Submit To Indie Music Blogs and Music Review Sites

22/10/2019 Submit to Indie Music Blogs and music review sites
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INDUSTRY TIPS
SUBMIT TO INDIE MUSIC

BLOGS AND MUSIC
REVIEW SITES AND
PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC
FOR FREE
Roel Wensink  20 October 2019  Industry Tips
 Free , Free Promotion , Music Blogs , Music Blogs Directory , Music Promo
posted on Oct. 20, 2019 at 11:12 am
https://fortheloveofbands.com/2019/10/20/submit-to-indie-music-blogs-and-music-review-sites/ 1/23
I
f you have an upcoming release or have just
released new music, you want to make the most
out of it. Making music is like showing your most
precious possession to the world. It’s really
about expressing yourself. Submit your music to
indie music blogs and use the following tips and list of
music review sites in this article.
A great way to get your music heard is to get a review on

music blogs. Sure, a positive review on a blog like
Pitchfork will boost your career, but there are many
other smaller blogs out there that are worth checking
out. In this blog post, we have gathered valuable tips on
how to promote your music for free on blogs, dos and
don’ts of music promo, a 130 + list of indie music blogs
and review sites and a few paid services (not in our
music blog directory) worth checking out if you don’t
want to do all the hard work yourself. Getting featured
on one or more of these indie music blogs will surely
open new doors, get you new fans and can be the
starting point of a musician’s career. If you’re an
independent artist you’ll most likely do all the hard work
yourself but how do you do that? Find out in this blog

post.
First of all, congrats on your

new release and all the best of
luck getting it out there!
How to submit to Indie Music Blogs

What is a music blog?
Tips how to submit to a music blogger
Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for musicians
How to create an EPK
Tips for your EPK
What to include in your EPK
How to get music reviews (and how not to)
Select blogs within your niche
Follow the indie music blog’s guidelines
Don’t use BCC
Engage with the music review sites you’re

submitting to
Keep your e-mails short and relevant
Make sure your music is easily accessible and

playable
Have patience
Music promo e-mail etiquette
Paid services worth checking out
Submithub
Sub t ub
HumanHuman
Groover
List of music review sites
What is a music blog?

Music blogs have been around for quite some time. In the early
zeros, before streaming platforms existed, these (indie) music
sites were the go-to place to discover new music. Can you
imagine a world without Spotify now? Spotify wasn’t founded
until 2006 so music blogs were the place to go when you
wanted to discover music.
Music blogs are great for exposure and to help artists build
their fanbase and visitors to discover not only new music but
also the stories behind the music. Most music blogs not only
publish music reviews, but also feature artist interviews, music
industry tips, and showcase videos. The exciting recent
introduction of popular music podcasts elaborate on the
stories behind the songs, provide in-depth interviews with the
artists and much more.
Another big advantage of getting featured on music blogs is

that the content will stay on the website inde nitely. This
means whenever people Google your genre/mood or
adjectives describing your music, they could nd the music
review about you, start reading and become a fan!
Tips how to submit to a music

blogger
Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for musicians
Your rst impression is the most important one. Make an

awesome impression with music media using an up-to-date
EPK (electronic press kit). An EPK is a CV for DJs, bands, artists
and musicians and shows your portfolio. A good and well-
structured EPK includes everything a potential blogger will
need in order to write a blog post about you without having to
look up all in the information themselves. Music bloggers, like
musicians, don’t have all the time in the world and are most
often doing everything in their own free time. Having a
professional EPK at the ready, will most de nitely help you get
music reviews. It shows bloggers you actually care about your
music career.
Credit Reverbnation
How to create an EPK
There are various free tools out there that will enable you to
make an EPK yourself. Check out Adobe Spark, Wix, SonicBids,
ReverbNation, Drooble, Canva, Epresskitz, ArtistEcards for
free options. Websites like Bandzoogle offer a premium option
that are also worth checking out. If you already have a website,
you can easily create your own and make sure to include the
information listed below.
Tips for your EPK
1. Make your EPK eye-catching and unique so it really

stands out. Music bloggers and industry professionals see
many EPKs daily and an outdated shoddy looking EPK will
make them look away and move to the next one.
2. Keep your EPK simple. This sounds easy because you

want to stand out but remember, as mentioned before,
industry folks like music bloggers don’t have all the time in
the world to lter out the relevant information. Always
make sure a quick glance will show them everything they
need.
3. Only include your best stuff.

