Music Promotion, Marketing and Distribution Newsletter

April 2013

The contacts listed are sorted into FIVE sections.

1. Publications that will REVIEW your music
2. Radio Stations/Shows that will PLAY your songs
3. Labels, Vendors and Promotional Services that will help you to SELL your CD
4. Sites where you can UPLOAD your band's MP3s or videos
5. Helpful Resources for recording artists

SECTION ONE: SITES/PUBLICATIONS WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED

Mary4Music.com
Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro Blewzzman@aol.com
www.mary4music.com
"Keeping The Blues Alive!" Our award winning website offers promo resources, radio, record label and club links. We also review and promote Blues CDs and produce promotional compilation discs. Be sure to visit our music shop where we sell jewelry and various music gifts. There is a fee for our review service. It also includes a vast amount of promotion. Contact us for CD review info and our mailing address.

Chain D.L.K. US
258 St. Nicholas Ave. #9D, New York, NY 10027 attn: Marc Urselli
www.chaindlk.com
We have reviewers for each style and geographic location. Please check our site to see where to send your material. We do NOT accept and will NOT review MP3 files!!! Do not ask! Do not send them via e-mail! For Industrial / Electronica / Experimental / New Music / Ambient / Dark Ambient / IDM, send to the above address.

MarsBands.com
Mars mars@marsbands.com
www.marsbands.com
We write reviews, features, and promote Independent and unsigned bands and musicians as much as we can. Are you in a really kick-ass band? It's tough to get noticed, so we'd like to help. Fill out our online form and we'll give you a listen, and if we like you, we'll write up something really spiffy for you to brag about! Please note, submitting your band does not guarantee that we'll write a review for you, it just means we'll give you a listen. You'll have to "wow" us with your music for a review. For the sake of ease, we prefer that you direct us to a site where we can STREAM your music (i.e. Your Site, Reverb, Bandcamp, SoundCloud). This is useful if we write a review for you so we can embed your music player with your review. If your music isn't able to be streamed, bands and artists may submit up to 3 files for us to listen to. We do NOT want you to send us a CD.

Faygoluvers Heaven
Scottie staff@faygoluvers.net
www.faygoluvers.net
We are the #1 site that brings you news from all of the underground Hip Hop labels and artists including some site exclusive freshness.

The Old Time Herald
PO Box 61679, Durham, NC 27715-1679
PH/FX: 919-286-2041
Sarah Bryan editor@oldtimeherald.org
www.oldtimeherald.org
Celebrates the love of Old-Time music - grassroots or homegrown music and dance. Old-Time music shares origins, influences and musical characteristics with Roots music across America. Our magazine casts a wide net, highlighting the Southeastern tradition while opening its pages to kindred and comparable traditions and new directions.

JazzWorldQuest
Stephen Bocioaca jazzworldquest@gmail.com
www.jazzworldquest.com
A promotional website dedicated to Jazz and World Music from all over the world. Currently we review only CDs of the featured artists. A featured artist receives a section in the JazzWorldQuest.com website which includes information about tours, bio, discography, tour dates, any news related to the activity of the band/artist. News received from featured artists are also posted on the entry page of the site. The CD review is posted on the entry page for 6 months and after this period is placed in the artist section. The annual fee is $40, and includes unlimited updating of the initial information submitted by the artist. Please note that we accept only Jazz and World Music submissions.

Wildy's World
28 Bucyrus Dr. Amherst, NY 14228
Wildy wildysworld@gmail.com
wildysworld.blogspot.com
Whether we're giving you our insight into the latest in politics or introducing you to some of the best indie music out there, we're the place to be! Whether we're giving you our insight into the latest in politics or introducing you to some of the best indie music out there, we're the place to be! We know it's a digital world, but the sound quality of a CD is much superior to that of MP3 files. If you're going to have your music reviewed, it makes a certain amount of sense to put your best recording before reviewers. We want to hear your best sound and share it with my readers. Digital submissions are accepted, but preference for reviews is given to submissions on hard copy.

New England Concert Reviews
46 East Rd. East Kingston, NH 03827
PH: 978-828-9988
Micah Mgummel@earthlink.net
http://www.newenglandmusicnews.com
Covering live music as it comes to New England. Delivering music news and photographing live concerts in New England.

