Guest Post: How To Get Noticed by Curtis Dewar

What to include in your album submission

A common error that I see bands going the “do it yourself” promotion route is a failure to include any information whatsoever about them. 

No bio, no album credits, nothing. I’ve had some bands tell me that they want “the music to speak for itself” or to “maintain a mystique” but in reality this is just a cop out for being lazy and unprofessional.

While I can understand wanting the music to speak for itself, the thing is that at least a little bit of information needs to be sent along with the album itself. While you may not feel that you have the skills to write a fancy bio yourself, you can minimally include the following info:

Genre

This is important so that the publication in question knows if your music is even suitable for them. If a metal journalist takes the time to download your album and then finds out that you’ve sent them a rap album that journalist is going to be pissed off.

Where you are from 

 Basic stuff so the journalist knows if you’re a seasoned band or a newcomer to the scene.

Discography

Again this is so the publication/journalist knows what you’ve done in the past. Sometimes they may even want to listen to a previous release or two to see if you’ve improved over your past releases.

Album credits

 Important for obvious reasons I would think

Song Titles/Track list orde

You would be amazed at the number of bands who neglect to include a track listing.

Album cover/Professional band pic

Don’t send a pic taken of you from an Iphone. If you can’t afford to get professional band pics taken, minimally send the album art and a logo.

The above is an absolute bare bones list of things you would need to include when sending your album to a journalist.

If you or a band you know is looking for help with publicity, please get in touch by emailing me at: dewarpr@gmail.com Alternatively you can go to our website dewarpr.wordpress.com