4. Keep your EPK up-to-date. Have a new track? Include it.
Have new press photos? Include them. Have a new music
video? Include it. Have new gigs or a tour coming up?
Include it. Have a … well, you get the point.
5. Don’t add very large les. If you want to add high-quality,
large PNGs, videos or tracks, include a link to e.g. Dropbox
in case a music outlet needs it.
Want to get on more Spotify playlists?
Make sure to check this blog post as well, with

valuable tips how to contact curators and a list of
curators to submit your music to.
Check it out
What to include in your EPK
Music
Make sure to have your best three tracks on top. Most
people mostly will only play the rst tracks in your EPK. Ask
friends, fans and family what your best track is if you’re
unsure yourself.
Band photos and album art

Combine band photos (press) and live photos here. Live
photos are cool, but only if they are really awesome and
striking. Make sure to also include your band photos here.
Logos and branding
Add your logo and other branding material for e.g. venues
and clubs to use in their advertising and posters.
Embedded audio and video
It’s easy to embed YouTube, Soundcloud, Spotify and other
music and videos in your EPK. Find out how to do that here.
Biography
This is a very important part of your EPK. Your bio should
be well written and well structured. Make it short and
concise. Start with the present, a bit about your history and
end with the future. Find more info on how to write an
effective musician bio (with examples) on Bandzoogle.
Videos
Links
To social media, your website and where to purchase music
Past press and or testimonials

Add a few positive words from music review sites that
already featured your music. Always add a link to the
original article for people to read the entire story.
Gigs or tour dates

Apps like BandsInTown are great for showing your past and
current tour dates and connect with fans. Sign up if you
haven’t already. BandsInTown lets you promote events, talk
to fans, have an events widget and a tour trailer to
showcase your band. It will encourage more fans to see you
live. It’s also easy to share on your socials (automatically) so
you only have one place to manage your gigs. Alternatively,
add your tour dates manually.
Contact info
Add a contact form, e-mail address or other ways to contact
you.
How to get music reviews (and how not to)
Use the directory with a list of music review sites below this
article to nd useful contact information on how to submit to
music bloggers. But the most important thing here is to really
stand out and have the blogger want to write about you. How
do you do that? And also, how not to submit to an indie music
blog… At For The Love Of Bands, we have seen submissions in
all forms and shapes and more often than not they don’t follow
our guidelines and or don’t match our niche. That brings us to
the rst tip.
Select blogs within your niche
Simply put: do your research. Don’t just send your music in

BCC to hundreds of irrelevant media outlets at once.
Demonstrate to the music blogger that you actually care and
are a frequent visitor of their website by reading their reviews.
Or, at least pretend you do. If you’re an alternative rock artist
don’t submit music to a hip hop blog. If you’re an indie-pop
artist don’t submit to punk, garage or noise bloggers. It makes
you look bad and not serious about your music career.
Follow the indie music blog’s guidelines
Most blogs have a preferred way of receiving reviews. Some

only accept submissions on e.g. Submithub. If they do, only
submit on Submithub. Most music blogs, however, also accept
submissions via their own system. Most even have their
guidelines spelt out for you. E.g. if they want you to contact
them via a submission system on their website use that option
and don’t send them e-mails. We at For The Love Of Bands
often get e-mails (mostly via mailing lists) about new releases
asking about music reviews. These are not personalized and
don’t show the submitter knows he or she submitted music
speci cally to us. Long story short: follow the music blogger’s
guidelines. If you can’t nd instructions on the website, send
an e-mail to the blogger keeping in mind the information
shared below.
Tip: Check if you can nd contact details of the writers on the

blog. If so, see what kind of music they’re into. If they like your
genre, try to connect with them and e.g. refer to a few articles
you read.
Don’t use BCC
This sounds harsh, but receiving a bulk e-mail is really off-

putting. You’re right, receiving a BCC’d message is still better
than seeing hundreds of bloggers in the CC but BCC is bad. If
you don’t care about the blogger, why should the blogger care
about you? If you don’t take the time to get to know the
blogger, why should they? If you’re sending an e-mail (more
about that below), address the blogger personally. Maybe even
look up some writers on the blog and address them. It makes
your e-mail so much more personal.
Engage with the music review sites you’re submitting to
Prior to sending your music, establish a (virtual) relationship