One Movement For Music Magazine
8370 Wilshire Blvd. #200, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Ryan Benyo ryan@onemovementfm.com
www.onemovementfm.com
An international music industry trade publication that brings integral content to the new music industry. Our community acts local, but thinks global! We bring together all facets and interests in music as one community. One Movement FM is a continually evolving platform that adapts to the constantly changing world of music. Our mission is to provide a forum that allows emerging, independent and established entities vested in sound to connect to the world in a way that fosters creative ingenuity and business opportunity together in a tangible, inspiring and meaningful manner. We also do reviews and feature emerging artists.

SECTION TWO: RADIO STATIONS, SHOWS AND PROMOTERS

2.1 RADIO - STATIONS AND SHOWS

The Smooth Jazz Ride
PO Box 6783, 3360 Post Office Rd. Woodbridge, VA 22195
Ron Jackson ron@thesmoothjazzride.com
www.thesmoothjazzride.com
THE Smooth Jazz website that offers the coolest ride through the world of Smooth Jazz! Smooth Jazz CD reviews, artist interviews & much more!

En Sound Radio Network
PO Box 32507, Newark, NJ 07102
PH: 862-241-3351
info@ensoundentertainment.com
www.myesrn.com
Your Progressive Gospel Music Station!

Evolution Rock Metal Podcast
Lord Malignus evolutionrockpod@gmail.com
evolutionrock.podomatic.com
Horns Up Metal heads! Our purposeto promote the work of musicians and their message of creative freedom. We consider Evolution Rock to be The International Community Of Metal. Here you will find bands and musicians from all over the world. Sometimes geographical distances may separate us, but through Rock and Metal music we all speak the same language.

Indieheaven Radio
625 Bakers Bridge Ave. #105-104, Franklin, TN 37067
Keith Mohr info@indieheaven.com
www.indieheaven.com/ihradio.php
Christian online community and internet radio station. Our station features the very best songs from our Indieheaven members.

Aural6
Mark nth marknth@aural6.com
www.aural6.com
The vision for Aural6.Com is simple - to be the best internet radio station for the promotion of independent artists. A place for artists to submit their music for exposure. We will pick the best works submitted and add them to our play-list. No contract, no fees. Just good music the way "radio" used to be. We don't want to waste your time or ours, so, please take a listen to the station before submitting music to see if you think it will fit our format.

Friends of Dan Podcast
Dan Miles friendsofdanpodcast@gmail.com
www.friendsofdanmusicpodcast.com
I host and produce a music podcast featuring mainly indie musicians. The half talk/half music format offers listeners a nice introduction to both the music and personality of each featured artist.

New Driven Radio
PH: 770-538-4744
Sherry Sabine NewDriven@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/NewDrivenRadio
A weekly 4 hour radio show that features only independent Rock from across the US and around the world. It airs Tuesdays 8-midnight (est). We feature independent bands from Soft Rock, Hard Rock, Punk, Metal, Southern Rock, Americana, Pop and everything in between. The first 2 hours are called New Driven Cruise and we feature the softer stuff there. The second two hours is called New Driven Torqued and the harder stuff is featured there.

2.2 RADIO PROMOTERS

Musik Radio Promotions
PO Box 3176, Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
PH: 904-217-2849
Rhonda Houston radiopromotions@musikandfilm.com
www.musikandfilm.com/get-promoted
We will create your personal Digital Press Kit (DPK) and promote it to over 50,000 radio stations across 60 countries. We have artists charting on ECMA, Roots, Cashbox and others. We have spent years developing our contacts and reputation and want to ensure that all material we send to radio for airplay is of the highest standards. We will provide a complimentary consultation regarding your recording. Please understand we cannot promote poorly recorded or inappropriate material. We guarantee a minimum 100 stations including syndicated in first 30 days or money back.

Hot-Trax.com
51 E. Campbell Ave. 129 #1556, Campbell, CA 95009
PH: 408-871-9135
Kristin Pedderson info@hot-trax.com
http://hot-trax.com
Delivers high quality tracks to radio. We pre-screen and deliver to our 3500 developed contacts. Hot-Trax.Com is the radio division of Big Fuss Records, Inc.

