These three boxes are spilling over with CD submissions. I had to push my coffee table over against the wall sometime last year, and I use the top of one of these boxes as my coffee table when I’m eating dinner in front of the TV. And now I have a generic email from an artist I have never heard of, asking if I’d like to receive another CD. And I do what most other review editors do. I say “no thanks” and hit the “delete” button on my keyboard.

Let me stress something: we review editors are not mean. We are not on some kind of power trip. Of course we want to hear new music. Of course we want all indie artists to get a chance to be heard and reviewed. It’s a passion for us. That’s why we do this in the first place. But if you’re not going to put any effort into your marketing, then I get the idea you’re not very passionate about your music at all. If your music only deserves a mass, generic email sent out to a list of names you’ve cultivated from the internet, how passionate can you be about it? So I figure you’re not expecting a lot of responses anyway, so it won’t matter if I hit that “delete” key.

There is a more effective way. It takes a little more time, but not as much time as you think. It’s simply this: take a moment to find out what each magazine/web site wants. Take a moment to read their guidelines and follow them.

I can hear that collective howl of protest, echoing across the hills, shattering windows from Atlanta to San Francisco. Yes, I know you’re busy. I know it takes work. And yes, it does sound kind of smarmy coming from me, a review editor who’s probably just trying to make her own job easier.

So I decided to put myself to the test. I wanted to see exactly how much time and effort it takes to find out the guidelines for specific review sites before I wrote an article telling other people to do it.

I made a list of magazines and web sites. I included major magazines with indie-friendly editorial sections as well as indie music web sites and local press. (I live near Raleigh, North Carolina.) My goal was to go to each site (Google-ing to find it if necessary) and look for their submission guidelines. The goal was just to find the guidelines. Once I’d found the information, I would move on to the next contact on my list.

I put 30 minutes on the clock.

And ... Go.

1. Indie-Music.com. Of course, I had to start with us. But this is easy. On our main page, there’s a link that says “Review Policy.” Click on that link, and there’s all your information. (Yet I still get 10-15 emails a week from artists asking how to submit music to our site. Again, my “delete” key comes in handy.)

2. MusesMuse.com. Almost as easy as our site. Click on “music reviews,” and the reviewers, their addresses, and guidelines are listed right there on one page. They even list the type of music each reviewer likes to listen to. The only way they could make it easier would be to drive over to your house, put your press kit in an envelope, and address it for you.

3. GoGirlsMusic.com. I clicked on “Reviews.” Nothing about submission guidelines. Nothing on the “About Us” page either. Then I clicked on “Contact,” and there it was: a sentence stating that at this time, they are only taking submissions from GoGirls Elite Members. They provided a link to learn more about membership.

4. RollingStone.com. Yes, I dream big. But this site is a bit intimidating, and after a few minutes of fruitless searching, I figured they get enough submissions and are trying to hold back the wave. I did find a contact name with a street address as well as an email address for the person in charge of label and artist relations. You can get those on the “Contact” page.

5. Performing Songwriter Magazine. On the “Contact” page, there’s a heading that reads “For DIY Review Submissions.” Directly across from it is a heading that reads “Attention Publicists.” Click and learn.

6. SPIN Magazine. Again, they are of the Rolling Stone mindset, but I did find a mailing address on their “Contact” page.

7. Paste Magazine. I clicked on the “About Us” link and found a physical address for sending CDs for review. There’s also a phone number to call if you want to be considered for the magazine’s sampler. AND there’s a link to click if you want to submit music to pastemusic.com.

8. Dirty Linen Magazine. I clicked on the “Questions and FAQs” link and found a page with a link that says it all: “How To Get Reviewed.” I clicked on that link and found very specific, detailed, yet easy instructions. The folks at Dirty Linen seem like an easygoing sort, but I’d imagine if you emailed them asking how to submit a CD after they went to all the trouble to post those detailed instructions, they’d drive over to your house and wait outside your front door with a tire iron. And I wouldn’t blame them.

9. GarageBand.com. Click on “musicians only.” There’s a “submit your music” link. They charge for their services, but they do offer a lot, and the guidelines are all right there.

10. IndieMusicReview.com. I found them after a Google search of “indie music reviews.” Another site that charges for their services, but as far as finding their guidelines, just click on “Get Your CD Reviewed!”

11. At this point, I was running out of time. I decided to try one more. I had briefly met Billy Zero of XM Radio at the South Park Music Festival, so I decided to see how clear their submission guidelines were. I went to xmradio.com, clicked on the “contact us” link, and found a link reading “Getting Unsigned Artists on XM.” I clicked the link, and there’s a form to fill out. I don’t know what the turnaround time is, but the process is clear enough.

And... time.

It’s doable. Imagine spending a little more time, maybe another 30 minutes, and finding even more contacts and their submission guidelines. Yes, you reach more people with a mass, generic email, but you come across as more professional and passionate about your music when you take more time to make personal contacts and follow specific guidelines. And most likely, you’ll get more results, meaning more press.

You’ll also build a reputation as a professional in the industry who’s easy to work with. I know I’ve taken more time with artists who follow our guidelines, answering their questions, responding when they contact me to follow up on the status of their reviews, and giving more detailed feedback on their music.

Is your baby worth it?