Close up detail shot of holes in speaker cover

Sending demos to record labels

 

This one is a hot topic with a lot of people right now in the deep house scene, and come to think of it probably with most labels that aren’t Defected or the likes! I’m going to base this on my own experience of receiving demos over the past 8 years - what works, what doesn’t, what gets you heard and what gets your email deleted without consideration. As a topic this could go very broad - tapping into your social footprint, the level of engagement and lots more, but for now I’m going to stick to the basics!

 

How to send demos to record labels

The most important part of all this is the music you’ve created, that’s your thing so making sure it gets heard by the people you want it to and signed, released and promoted right is the aim of this blog post.

 

First up is getting your track sorted… making the music is just the beginning. Giving it a proper naming convention, eg. ArtistName_Echos_OriginalMix_Demo.mp3 not as is so often the case some random string of letters or track001.mp3 - make it easy for the label to identify you and your track!

 

How you get the file to people counts too - don’t enclose it in an email! Private Soundcloud links are good, or a Dropbox link too - that way the label and listen without downloading - making it easier for them - much quicker for them and increasing the chances of them listening.

 

Target the labels your music suits - the amount of techno tracks I get sent is insane for a deep house label. If I get an email that’s sent to lots of people I rarely bother. Likewise if it starts with some generic greeting and not my name I’m likely to delete.

 

The email is so important and so many people don’t get it right. Generic Mailchimp emails - delete! No message written, just the check my track - delete! An email I have to scrolls down to read your life story for - delete.

 

What people want is to feel like you’ve done your homework, know the label, found out who the person to contact is and sent them the track before anyone else. I want to know if you’re a first time producer or where you’ve released previously - maybe a couple of lines on you - you’re a DJ/Producer, you’re from Berlin and the like - but I don’t need much, just a flavour of you - if I’m at all interested I’ll most likely check you out on social media - so, a couple of links is good - but make sure they’re good! If I get that far I want to see audience engagement, regular posting and - and this is a big one for me - I want to see that you promote your music to your audience - hard!

 

Over the years I’ve lost count of the times a producer posts the link once and then never again - I used to push artists to promote more, and lots told me they didn’t want to feel they were spamming their fans! Newsflash people… they are your audience, they want to hear from you, they want you to tell them and with social media being how it is these today you need to do it more than once to ensure more than a couple of them see it. Frequency and making it varied is the thing to focus on.

 

Technology is having a greater impact on new music - with auto recognition software blocking new tracks from being heard - so if you have samples in your tracks be sure they’re cleared!

 

Ok, everything is in place - you send off your track! Be patient. I tend to look at the demo folder once a week, if I like a track I will share it with Paul and see if he thinks it has potential too and then get back to someone to ask what the status of the track is! I know the chances are you sent it to lots of people and who knows one of them might have snapped it up already.

 

Personally, if I like the track but it’s not right for UM Records I might email you back and explain some more and find out if you have anything more my style int he wings. People rarely do, but a couple of times that’s come off and someone has come back with a killer track and we’ve signed it.

 

So, you’ve sent the track, I’m loving it, I’ve emailed back and we’re good to get signing. Labels will supply you a contract to read a sign - they vary massively in their complexity and are usually written in legal speak. Our contract is just one page, but I’ve seen others several long! Read it! Ask questions, be sure you know what’s what and then if you’re happy, sign it, scan it or take a photo and send it back and get ready for the hard work or releasing and promoting to begin!

 

I’ll follow up this article soon with one on releasing and promoting so come back soon!

 

 

More like this

Close up detail shot of holes in speaker cover
Close up detail shot of holes in speaker cover
Close up detail shot of holes in speaker cover

Sending demos to record labels

 

This one is a hot topic with a lot of people right now in the deep house scene, and come to think of it probably with most labels that aren’t Defected or the likes! I’m going to base this on my own experience of receiving demos over the past 8 years - what works, what doesn’t, what gets you heard and what gets your email deleted without consideration. As a topic this could go very broad - tapping into your social footprint, the level of engagement and lots more, but for now I’m going to stick to the basics!

 

How to send demos to record labels

The most important part of all this is the music you’ve created, that’s your thing so making sure it gets heard by the people you want it to and signed, released and promoted right is the aim of this blog post.

 

First up is getting your track sorted… making the music is just the beginning. Giving it a proper naming convention, eg. ArtistName_Echos_OriginalMix_Demo.mp3 not as is so often the case some random string of letters or track001.mp3 - make it easy for the label to identify you and your track!

 

How you get the file to people counts too - don’t enclose it in an email! Private Soundcloud links are good, or a Dropbox link too - that way the label and listen without downloading - making it easier for them - much quicker for them and increasing the chances of them listening.

 

Target the labels your music suits - the amount of techno tracks I get sent is insane for a deep house label. If I get an email that’s sent to lots of people I rarely bother. Likewise if it starts with some generic greeting and not my name I’m likely to delete.

 

The email is so important and so many people don’t get it right. Generic Mailchimp emails - delete! No message written, just the check my track - delete! An email I have to scrolls down to read your life story for - delete.

