At NoisePorn.com, we pride ourselves on featuring little-known, talented artists just launching their music careers, alongside their established counterparts. We love getting emails from artists who don’t have 1 million, 50,000, or even 1,000 Likes on Facebook. Discovering new talent for us is typically more exciting than just another release from a legendary artist.
It shouldn’t be news that we, like every other blog out there, get a TON of email submissions from independent artists, established record labels and professional PR agencies alike.
When we see that professional PR agency/record label email, we know that with every email we will get the same quality and necessary information needed for a review/post. They make life easy on us.
But when we get emails from little known artists or unsigned artists, we might get that, but we mostly get everything but that. How do you make your emails stand out to blogs? How do you make blog writers/curators to pay attention and actually click to listen to your music? You should give as much concern to the email content itself as you do to the music you’re sending. Your email subject line and content determine whether or not bloggers actually click on the link to your music or simply go straight to the delete button.
Want to increase the likelihood that blogs will actually notice your email, click on your music, and potentially post it? Follow these guidelines.
1. Put Key Words In Your Subject Line.
For starters, tell the blog in your subject line what exactly they will find inside for posting content. For instance: “Electro House Free Download.” Even better, give us some fun, descriptive word attached to it. Example: “Free Winter Mixtape – Dubstep/Drum&Bass/Electro.” Even better to trick me into thinking it’s tailored just for me: “NoisePorn – Electro House Free Download.”
2. Get Straight To The Point.
Don’t start an email off too casually, especially with “Yo bro.” Make it as simple and professional as possible. You probably don’t even need a salutation at the beginning. Just get right to the point.
Furthermore, don’t start an email off with an entire paragraph explaining your life story, how great our blog is, or begging. No one cares. Get straight to the point. What are you offering to us for posting? Is it a free download or official release? Why should we post your track? What do you have to bring to the saturated, overcrowded table of electronic dance music?
3. Provide Readers With ALL Necessary Info.
I have received an email before containing only a link to music along with the enlightening text, “Yo bro, love your blog check out my latest track man let me know what you think much love.” Yo bro, I’m not interested in your lack of care for my time. DELETE.
First off, as an electronic music blog editor who happens to be a woman, I despise getting emails from producer/DJs who assume I’m a man/bro. The electronic music industry is filled with women running sh*t on all sides of the business, so it’s idiotic and uninformed of people to assume any blog writer/editor is a man/bro.
And most importantly, this individual has given me nothing but the track itself. Technically, he did get straight to the point by giving me only a link to music. But if I liked the track and wanted to craft a post on it, I would need to email him back and ask for all the necessary information.
Give us ALL the information up front. Look around at blog posts and notice what they include. If it’s not all right there, it’s too annoying and time-consuming to email you back and wait for your response.
What to include?
• Link to stream the music on Soundcloud.
• Link to purchase the music on Beatport or iTunes (if it’s an official release).
For any links, if you say:
Click here to stream!
…sometimes the eyes are tired and that little “here” with the link embedded is hard to find. Make our lives easy and just copy and paste the entire link. Test out the links before you send.
• ALL social media links for artist and label (if applicable).
Note: If you as an artist don’t have an official Facebook Fan Page, make one! Your personal Facebook Page is worthless to blogs and fans. Sorry. Show people you mean business.
• Your Official Artist Bio.
Even if you’re almost completely unknown in the blogosphere with no official releases and no charting Beatport tracks, it’s always smart to tell blogs a little more about yourself. But don’t tell unimportant and uninteresting details if this is the case; keep it concise and simple. Otherwise you will appear immature and inexperienced.
Heads Up: If your bio is full of grammatical errors, spelling errors, and awful sentence structure, you a) make it very difficult on blog writers to read it and comprehend it, and b) make yourself look stupid and unprofessional. This is a HUGE red flag that automatically triggers the DELETE button. Some blogs don’t post the actual bio, but at NoisePorn we post the artist bio. I’m not going to waste my time editing your mistakes or attempting to read it.
• A paragraph or so (no longer) describing the music you’re sending, what makes it so interesting, and what makes you as an artist so interesting. Prove to me that what I’m about to click on is insanely unique and brings something to the completely over-saturated table of electronic music.
• Release cover artwork that is large (2000×2000 is universal) & high-quality. (See more on this below.)
4. Make Sure Your Release Cover Is LARGE & High-Quality.
First, make sure your release cover is large. 2000×2000 is universally large and is the smartest way to go.
Next, understand that your release cover is often the first impression of you and your music, especially if you include it in the actual body of the email. Even if you’ve beguiled me enough to click on the Soundcloud link, if I see that the cover art looks awful, I’m not going to post it because it reflects poorly on both us AND you.
Take a look at your favorite blogs and the top blogs out there. Blogs and even official websites today are almost entirely image-based. The visual image on your release cover defines your brand, identity, taste, and gives an idea of the music it represents. Invest your time in creating professional, sexy cover art utilizing good design techniques. If you know NoisePorn, you know our front page is made up entirely of release cover art. It’s really important to us that our front page look high-caliber.
CONCLUSION: Show bloggers you mean business. Show us you have your sh*t together. Show us you respect our time. Make life easier on us.
By Kaitlyn Raterman
Noiseporn Editor
Managing Director of Licensing & Publishing of Symphonic Distribution
kaitlyn@symphonicdistribution.com