• THE LONDON EAR ON RTÉ 2XM
  • MUSIC
    • Nessy Recommends
    • PLAYLISTS
    • Music Interviews
    • Music Review
    • Tune Of The Week
  • ARTS / CULTURE
  • LIVING
  • About
    • Contact
    • WORK WITH ME
    • Disclaimer
Log In
Lost your password?
Lost your password?
Search
nessymon.com logo
  • THE LONDON EAR ON RTÉ 2XM
    Featured
    • Brave Giant : 4 members of the band pose in an industrial setting, looking down at the camera. Two are sitting, two standing.

      The London Ear // Show 233 with Brave Giant

      February 17, 2019
      The London Ear on RTE 2XM
    Recent
    • Jack is jumping over a boat anchor stump on the quays

      The London Ear // Show 232 with Jack O’Rourke

      February 9, 2019
    • THE LONDON EAR nessymon 2018

      The London Ear // Show 231

      February 4, 2019
    • Nessy and Ambassador Adrian O'Neill

      The London Ear // Show 230 – Irish Ambassador, Adrian O’Neill

      January 27, 2019
    • THE LONDON EAR nessymon 2018

      The London Ear // 229 – The Lost Brothers / 90 Women Artists

      January 20, 2019
    • EnaBrennan - Dowry, standing pictured with her fiddle

      The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM // Show 228 with Dowry – Éna Brennan

      January 14, 2019
    • Five Grand Stereo - band promo shot in a retro style

      The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM // Show 227 – Five Grand Stereo

      January 7, 2019
  • MUSIC
    Featured
    • The music duo Exiles pose with a dark moody background for their single Rearview Mirror

      Nessy Recommends // Exiles - Rearview Mirror

      February 9, 2019
      Nessy Recommends
    Recent
    • Hally in profile view smoking a cigar, or is it a SM57 mic?

      Watch and Listen // Hally – In a City

      February 6, 2019
    • music group Thanks Brother promo shot

      Nessy Recommends // Thanks Brother – We Caught It

      January 29, 2019
    • Elena Tonra - Ex:Re - Nessy Recommends

      Nessy Recommends // Ex:Re – Romance

      December 28, 2018
    • Nessy Recommends
    • PLAYLISTS
    • Music Interviews
    • Music Review
    • Tune Of The Week
  • ARTS / CULTURE
    Featured
    • Cast of Chasing Bono at Soho Theatre

      Review // Chasing Bono at Soho Theatre

      December 26, 2018
      London, Theatre
    Recent
    • Ben Oakley Gallery Greenwich - nessymon

      Hidden Gem // Ben Oakley Gallery, Greenwich

      May 26, 2018
    • st columbas churchyard kells - nessymon

      An Hour to Kill… in St Columba’s Churchyard, Kells, Co. Meath

      May 7, 2018
    • norbert bisky anomie

      Norbert Bisky ‘Anomie’ Exhibition Launch // König Gallery London

      April 13, 2018
    • The Passion of The Playboy Riots Cast

      Review // The Passion of The Playboy Riots at The Hen and Chickens Theatre

      June 30, 2017
    • The Radical Eye - Tate Modern

      The Radical Eye at Tate Modern // Review

      May 18, 2017
    • President Michael D Higgins at Congress House - nessymon.com

      Watch // President Michael D Higgins: Keynote address on Eva Gore-Booth in London

      October 18, 2016
  • LIVING
    Featured
    • A baseball sits in a baseball mitt

      MLB London Series // Ticket Panic Over

      December 6, 2018
      Living, Sport
    Recent
    • Elizabeth Tower on the Thames

      Tips for Moving to Great Britain from Ireland // Getting Proof of Name, Address and Photo ID

      October 28, 2018
    • Peoples March in London October 2018

      Photos // The People’s March // October 20th 2018

      October 21, 2018
    • Doctors Desk

      Lyme Disease // I got a bite

      September 23, 2018
    • Irish-Passport-nessymon

      I’m Irish, I live outside Ireland, I need a passport – Help!