Bryan Farrish Radio Promotion
1828 Broadway, 2nd Fl. Santa Monica, CA 90404
PH: 310-998-8305 FX: 310-998-8323
Bryan airplay@radio-media.com
www.radio-media.com
Indie airplay promotion to commercial, commercial specialty and college radio stations in the U.S. and Canada.

Grit PR & Promotion, LLC
4207 SE Woodstock Bl. #269, Portland, OR 97206
info@gritpr.com
www.gritpr.com
We offer the perfect blend of traditional and web based publicity and promotion services, completely customized to your needs. Grit works with all genres of music and represents Emmy and Latin Grammy nominees. 20+ years experience in the music industry!

Howard Rosen Promotion
521 W. Channel Islands Blvd. #15, Port Hueneme, CA 93041
PH: 805-382-2200 FX: 805-201-7816
info@howiewood.com
www.howiewood.com
Since 1985 We have been helping artists reach their goals of obtaining radio airplay, expanding their fan base, and creating awareness throughout the industry. @Howiewoodpromo

SECTION THREE: SERVICES/VENDORS/LABELS THAT WILL HELP SELL YOUR MUSIC

3.1 SERVICES - PROMOTION/PUBLICITY

Independent Music Promotions
James Moore james@independentmusicpromotions.com
www.independentmusicpromotions.com
Independent Music Promotions was started as an ethical way to approach music PR by "Your Band Is A Virus" author James Moore. I.M.P offers guaranteed review packages and full promotion campaigns, and they work exclusively with "music with depth" worldwide. Preferred genres are Rock, Alternative, Electronic, Metal, Punk, Progressive, Indie, Singer/Songwriter, Hip Hop, Blues and Folk. NO Country, Pop or religious music please.

KounterKulture Media
PH: 888-964-4717
Michael Jones michael@thekounterkulture.com
www.thekounterkulture.com
Provides publicity, promotion and management for musical artists. We are especially interested in working with cutting-edge and controversial artists.

Dean Hill - Virtual Manager
Dean Hill absolute@tourdates.co.uk
www.musicvirtualmanagers.com
UK based negotiator, advisor and manager. I have been involved in the career of countless up and coming artist in a transformational way, knowing the pitfalls and shortcuts of the industry well. Under normal circumstances e-mails are usually replied to within 24 hours.

Truth Artist Management
www.truthrecordsllc.com
An artist management company dedicated to promoting signed talent in the music and entertainment industries worldwide. Please contact us via our online form.

Miles High Productions
PO Box 93157, Hollywood, CA 90093
PH: 323-806-0400 FX: 323-462-0829
mhpmanagement@mileshighproductions.com
www.mileshighproductions.com
Created to bridge the gap of companies working directly with music artists and entertainment based projects who are in need of additional marketing support. MHP also focuses on non-music ventures such as corporate brand building, cosmetics, gaming, sports and other industries. MHP's goal is to elevate your product or artist to a higher ground in an expedient timeframe by exposing them to new and existing online audiences. MHP also focuses on taking our campaigns one step further by cross-promoting all traditional methods of marketing with online opportunities for further outreach. @MilesHigh

Countdown Entertainment
110 West 26th St., New York, NY 10001-6805
PH: 212-645-3068 FX: 212-989-6459
James Citkovic james@countdownentertainment.com
www.countdownentertainment.com
We broker intellectual properties (sell major gold & platinum recording artists music publishing catalogues and catalogues of masters). We also represent bands, groups, singers, songwriters, musicians, composers, music producers and music managers, to independent music labels, production companies and major recording labels. We provide music publishing deals, music licensing deals, film music deals, TV music deals, and record distribution, as well as non-exclusive, non-commission *personal* music consultant services to help your career.