with the blog. Follow their socials, start liking their content
and maybe even share a publication. Refer to the content you
liked in your rst contact with the blogger.
Keep your e-mails short and relevant
Many e-mails we get start with “I know you must be really

busy…”, “Hey, check out this new release…”, “You must be
getting hundreds of these a week…” etc. Start with something
nice, engaging and compelling. E.g. by mentioning what you
like about the blog, which artists you discovered, that you
added music discovered via their blog to your road trip playlist
etc. Don’t add lots of images and design to your e-mails. It
really clutters your message and makes it hard to read. In
short: keep it fresh, nice and simple. If you really knock your
socks off, it almost looks like a mailing list subscription the
blogger didn’t sign up for.
Make sure your music is easily accessible and playable
Use an EPK (see above) or structure your e-mail or contact

form nicely to make sure the blogger has easy access to your
music. Always actually add your music to the e-mail. You can
also use Dropbox (2 GB free) to host your MP3s, WAVs or
(unreleased) videos. When you’re sharing cloud-hosted les,
make sure to properly ID3 tag your MP3s. Find 5 free MP3 tag
editors here. Another big plus of Dropbox is that you can also
use it as an alternative to a web-based EPK. Simply include
your bio, audio, press photos etc. here, easily sharable and
easily accessible for bloggers of music review sites.
Want to get on more Spotify playlists but don’t want to

do all the hard work yourself? Run a campaign with
PlaylistPush using our af liate link or use coupon
code AGD5MHW for a 7.5% discount!
Have patience
Many bloggers get hundreds of e-mails per day. Follow up e-

mails really clutter blogger’s inboxes and in fact, most will
simply ignore follow up e-mails. Remember that writing a cool
article about music takes time. Bloggers are human beings, not
machines. Take a look at the website, see how many articles

they post weekly and do the math. It’s not strange if they only
write about less than 0,25% of all submissions, so if you’re not
hear something back, don’t stalk the blogger. It won’t do you
any good. You can, of course, ask for a follow up if the indie
music blog answered your initial e-mail and told you they are
writing about your music.
Music promo e-mail etiquette
E-mails sent to nobody in particular starting with “Hello!” or

“Hi there” or are sent via mailing lists or other automated
services, are mostly not read or followed up. Mostly they also
end up in the blogger’s spam inbox. Ask yourself: do I reply to
all the junk mail I receive? Imagine getting hundreds per day …
🙂 A few tips for e-mail etiquette:
Do your research
Address the blog you’re contacting personally. If you found

out who writes for the blog, address them personally.
Share something nice about the blog you’re submitting to
Why does your music t the blog?
Follow the outlet on their socials
Maybe even share a blog article or playlist you liked on your

socials?
Mention what it is you want from the one you’re sending the
e-mail to
Write what you have to offer for the outlet (e.g. social
share?)
Avoid stupid subject lines
Don’t use CAPS-LOCKED subject lines (or CAPS-LOCKED e-

mail body…)
Don’t be rude or overly friendly calling the blogger dude,
guy, brah, bro, friend.
Never attach MP3s or videos to an e-mail. If you want to

attach an unreleased track, use a private Soundcloud link or
share a Dropbox folder with all the relevant information.
Paid services worth checking out

As you can read above, getting your music heard and
contacting all the different blogs individually takes a lot of
time, practise and, most probably, stupid mistakes. The music
promotion services listed below, are services we at For The
Love Of Bands use or have used in the past. The biggest
blogger outlet is Submithub and you’ll either love it or hate it.
Submithub
There are 784 active blogs and labels using Submithub at the
time of writing this blog post with a combined reach of 103.6
million fans. Submithub is a website started by Jason Grishkoff
in 2015 that makes it easy for musicians (or their
representatives) to send their songs to blogs, record labels,
radio stations and playlisters. Find all the pros and cons listed
here. Submithub is has a premium option ($1 per credit) or a
free option. With premium credits your submission lters to
the top of each outlet’s dashboard and the blog has to respond
within 48 hours and listen to your track for at least 20 seconds
and provide feedback. With free credits a blog can choose
whether to provide feedback or not.
HumanHuman
HumanHuman is a platform where you can discover new

music and can conversely be discovered. More than 75,000
artists have already been discovered and added by
HumanHuman users. Music bloggers, A&R representatives,
managers, radio makers and all-round music professionals are
on HumanHuman sharing their expertise. They all set their
own price (ranging €1 – €10) and you pay a fee to bene t from
their expertise. Submit music via this link.
Groover
With Groover you can, like Submithub, send music to relevant

