How to Send Demos to Labels

• Sending out demos too early - It takes time to perfect your craft, and trust me, you won't want your first tracks stuck in your back catalogue once your sound progresses and becomes more intricate or refined.
• Submitting a completely different genre track to what we release - especially annoying when coupled with a clearly copied and pasted sentence stating that they love the music on the label and feel their track would fit well.
• Sending over files as email attachments - quickly clogging up my inbox and MacBook!

OK, so we have got the things to avoid out of the way. The next things to think about before even considering sending tracks to labels are the following.

Is your track ready? How is the mix down sounding? How does it sound compared to other tracks? Are you happy with the structure?

There isn't an expectation of mastering all your tracks before sending them out as demos to labels, as many will want to get them mastered by a professional sound engineer, but a bad sounding track could ruin future opportunities and close doors with the label in question, so be sure to make the track sound as good as possible - don't rush it!

Failure to think about the above may result in the label avoiding your releases in the future - the bigger labels will receive hundreds of tracks a week, and so will naturally be very selective in who they're listening to and keeping an eye on.

Visit the labels you are looking to submit demos to on SoundCloud and listen to their releases to get an idea of their style of music. As mentioned above, if you submit the wrong genre you'll be off to a bad start as you've shown no interest in what the label is about if you don't know what type of music they release. A lot of independent labels such as us at Fracture Recordings are quite niche, and are developing and releasing our own style of music.

A good tip would be to go through labels and note down those that sound similar to the style of music that you make - you can always make tracks that sound like they should be on a certain label, but this is risky because a) tracks don't often end up going to plan as new ideas take hold and evolve throughout the creative process and b) they may not pick the track up and then it may be more difficult to get it signed anywhere if it sounds too specific to one label.

A better method is to find labels that broadly fit within your sound, make a list, and send relevant demos that you think are going to catch their attention once you've followed the above steps.

Many record labels advise their preferred format on their websites, but its usually not attaching tracks to emails - I can say first hand that this is rather annoying and fills up space in my inbox. The best way to format your track is to upload a 320kbps mp3 with downloads enabled as a private link on SoundCloud.

The tracks speak for themselves, but its also a good idea to share a bit of info about you - I'm even more likely to click a link if somebody has taken the time to explain about themselves and their demo submission in the email. Try to remain clear and concise.

Here is some information that will likely be appreciated alongside your track:

• Name
• Location
• Social media links
• How long you've been making music
• If you play at any clubs or events
• Plans for the future

There's little point sending demos that are already up on SoundCloud publicly. A lot of labels won't work with tracks unless they have exclusivity on them - which is why I mention creating a private SoundCloud link to submit as your demo - they will want to upload the track via their SoundCloud page and to promote it via their own channels, which will be good for you as you will gain exposure to their fan base. Its fine to send the track to your close DJ friends and see how it goes down in clubs, but don't explicitly do anything that may present a conflict of interest.

Don't be put out if you don't get a response - with Fracture Recordings I try to get back to all demos submitted (providing they're the right genre - I don't have time for people who think we are an EDM or Hip Hop Label) but from my experience sending demos to other labels, not a lot seem to do this. If they don't like it, it often appears to go into a black hole, and this is further backed up by the appreciation I receive for my replies to demo submissions, even when not successful.

It's fine to send a follow up email a week or two later, asking if they have listened to your track. Sometimes this will prompt a response, and it isn't uncommon for things to get missed or lost among hundreds of emails, or even fall into the spam folder.

I hope the tips and advice above is helpful - If you want to send us a demo (please use the above advice!) you can do so by emailing [email protected].

Note: Every label will have their own preferences for demo submissions, and it certainly isn't a one size fits all approach, so be sure to read the submission process page for individual labels before submitting your tracks to them.