3.2 SERVICES - LABELS, DISTRIBUTORS AND ONLINE VENDORS

Poverty Records
7048 Columns Cir. #104, Trinity, FL 34655
PH: 800-864-9269 FX: 866-591-5861
Billy James King info@povertyrecords.com
www.povertyrecords.com
We are a non genre specific label and distributor established in 1999. Poverty Records is always in the market for new Artists. If you or your group are looking for label consideration, we'd like to hear from you! It is no longer necessary to send any demo submissions via snail mail ... welcome to the 21st Century! All submissions can be sent directly to our A&R via e-mail. Include a brief bio, contact info and LINKS to pertinent sites where we can check your group out and listen to your music. We always try to get back to everyone.

Electro Labs Label
Rimonim 15, Rimonim, Israel
PH: +972-556602144
Shlomo Man info@electrolabs.net
www.electrolabs.net
An independent record Label based in Jerusalem, Israel. It mainly releases Electronic and Club music.

Uncoiled Loops
Rob/hEADaCHE headaque@yahoo.com
www.uncoiledloops.com
A record label releasing compilations of Dubstep, Minimal Techno, Ambient and DnB.

Limited Fanfare
PO Box 565064, Miami, FL 33256
PH: 954-304-4395
Brian Kurtz brian@limitedfanfare.com
www.limitedfanfare.com
An independent Rock & Roll label and management company. We DO accept demos and WILL listen to everything we receive. However, due to the sheer amount of time this can take up for a small label, we will contact you ONLY if we're interested in what we hear. Please do NOT send attachments! E-mail links to DOWNLOAD your music (no MySpace or Facebook links). For physical submissions, we accept demos in CD format only.

Heads UP Records
Nick, Chris and Andi headsuprecords@gmail.com
headsuprecords.tumblr.com
We are here to bring reward to the honest, hardworking musicians. It is our goal to help out any band who deserves to be recognized by working with them and promoting their music. Whether that be helping them get their music out on CDs, vinyl, cassettes, any possibly way we can. We're here to bring back the family tradition into music. We're not doing this to make money or for our own benefit, it is all for YOU. We will work with any type of band whether it be Hardcore, Pop-Punk, Hip Hop, Rock, Indie, Acoustic, anything. We will push our hardest to make your music reach new fans. If you have any interest, feel free to reach out to us. We promise to make it worth your time. If you wish to work with us, please include LINKS to your music if available.

SECTION FOUR: SITES WHERE YOU CAN UPLOAD YOUR BAND'S MP3s OR VIDEOS

Doyd.com
submission@doyd.com
www.doyd.com
Your listing is e-mailed to our newsletter of over 10,000 music fans. We will also place your video online.

Rising Music
Joe Bannon joe.bannon@yahoo.com
www.risingmusic.com
Music discover search engine. It's free to get listed. Every song gets heard every day by hundreds of people.

tweewoo
Vall d'Aran, 13 - Palau-solita i Plegamans, Barcelona, Spain
PH: 669404041 Ramon Arnella ramon@tweewoo.com
www.tweewoo.com
An easy to use platform for emerging and independent artists/bands and record labels to promote their music to a network of listeners from around the world. tweewoo hosts free online radio stations where users can listen to over 20 different genres of music, build a personalized radio based on artists they are following, download free legal MP3s, discover new artists and browse, share and connect with listeners with same music tastes.

YourTunes.org
PH: 091-450905
Ruth Ruane ruthzitaruane@gmail.com
www.yourtunes.org
A new & completely free, music based community.

JukeBoxAlive
311 Montford Ave. Asheville, NC 28801
PH: 828-232-0016
Will Cumberland cumberland@jukeboxalive.com
jukeboxalive.com
Our Advanced Jukebox Player protects your music from being digitally downloaded, yet allows fans to hear your music online. This creates exciting possibilities for you to present yourself to new audiences without being ripped off.

SECTION FIVE: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES

JustGo Music
1 Phipp St., London, EC2A 4PS UK
support@justgomusic.com
www.justgomusic.com
We love Electronic music here at JustGo Music. We love DJ culture, mixing records, and hearing dirty beats blasted from huge sound systems. But more than anything, we love that moment when a DJ manages to mould a wild crowd of moving individuals into one beautiful synchronised group using nothing but music. That dancefloor connection is the true power of Electronic music, and every day, we strive to build a platform that honours the awesome potential of Dance Music: connectivity.

