I’m finding that many indie bands are disillusioned about how to get their music reviewed, and with all the options available in today’s music industry, I’m not sure why. Here I’ll go over a few simple ideas that you probably have not been trying in your music marketing efforts.
1) Sign up for the Indie Contact Newsletter.
This is a free resource put together by the wonderful people at The Indie Bible, and it is delivered to your email inbox monthly. Inside the newsletter are direct emails and website information for places that will review your music, radio shows that will play your music, management companies who accept submissions from indie artists, music distributors and online vendors, social networks and mp3 websites where you can upload your music, and a host of other valuable resources, services and music marketing articles.
Contacting companies from this newsletter has given me high results when promoting indie artists in the past. The main reason? It’s because these companies are expecting you.
Here is a link to September’s issue. And here is October’s issue.
2) Pick up the latest Indie Bible.
Are you a slightly more serious artist who wants to send your music to more than the 43 or so places the Indie Contact Newsletter lists? If you want access to literally thousands upon thousands of contacts in the music industry, get The Indie Bible. It is updated annually with the latest places for music reviews and valuable press coverage as well as all kinds of promotion and educational resources. I’ve seen bands get dozens of reviews from this book alone and I have enjoyed everything they’ve put out.
One tip: Many artists use this guide, so be sure to check each website as you go through their huge database. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the kind of music they cover as well as the feel of the site. Try to contact an individual writer if possible, and be personal. Say something nice about an article they wrote, or start a conversation about something you saw in their bio. This will give you about 10 times more chance of landing a feature.
You can get the latest copy of The Indie Bible here through my partner link.
3) Join Fiverr.
I was scouring this website today and found over a dozen places ready to review independent bands. Some of these places had NO submissions! This means that, unlike extremely popular music blogs such as Large Hearted Boy, Stereogum, or Pitchfork, who receive hundreds of submissions daily, there are websites out there where you will have NO COMPETITION.
The only reason there are not more bands taking advantage of Fiverr is that they simply are not aware of it yet. For my Fiverr gigs, click here.
I hope this gives you a few good ideas if you’re feeling stuck on the possibilities of getting your music reviewed.