 

What people want is to feel like you’ve done your homework, know the label, found out who the person to contact is and sent them the track before anyone else. I want to know if you’re a first time producer or where you’ve released previously - maybe a couple of lines on you - you’re a DJ/Producer, you’re from Berlin and the like - but I don’t need much, just a flavour of you - if I’m at all interested I’ll most likely check you out on social media - so, a couple of links is good - but make sure they’re good! If I get that far I want to see audience engagement, regular posting and - and this is a big one for me - I want to see that you promote your music to your audience - hard!

 

Over the years I’ve lost count of the times a producer posts the link once and then never again - I used to push artists to promote more, and lots told me they didn’t want to feel they were spamming their fans! Newsflash people… they are your audience, they want to hear from you, they want you to tell them and with social media being how it is these today you need to do it more than once to ensure more than a couple of them see it. Frequency and making it varied is the thing to focus on.

 

Technology is having a greater impact on new music - with auto recognition software blocking new tracks from being heard - so if you have samples in your tracks be sure they’re cleared!

 

Ok, everything is in place - you send off your track! Be patient. I tend to look at the demo folder once a week, if I like a track I will share it with Paul and see if he thinks it has potential too and then get back to someone to ask what the status of the track is! I know the chances are you sent it to lots of people and who knows one of them might have snapped it up already.

 

Personally, if I like the track but it’s not right for UM Records I might email you back and explain some more and find out if you have anything more my style int he wings. People rarely do, but a couple of times that’s come off and someone has come back with a killer track and we’ve signed it.

 

So, you’ve sent the track, I’m loving it, I’ve emailed back and we’re good to get signing. Labels will supply you a contract to read a sign - they vary massively in their complexity and are usually written in legal speak. Our contract is just one page, but I’ve seen others several long! Read it! Ask questions, be sure you know what’s what and then if you’re happy, sign it, scan it or take a photo and send it back and get ready for the hard work or releasing and promoting to begin!

 

I’ll follow up this article soon with one on releasing and promoting so come back soon!

 

 

Close up detail shot of holes in speaker cover
Close up detail shot of holes in speaker cover

Sending demos to record labels

 

This one is a hot topic with a lot of people right now in the deep house scene, and come to think of it probably with most labels that aren’t Defected or the likes! I’m going to base this on my own experience of receiving demos over the past 8 years - what works, what doesn’t, what gets you heard and what gets your email deleted without consideration. As a topic this could go very broad - tapping into your social footprint, the level of engagement and lots more, but for now I’m going to stick to the basics!

 

How to send demos to record labels

The most important part of all this is the music you’ve created, that’s your thing so making sure it gets heard by the people you want it to and signed, released and promoted right is the aim of this blog post.

 

First up is getting your track sorted… making the music is just the beginning. Giving it a proper naming convention, eg. ArtistName_Echos_OriginalMix_Demo.mp3 not as is so often the case some random string of letters or track001.mp3 - make it easy for the label to identify you and your track!

 

How you get the file to people counts too - don’t enclose it in an email! Private Soundcloud links are good, or a Dropbox link too - that way the label and listen without downloading - making it easier for them - much quicker for them and increasing the chances of them listening.

 

Target the labels your music suits - the amount of techno tracks I get sent is insane for a deep house label. If I get an email that’s sent to lots of people I rarely bother. Likewise if it starts with some generic greeting and not my name I’m likely to delete.

 

The email is so important and so many people don’t get it right. Generic Mailchimp emails - delete! No message written, just the check my track - delete! An email I have to scrolls down to read your life story for - delete.

 

What people want is to feel like you’ve done your homework, know the label, found out who the person to contact is and sent them the track before anyone else. I want to know if you’re a first time producer or where you’ve released previously - maybe a couple of lines on you - you’re a DJ/Producer, you’re from Berlin and the like - but I don’t need much, just a flavour of you - if I’m at all interested I’ll most likely check you out on social media - so, a couple of links is good - but make sure they’re good! If I get that far I want to see audience engagement, regular posting and - and this is a big one for me - I want to see that you promote your music to your audience - hard!

 

Over the years I’ve lost count of the times a producer posts the link once and then never again - I used to push artists to promote more, and lots told me they didn’t want to feel they were spamming their fans! Newsflash people… they are your audience, they want to hear from you, they want you to tell them and with social media being how it is these today you need to do it more than once to ensure more than a couple of them see it. Frequency and making it varied is the thing to focus on.

 

Technology is having a greater impact on new music - with auto recognition software blocking new tracks from being heard - so if you have samples in your tracks be sure they’re cleared!

 

Ok, everything is in place - you send off your track! Be patient. I tend to look at the demo folder once a week, if I like a track I will share it with Paul and see if he thinks it has potential too and then get back to someone to ask what the status of the track is! I know the chances are you sent it to lots of people and who knows one of them might have snapped it up already.

 

Personally, if I like the track but it’s not right for UM Records I might email you back and explain some more and find out if you have anything more my style int he wings. People rarely do, but a couple of times that’s come off and someone has come back with a killer track and we’ve signed it.

 

So, you’ve sent the track, I’m loving it, I’ve emailed back and we’re good to get signing. Labels will supply you a contract to read a sign - they vary massively in their complexity and are usually written in legal speak. Our contract is just one page, but I’ve seen others several long! Read it! Ask questions, be sure you know what’s what and then if you’re happy, sign it, scan it or take a photo and send it back and get ready for the hard work or releasing and promoting to begin!

 

I’ll follow up this article soon with one on releasing and promoting so come back soon!