SECTION SIX: HELPFUL TOOLS AND RESOURCES FOR YOUR BAND

6.1 RESOURCES - GENERAL

We Want Shows
Matt matt@wewantshows.com
www.wewantshows.com
An online platform for bands to connect and trade shows across the country. Bands can browse listings from over 160 cities. No account is needed to view, reply or create a post - making the process quick and easy.

Peerless Mastering
1085 Commonwealth Ave. #322, Boston, MA 02215
PH: 617-527-2200
info@peerlessmastering.com
www.peerlessmastering.com
Dedicated to providing the highest quality restoration. We offer the highest quality stereo and 5.1 pre-mastering, CD, CD Enhanced, and DVD-A authoring and full audio restoration. Our staff is exceptional at giving our clients the best quality and service, guiding them through the final phase of their sonic process with ease and expertise. We are uniquely equipped to provide the highest quality mastering available anywhere. We have the expertise, equipment, and skills to achieve the full sound potential of your album. As more and more artists are choosing to record in project and home studios, high-quality professional mastering in an acoustically accurate room has never been more important. Working at Peerless' state-of-the-art studios with our highly trained engineers, you can realize your sonic vision and make your recording sound as full, warm, punchy, and clear as possible. We will guide you through every step of this final phase of your project, and you will be truly amazed when you hear how incredible your music can sound. @PeerlessMaster

6.2 RESOURCES - EDUCATIONAL

Fame Wizard
308 E. Carrillo St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101
PH: 805-284-6899
info@famewizard.com
www.famewiz.com
We are comprised of legends of the music industry, successful indie musicians, and visionary business people who come to work each day with a common question in mind: "What can we do today to help our Artists achieve success?" Fame Wizard is an Artist Development Company that grows the careers of musicians through a strategic program that includes one-on-one coaching as well as insightful and inspiring lessons and webinars that teach you how to be a successful "DIY" musician, plus exclusive opportunities that expose your music to new fans and influential professionals within the music industry. Ready to take your career to the next level? Apply today and receive a free demo review.

Sidewinder.fm
Kyle Bylin kyle.bylin@gmail.com
www.sidewinder.fm
A music and tech think tank.

ZOT Zin Music
PH: 310-902-0993
Vreny Van Elslande zotzinguitarlessons@gmail.com
www.zotzinguitarlessons.com/
A guitar school in Hollywood, CA specialized in private, 1-on-1 guitar and music instruction. Students have their lessons in the ZOT Zin teaching studio, or from the comfort of their home through webcam lessons.

Digital Music News
www.digitalmusicnews.com
The news and information authority for music industry and technology executives.

Daylle Deanna Schwartz

Music Marketing Manifesto Blog
John Oszajca john@musicmarketingmanifesto.com
www.MusicMarketingManifesto.com
Advanced strategies, secrets, tactics and tips on selling your music online. @JohnOszajca

6.3 RESOURCES - TOOLS

Twitmusic
www.twitmusic.com
Lets you share your content on Twitter in real-time. Our platform and viral tools enable you to reach new audiences, connect to your fans and engage over 400 million users on Twitter, one tweet at a time ...

FingerPop
3131 N. Franklin St., Indianapolis, IN 46226
PH: 317-228-2200
Harold Taulbee info@fingerpop.com
www.fingerpop.com
Looking for new record sleeves, special mailing boxes for vinyl records, record cleaner, CD or record supplies of all types, Audio-technica turntables, headphones or...just want to take a peek at the latest retro-looking record players, radios, or jukeboxes from the old/new CROSLEY RADIO Company? We have it all! record & CD players and turntables, record cabinets & stands, headphones, jukeboxes for CDs, radios and CD & DVD supplies

MyNewsletterBuilder
comments@mynewsletterbuilder.com
www.mynewsletterbuilder.com
A user-friendly, feature-rich, online newsletter management program for novices and professionals alike.

