Tips On Getting Your Music Reviewed
Most artists/bands really, really, really want to get their music reviewed by as many reputable music sites as possible, and with good reason, because it’s one of the better ways to gain exposure and, hopefully, gather new fans.
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Some bands hire publicists, who do the grunt work, i.e. contacting the music reviewers and pitching singles, EPs, and albums for premieres, or reviews, or interviews. And frankly, if at all possible, hiring a publicist is one of the best ways to go, if your band can afford it. That being said, be aware that just like car mechanics and doctors, there are good publicists and bad publicists. So do your due diligence.
If you can’t afford a publicist, then you’re basically on your own, meaning you need to contact the reviewers and/or sites yourself. Right away you need to understand online music magazines receive literally hundreds of submissions every week, sometimes thousands. Translation: if they replied to each and every request for a review, they would never have time to write any reviews because all their time, eight hours per day, would be spent responding to emails.
You can, however, increase your chances by making their lives easier, which means you might get reviewed. What does that mean? It means your email contains exactly what they need to write a review. Nothing more and nothing less. In other words, they can skim it and see that you’ve got your shit together and, if they decide to review your music, they’re not going to have to spend oodles of time looking for the gen they need.
Let’s say you’re sending Rawckus an email, looking for a review. You should send the following information: band name; where you’re based (Toledo, L.A., NYC, etc.); genre (pop, punk, metal, etc.); similar artists; link to the music or music video; short bio (300 words or so); photos (with photographers’ credits); and links to your socials.
Expanding on the above paragraph a bit, please note that if your band plays pop-punk, say so. Don’t be one of those annoying bands who say something like this: “Bob’s eschews categorization because of their innovative blend of genres, which has launched them into totally new realms of music.” Yeah, right! What that says to the reviewer is Bob’s is composed of prima donnas who want to believe they’re breaking new ground and totally transforming music. Which could be true, maybe, possibly, but probably isn’t. So get real.
Five paragraphs of purple prose about how wonderful and originally pioneering the band is just alienate the reviewer because none of it is useful for his/her review.
Your short bio should contain facts such as when the band formed, influences, any personnel changes, the name of your debut single or debut EP, and any subsequent releases, along with how the band got together and a quote about the single/EP/album being submitted. If your last EP or single amassed 50 million streams on Spotify and 5 million hits on YouTube, include it.
Five paragraphs of purple prose about how wonderful and originally pioneering the band is just alienate the reviewer because none of it is useful for his/her review.
Creativity helps, up to a point. So does humor. In my case, I’m a T-shirt slut. So a free T-shirt will help get your foot in the door. However, the danger here is sending the wrong size. I had one band send me a Small, when I had requested an XL. So I probably won’t be reviewing any more of their music. Also, I’m a sucker for female and female-fronted bands. And if your music video has a real live snake in it, you’re in-like-Flint with me. My point is this: reviewers are people, with likes and dislikes, flaws and strengths, and personalities.
On Rawckus, each review includes three photos: a photo of the band, a photo of the EP cover, album cover, or single cover, as well as photo for the homepage. So sending along three to five photos is a big deal because otherwise I have to use up twenty minutes finding photos, which often don’t exist, to use in the article. Even then, I still have to re-size the photos to the site’s specifications. Thus, sadly, if you don’t send photos, you probably will not be reviewed. Many times, I love a band’s music and would really like to let readers know about it. But they don’t send photos or any viable background info and fail to include social links. So either I spend time trying to locate their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages or I move on to the next band. More often than not, I move on.
Finally, once you send your email, cool your jets. Don’t keep sending follow-up emails asking when it will be reviewed. Nagging is full-tilt irritating and, usually, will result in no review at all, ever. On the other hand, once the review goes up, reviewers and music sites really appreciate it when the band shares the review on their socials. Failure to share is the kiss-of-death simply because the thinking goes like this: if they can’t be bothered to share, then why should I bother to review them?