      February 11, 2018
    • Make Your Sloe Gin - nessymon

      It’s Time to Make Your Own Sloe Gin

      November 5, 2017
    • Thesis - Roll out of DAB in Ireland - nessymon

      Thesis // The Roll Out of Digital Audio Broadcasting in Ireland

      August 1, 2017
  • About
    • Contact
    • WORK WITH ME
    • Disclaimer
  • Menu logo
Latest..
  • The London Ear // Show 233 with Brave Giant
  • The London Ear // Show 232 with Jack O'Rourke
  • Nessy Recommends // Exiles - Rearview Mirror
  • Watch and Listen // Hally - In a City

Tips for Musicians // Sending Your Music To Press

July 9, 2017
Music
Sending Your Music To Press - nessymon

Tips for Musicians // Sending Your Music To Press

You’ve got your music, your masterpiece ready for release. You’re going to stick your music on Tunecore, or other music distributor, get it on Bandcamp, iTunes and announce to the world that your new music is ready.

Next thing you need to do is get your music to your favourite music critic and radio DJ. There a few things you need to do before just lobbing your mp3 off via email.

Tip 1 // What format does your radio presenter prefer?

CD in tray

While mp3 and wav are easy to send and use via the internet, there still are some old school presenters who prefer CDs.

If you do send a CD here’s a tip I have for you. Last summer, I was privileged to be in the presence of greatness, he who knows his stuff and does some great stuff on BBC Introducing. His view was that if an artist gets CDs printed and a semi pro cover, even for a demo, it shows that they are committed and serious about their work. He’ll pick up their CD and listen to it first.

So, if you’re going to get a few CDs done, get them printed properly, get a nice cover and put an address sticker on the back with a mini bio and the release date of the track/album.

Tip 2 // Make Sure Your Media Friend Likes Your Genre of Music

There’s absolutely no point in sending a nice country acoustic song to a DJ that only specialises in drum ‘n’ bass. Makes sense when you think about it, don’t do a blanket email to every music contact in the music bible. Select who you think will be interested in your music and send it to them.

Don’t be afraid to personalise an email and follow up a week or so later.

Tip 3 // Include a Press Release

It might feel that you don’t have a whole lot to say about yourself, especially if you’re a new artist. Give a little bit of background about how you got to where you were. If it’s not your first release, give an overview of what you’ve done, gig highlights and your last release.

Tip 4 // Get Some Press Photography Done

Whether you’re sending your music to printed press or to your favourite music blog, they’re going to need a few photos of you. Depending on the style and layout they have, they will need or a portrait or landscape shot.

Make sure that you send at least one of each in high resolution. You need it high enough for printing, which is 300dpi.

Make sure you have your photos titled and labelled properly. If you need your photographer credited, make sure you include that information and let the editor / whoever you’re dealing with know.

Tip 5 // Metadata – Make Sure Your Music is Tagged with the Song and Artist Name

Metadata in iTunes
As someone who gets a lot of music sent to them, this is the biggest pain in the ass for me. Make sure your mp3s have been tagged properly with the song title and your artist name. It’s not rocket science, if you’re having trouble, bring it into iTunes and put the title and name in.

WAVs don’t seem to have as much metadata ever! That’s just because when they are being exported, there isn’t the same amount of tools whatever software to add them to the wavs. Ask your mastering engineer and ensure that you’ve got your ISRC code info embedded at the very least.

Last weekend, I had to spend a couple of hours going through tracks I had downloaded and put the metadata in. Your radio presenter / reviewer needs to be able to see what track they have and the artist details in their library.

I use iTunes to keep all my tunes together, the folder system works for me. Not having the artist name in there is so annoying, it leaves it impossible to find.

If you’re sending wavs, put the track number title and artist name in the title like 01-A New Song – A New Artist. The easier you make it to find, the more likely they are to replay your track if they’ve already played it. Why? Cos they can find it!