6.4 RESOURCES - AUDIO

DIAMONDISC AUDIO - "Where Audio Meets Art"
204 Still Water Cir. Nashville, TN 37221
PH: 615-662-6870
Doug Diamond doug@diamondiscaudio.com
www.diamondiscaudio.com
A full-service multimedia company specializing in Audio and CD Mastering services as well as Stereo Mixing, CD/DVD Duplication and Replication, Video Editing, DVD & Blu-ray Authoring, Graphic Design, Website Design, Music Supervision, Composing, Publishing and more. We are dedicated to providing top-quality creative services, excellent customer care, and affordable prices to independent artists and small businesses. Let us help you put those finishing touches on your final mixes in the all-important Mastering stage. You're going to want your project to be equivalent to those found in record stores when it comes to Volume Level, EQ, Compression, etc. - that's where we come in!

6.5 RESOURCES - ORGANIZATIONS

Los Angeles Women in Music (LAWIM)
11664 National Blvd. #280, Los Angeles, CA 90064
PH: 213-243-6440 FX: 213-244-1260
Leanne Summers lsummers@lawim.com
www.lawim.com
Dedicated to fostering equal opportunity for women and men in the music industry and to promoting the advancement of women through empowerment, support, education, encouragement and recognition of their achievements. We provide forums and opportunities for emerging talents; pay tribute to women who have made distinctive or significant contributions to our musical culture; recognize those who have contributed to the betterment of women in music; provide educational programs and events at large; and give rise to social and civic issues in our local community through musical endeavors.

SECTION SEVEN: THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE

How To Get Music Bloggers To Listen
by Tim Dickinson, Audio Melody
© 2013 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission

Over the past decade music blogs have grown up from being a place where only a handful of geeky music nerds talked about their favourites records into a wealth of different blogs catering to every conceivable sub-genre you can think of. Music blogging has been a revolution in the music industry as whereas once bands would only be discovered by record label A&R folk turning up at their gigs, or a label boss, radio DJ, or NME journalist taking the time to listen to their record - now there are numerous new avenues to get your music "out there".

Music bloggers have tried to follow the example of John Peel in championing new music and artists that do not have the multi-million pound marketing machine behind them. They try to open the public's ears to the beauty that sits outside the Top 40 Charts, and they gain notoriety from finding these bands and artists and giving them their first audience.

With the growth of influence of these bloggers, the question has now become "how do I get featured on your blog?" With our sister site, The Blue Walrus, sitting pretty as one of the top music sites on Technorati, I thought now might be a good time to go over the basics that will give bands the best chance of being heard through the noise of a music blogger's inbox. Bloggers receive hundreds of emails per week containing new music from record labels, PR folk, band management, and band members themselves - making it more important than ever to try and stand out from the crowd, and following these rules should give you a little help:

Choose The Right Blogs

Don't just send your email out to very blog under the sun. If you send music to blogs that quite obviously don't cover your genre then you r are actively burning bridges - no-one like to feel spammed. The idea with sending music to bloggers is not to carpet bomb everyone, but to pick a select few, personalise the message to them and then follow it up. It may also help to target blogs in your hometown or at least home-country - this way you can invite them to shows and possibly get extra coverage of your live show as well as your recordings. Finding blogs that cover the sort of music you write is as simple as going on the Hype Machine and searching for a similar band and finding the blogs that wrote about them, or do the same using Google's Blog Search. Once you've found a few blogs that might cover your music, then go through their blogroll looking for similar blogs as well.

Cultivate A Relationship With The Bloggers You Choose

Everyone is more likely to write about people that they know, and if you manage to strike up a relationship with the bloggers you send your music to then this can help them read your emails first. If a blogger writes a great piece about one of your favourite bands, then comment on the post or tweet them saying so, or if you're going to be at the same live show then say hello. This way you sending them your music at a later date will not be "cold calling", they'll know who you are and will be more likely to actually read your email and press play. They might even click through your profile and listen to your music for their own curiosity. I'm not saying suck up to the bloggers or give them undeserved praise - simply that most likely the bloggers you submit your music to may well have a similar taste in music to you, and so don't be afraid of striking up a discussion with them about that.

