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JP Remillard
Electronic music producer, blogger and sound engineer based in Montreal. You can read my blog at http://audioservices.studio

Send a music demo the right way

How to send a music demo?

If you’re a music producer and have been making a few tracks, perhaps it came to your mind that it would be a great idea to now submit music to a label. I mean, that’s pretty much what we all dream of as musicians, which is to be part of a community of artists we appreciate and be appreciated back. That sense of accomplishment is something you’ve been pursuing for a while and will most probably be chasing for the years to come. Trust me.

But I’d say that if you want to reach your goals or be part of a label, especially one that has a certain notoriety, you’ll need be prepared and do things right. I thought I’d make a rule list for you, starting with these:

  • One demo, one label, rule. Think of who you want to send you music to and then pick tracks accordingly to the latest tracks that the label released. If the label has been there for a while, chances are, they might have a restricted number of artists and the sound has changed. So, make sure you’re up to date.
  • Before contacting the label, make sure you’re following the label on social medias. This might sound silly, but if you’re sending to a label you’re not following and tell them you’re a fan, it looks just bizarre. It’s something label owners do check.
  • Find the contact to submit. I could write an entire post about this alone but I’ll summarize.
  • Check if the label has a website and see for the contact’s information for demo submission.
  • If they have a policy for submitting, read about it. It’s that simple and important! If it’s written down, that’s because they stick to it.
  • Send a first email to see if the label is accepting demos at the moment.

You have now the main 2 starters: the label, the how-to-submit. Now, let’s get to work.

Unless the label has a precise modus operandi, here’s some general guidelines that work for most labels.

  • Aim for an EP. The magic number of tracks to start with would roughly be 4. So start by picking the best fitting ones. It’s not a good idea to send too many tracks at once since label owners already have a lot of demos to listen to (nb. The age of Soundcloud has really brought smoke screening to whole other level) and it makes you look a bit confused on your intentions.
  • Send your best stuff, mastered if possible. But ask the label’s choice. As much as this sounds obvious, you’d be surprised to know as a label owner, I do received music sounding half-done, not mixed properly and sounding pale. It’s not showing you on your best day and a good first impression can only be made once. Ask someone to do the mixdown for you if you’re not sure.
  • Don’t submit remixes. It’s not up to you to pick the remixers at this point. It’s just awkward.
  • If you send Soundcloud links, make sure your tracks are private. Send full tracks. Use playlists too.
  • Just to be covered, if you send tracks, use a service like wetransfer and I’d recommend sending mp3 files, in maximum 256 kbps. Sadly, there’s people with bad intentions out there and giving the real masters is giving is risking troubles if the label release your song. You still have some rights over it but I’ve seen labels releasing the music and chasing demons later on can be really frustrating.
  • Name and tag your files with your name and title your song correctly. I sometimes find a demo, months later with no information at all and it’s quite frustrating to find who made it.

Ok, you have your tracks ready, let’s move on the first contact.

  • Send your email to only one person!
  • Present yourself. Like any emails, business or casual, you gain attention by keeping things short, concise, clear and simple. Don’t share your bio (has no value in decision making), releases to come (if you’re too busy, it can be against you and if you have nothing, it can be… well, not good either), that you like the label (why would you contact the label otherwise?) or your 17 different profiles on all those music related sites.
  • Say what you’d want from the label. Are you up for an EP? or a vinyl only? or you’d like remixes? Be precise but not demanding (you’re not signed yet!).
  • Don’t ask for a money advance or be cocky in any way. It’s pretty much a turn off for everyone.
  • Engage a conversation to invite the person to get back to you. Ask questions, try to open a discussion.

Great! Email sent, tracks submitted, so you’ve made your submission. Now, it’s far from over and there’s a follow-up.

  • Wait at least 1 week to follow up. When you do, be very short and simple.
  • Bigger labels request time. Be patient.
  • Do not send your demo to other labels. If you do, not more than one. I’ve heard so many stories of people submitting to a bunch, then 2 wanted to signs the tracks… and sadly, after trying to please both, the artist ended up being discarded for his lack of commitment. So, be careful.
  • Again, be patient. Make more music but don’t send more music unless the label owner asks for more.

At this point, it’s a bit of a follow-up game. You can give up on the label if there’s no answer at all after 1 mont. If there’s no plays on your Soundcloud links, that’s of course, a bad sign. You can also track who listened. Some label owners hate to received tracks that have multiple listens so if you’re recycling a demo, I encourage you to delete the tracks are start from scratch.

If you give up on the label, be polite and just send a last mail, to thank for the attention and say you’d be interested to submit more in the future.

Good luck!