Some tips for the aspiring electronic music producer or DJ

HINT: It’s not rocket science!

The bottom line is: people working within the music business (such as myself) are insanely busy and usually have SO many things to do…. Also, in a lot of ways, getting on somebody’s radar is as much about what NOT to do as well WHAT YOU SHOULD DO!

If you feel like you may be getting “lost in the shuffle” trying to reach out to people about your music, have a look at some of the points I’ve outlined below to see if it can help you break through.

DON’T JUST ASK FOR THINGS, OFFER THEM

The first and most obvious step is: FOLLOW THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
HELP THEM OUT! Like, comment and share their posts.

All of this is completely free, won’t cost you a penny, and can help both you and the person whose attention you’re trying to get significantly.

IMPORTANCE OF CLEAR, SUCCINCT COMMUNICATION

Don’t/you can’t assume that the person/label/company whose attention you’re trying to get knows anything about you or what you do; YOU HAVE TO BREAK IT DOWN FOR THEM! In your intro reach-out message, briefly introduce yourself, your work and what makes it unique.

ALWAYS USE EMAIL, NOT SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR REQUESTS

While it may SEEM expedient to use social media to just “quickly blast your request out there,” there a variety of reasons for this, such as:
– A lot of people in leadership roles in music companies do their work / handle their workloads only using email, and may not even have social media open while they are working.

– The person who is in charge of whatever you are asking about may not even use the social media account for that company. Or, there may be one separate person who works on social media for the company you are pitching. So the right person may not even see your request.

– It just looks more professional, and that is perhaps the most important way actually to get on somebody’s radar.

MAKE THINGS EASY FOR THEM!

When you reach out to someone asking them to promote you or your work, MAKE SURE YOU GIVE THEM EVERYTHING THEY NEED! (All promo images, logos, text/copy, release info, links etc).

The more you make them have to work (to do YOU a favor!), the greater the chance that the person you are pitching will NOT give you the shoutout you are looking for, because no one has unlimited time.

CLEAR FILE/FOLDER SHARING PRIVILEGES/ACCESS IN ADVANCE

Ex: Google Drive, Drobox, etc. Just one more thing to make things go more smoothly, and avoid irking someone you’re trying to reach ;).

WHITELIST YOUR TRACK AHEAD OF TIME, IF SENDING OUT AS A PROMO

I’ve had this happen to me a couple of times before: I go to upload a track to SoundCloud or YouTube, per agreement with someone, only to get the “Copyright Restriction / Strikedown” message. Yikes!! Not good, so make sure you clear everything in advance (ISRC for each track, etc) if you are doing a premiere or sending out a promo that someone may be uploading to a streaming service.

BE RESPONSIVE

Especially in today’s crazy world, returning emails in a timely manner, as well as answering and asking questions (it’s called a DIALOGUE!) can really go a long way in helping you to stand out, especially in a crowded field.

– By responding promptly to peoples’ messages, the first thing is: you set yourself apart; you will automatically look more impressive by responding within a day (two days at most) than people who are slow to respond.

– In many cases, decision makers in music companies may be working on something – say a banner image as just one example – that involves a couple of different people. By taking too long to respond, you may be holding them up from completing their project.

MAKE SURE YOU’RE PITCHING THE RIGHT THING TO THE RIGHT OUTLET

This should be an obvious one, but I’ll say it anyway. For example, don’t try to pitch a drum and bass track to a label that specializes in trance. As Sara Sims said, during our “Tips for Producers Pitching Labels” Connect Meetup: “Make sure the vibe of your music fits the vibe of the label.”

ALWAYS BE POLITE

You can follow up at a certain point/after a certain amount of time if you haven’t heard back from someone (that’s actually not a bad idea; VIPs may actually appreciate that if they are very busy), but DON’T BE A PEST!

IDENTIFY / INTRODUCE YOURSELF (always)

Use your “real” first and last name. This legitimizes you, identifies you… A lot of people out there in the industry (like me) prefer to know who they are talking to, rather than some shadowy anonymous person.

Provide links to your website if you have one, a few social links, maybe a brief bio, and any support/achievements you may have gotten so far in your career. That way, the person can check you out and find out a bit more of what you’re about and what you’ve done so far.

DON’T USE A SUB-PAR PROMO DELIVERY SERVICE

Unfortunately, there are still some of these around out there, which can be – literally – a drag. What do I mean by “sub-par promo service?” Without mentioning any service names in particular: one that results in the dreaded “404 – File not Found” error, has a poor or confusing UI, is slow to respond or hangs, or that doesn’t have a unique URL for your track (so, if the user tries to go back to the page containing your track, the browser reloads to the home page of the promo company instead :x).

NEVER (EVER) JUST SEND A LINK

With a message of something like “Listen to… Check out…” Few things will get your message sent to the trash can quicker than that. Sending messages like this to a thousand random people – without providing any context on who you are or what your work is about – shows apathy, looks incredibly unprofessional, and shows you are not willing to put in the time to craft a personalized message to your recipient.

In closing, there are a few, really pretty basic things you can do to help present yourself in a positive light to people (like myself) who are extremely busy, receive many emails, messages and requests, and who may actually be interested in what you’re pitching them. But you’ve got to help them out! The more politeness, utility, and professionalism you can show will go a long way in helping to set you apart, and in turn help you to gain more of a foothold in this crazy music space.

Good luck with all your promotional endeavors, guys!

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