Keep The Email Short And To The Point

Don't bother with the niceties of "I'm sure you're really busy but???", or "I know you get loads of these but???", just get to the point - "Hi, we're a new band called X from Town Y, and we think we have a sort of Z sound with influences ranging from A to B - here's the links to our Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp/SoundCloud" and then add your bio beneath that. That first sentence is all a number of bloggers will read as they wade through the flood of submissions - so make it count. Only if they've read that and thought it is interesting will they press play on the music and/or get round to reading the bio.

Make Your Music Quick And Easy To Play

SoundCloud provides a great option for bands and musicians to link to their music and make it playable within just a couple of clicks and is the preferred method of receiving music by most bloggers. A basic account is free so there really is little excuse not to offer your music this way. Bandcamp is great as well, and well worth having for those who prefer this method, and also for the ability to sell single/EP/album downloads outside of the iTunes/Amazon ecosystems too. If you are sending an EP or album, then link to what you think are your best two or three songs, and then give a link to download the record as a zip file of mp3s. You can host this zip on Dropbox again for free and downloading takes a single click - the easier you make all this, the better. Never attach mp3s to emails - they will be ignored. Whatever you do don't lock your music up on Facebook and expect music bloggers to "like" your page to enable the stream or download - they won't. Ever.

Label Your Music Properly

I can't remember the number of times where I've been sent an album by a band that they have forgotten to add ID3 tags to - and this makes it damn hard to work out which band that was a week later when I'd finally had a chance to listen to the whole record. Make sure the tags on your MP3s work properly, add the album/single art and it is often a good idea to add the URL of your band's website or Facebook page in the comment section to make yourselves even easier to find. Tools like MP3tag do a very good job here.

If you are using SoundCloud to offer streams of your music (as your should) then use the format "Artist - Song Title" to title your songs. Like the ID3 tags, this makes it easier for people to find, and also helps with the music being picked up properly by the aggregators such as the Hype Machine, Elbo.ws, Shuffler.fm, and Ex.fm.

The Music

This should, obviously, be the most important part. Time is of short supply in the music blogging world, and your song will need to capture someone's attention within the first 20 seconds. If you have this slow moody build up for three minutes, then no-one will likely actually get to the real start of the track. Yes I know this is utterly superficial, as plenty of great songs take a little bit of time to warm up, but maybe leave those tracks for after you've got a little audience ready and wanting more.

Focus On Originality

This should be self-evident, but remixes are a dime a dozen and unless I know and like the remix artist's previous work, emails just pushing remixes or a cover version go straight in the bin - and I'm not alone in taking this route. Focus on your own material, and if your proud of some of your remixes or covers then play them at live shows or put them up on your SoundCloud or BandCamp, but don't bother sending them to bloggers.

Add Links

It sounds obvious, and I mentioned it above, but make sure you add links to your band's Facebook, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp pages - every band should have these. Then if you are on Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, Vimeo, or have a full website then add them too. If you have a record for sale, add a link to buy the record on iTunes, Amazon, or BandCamp as well alongside the release date.

Add A Decent Picture

Attach a decent picture of the band and/or link to where the blogger can find a few decent photographs that are available for use with their write-up. Decent quality photos as well are a bonus, as some sites tend to publish larger images with each write-up, and good quality photographs can always be edited down.

Add Contact Details

Yes bloggers can reply to the email address you're sending the message from but for some questions - including booking bands for live showcases - a phone number can be very useful.

Make Sure You BCC

We all know that you are sending your music to quite a few bloggers (not to many though as I said before), but make sure that you BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) everyone when your are sending out mass(ish) emails. If you just CC everyone in then it just ends up as a load of unwanted messages for everyone.

AudioMelody, based in the UK, is a website that has been online, in some shape or form, since 1999, and has always provided free and open source audio software for download. This section has grown and grown over the years, and with constant updates, has emerged into a library of over 100 pieces of software. The downloads have been featured all across the internet from Yahoo and About.com, to various indie sites, and has been featured in Sound on Sound and Computer Music magazines amongst others over the past decade.

The Editor of AudioMelody, Tim Dickinson, also edits influential music blog The Blue Walrus www.thebluewalrus.com and technology blog TechFruit www.techfruit.com and is the founder of UK-focused hand-curated newspaper The Descrier. www.descrier.co.uk

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