Tip 6 // Have your social media and websites updated

The more you update and make the posts different every time, the more people will become interested in you. You don’t need to have thousands of followers but make sure that you don’t neglect your social media or website updates.

Make sure you have links to all across your press release, soundcloud, other social media and website.

Tip 7 // Have your music easy to download for Press

When you’re giving your media friend a link that downloads your music and/or your entire press kit, make sure that the link doesn’t expire in a week. It’s so annoying. Life gets in the way and if you don’t work full time at your radio / website it can take a while to get through your mail. There’s absolutely nothing worse than seeing a video of a track and the download link has expired.

Tip 8 // Don’t send an email with a lack of information

Email to DJ - nessymon

You wouldn’t believe the amount of emails I get saying “Band X has released a new single. Download it here.”

That’s it, no information, no details, genre, where the band are from, inside leg measurements, NOTHING and from some PRs too, would you believe. Just because a PR does this does not make it right. I don’t bother with these, not even clicking once.

You have to remember, you have to make life as easy as possible for press and media. There’s no guarantee that they will play it / review it but if they do, give them everything that will make their job easier.

Bon Chance.

bandsbloggercassetteCDemailJournalistmetadatamp3Musicmusic businessmusic industrypresspress photographypress releaseRadio Djtipsvinylwavs

About The Author

Nessy

Nessy is an Irish media creative living in LDN. She presents The London Ear on RTÉ 2XM and is a freelance podcast producer and social media manager. Her spare time is spent writing the pages of this blog. She likes Lyons Gold Blend Tea and dislikes writing about herself in the third person.

Related Posts

  • The music duo Exiles pose with a dark moody background for their single Rearview Mirror

    Nessy Recommends // Exiles – Rearview Mirror

    February 9, 2019
  • Hally in profile view smoking a cigar, or is it a SM57 mic?

    Watch and Listen // Hally – In a City

    February 6, 2019
  • music group Thanks Brother promo shot

    Nessy Recommends // Thanks Brother – We Caught It

    January 29, 2019
  • Elena Tonra - Ex:Re - Nessy Recommends

    Nessy Recommends // Ex:Re – Romance

    December 28, 2018

Hello! I’m Nessy

Nessy 2018 - nessymon.com

Browse our content

Load More...Follow on Instagram

Top Posts

  • Travelling between the UK and Ireland // What Travel Documents do I need?
    Travelling between the UK and Ireland // What Travel Documents do I need?
  • Romeo & Juliet Moving Image Analysis
    Romeo & Juliet Moving Image Analysis
  • Pop Danthology 2015: Full Artist and Song Lists
    Pop Danthology 2015: Full Artist and Song Lists
  • Analyzing Advertising: No 5,  The Film
    Analyzing Advertising: No 5, The Film
  • Pop Danthology 2013 - Lyrics and Song Titles
    Pop Danthology 2013 - Lyrics and Song Titles

Let’s Connect!

  • View nessymondotcom’s profile on Facebook
  • View nessymon’s profile on Twitter
  • View nessymondotcom’s profile on Instagram
  • View nessymon’s profile on Pinterest
  • View nessymon’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View nessymon’s profile on YouTube
  • View nessymon’s profile on Google+
  • View nessymon’s profile on Tumblr

LISTEN LIVE TO THE LONDON EAR

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Tweets by @nessymon

© Copyright Nessymon 2018. All Rights Reserved.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • WORK WITH ME
  • DISCLAIMER
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • RADIO
  • WRITING ARCHIVES
    • Romeo & Juliet Analysis
    • John ‘Irish’ Earle – Legend
    • Movie Poster Analysis
    • Advertising: No 5, The Film
    • Interview: Darren from Morello
    • Still Image Analysis
    • Social Media Harms Good Writing?
    • UI Design: Redesigning Buffy DVD Menu
    • Blogging is Bricolage?
    • Pink Floyd: Pioneers
    • Web Effecting Newspapers ?