media and labels. Feedback is guaranteed, as media and labels
have 7 days to listen to your song, write feedback and decide if
they will share your tune. You can send your music for 2
Grooviz credits (€2 per credit) per contact. If you don’t get
feedback, you’ll get your credits back.
Use our discount code FORTHELOVEOFGROOV to

get a 10% discount on our next Groover campaign.
List of music review sites

So, now that we’re 2500 words in, it’s time to share our Indie
Music Blog directory with the list of music review sites. Surely
at least one of them will want to write about your piece of art,
right? The list below shows everything you need to get started
submitting your music to these media outlets. Remember to
always check the website before submitting, read a few posts,
see if your music is a good t. You can search the list by
entering your genre, or search a speci c blog. Many outlets
cover most genres, these are simply listed here as ‘All’ or
‘Multiple’, although they might not feature your style. Make
sure to always check the ‘about’ page, as the blog mostly
outlines their submission guidelines there so you won’t go
wrong there.
Good luck!
This is a dynamic directory and we’ll add more blogs all the
time. Do you have a blog and want to be listed here as well?
Send us an email. If your blog is listed here and you want us to
change anything, email us as well. Feel free to download the
table below as xlsx and add an extra column to keep track
when you submitted music (and what) and another column
when you received a reply.
Save as xlsx
Show
25
entries
Enter your search word here. E.g. blog name, genre etc.
Name Pitchfork
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) All
Submit Submit to Pitchfork
Name Pigeons And Planes
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Pigions And Plans

via mail
Name Pop Justice
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Pop
Submit Submit to Pop Justice
Name Louder Than War
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Punk, Rock, Alternative,

Independent
Submit Submit to Louder Than War
Name Indie Band Guru
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Indie Band Guru
Name alexrainbirdMusic
Type YouTube channel
Niche / genre(s) Pop, Folk, Rock, Alternative
Submit Submit to alexrainbirdMusic

via mail
Name All Things Go Music
Type Blog
Submit Submit to All Things Go

Music via mail
Name Fresh On The Net
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Fresh On The Net
Name Solid Muse
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Pop, Alt Pop, Electronic, Rap,

Hip Hop, Rock
Submit Submit to Solid Muse
Name Hillydilly
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Hillydilly
Name Crack In The Road
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Pop, Independent, Electronic
Submit Submit to Crack In The Road

via mail
Name Dancing Astronaut
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Dance, Electronic
Submit Submit to Dancing Astronaut

via mail
Name dynmk.
Niche / genre(s) dynmk
Submit Submit to dynmk.
Name Little Indie Blogs
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Indie
Submit Submit to Little Indie Blogs
Name Mix It All Up
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Indie Rock, Indie Pop,

Alternative, Shoegaze
Submit Submit to Mix It All Up via

mail
Name Wave Music
Niche / genre(s) Indie electro, Chill, Trap
Submit Submit to Wave Music via

mail
Name We The Beat
Type Blog
Submit Submit to We The Beat via

mail
Name Indiespot
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Indiespot via mail
Name Altpress
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) underground, alternative,

punk
Submit Submit to Altpress via mail
Name Gorilla VS Bear
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Gorilla VS Bear via

mail
Name For The Love Of Bands

Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Indie, Alternative, Rock, Punk,

Punk Rock, Pop Punk, Indie
Rock, Ska, Reggae
Submit Submit to For The Love Of

Bands
Name Puna
Type Blog
Niche / genre(s) Hip Hop
Submit Submit to Puna via mail
Name We Are Going Solo
Type Blog
Submit Submit to We Are Going Solo

via mail
Name House Music With Love
Type Blog/label
Niche / genre(s) House
Submit Submit to House Music With

Love
Name Stereogum
Type Blog
Submit Submit to Stereogum via mail
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TAGS: FREE FREE PROMOTION MUSIC BLOGS MUSIC BLOGS DIRECTORY MUSIC PROMO
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The Author ROEL WENSINK
Owner
Roel started ForTheLoveOfBands to provide bands and artists with a

platform to get their music heard and provide tips gathered along the
way. Being a musician himself, he knows how hard it is and how much
time it takes to promote your newly recorded gems.
  All posts by ROEL WENSINK
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22/10/2019 Submit to Indie Music Blogs and music review sites

About Us  Join Our Team Privacy Policy  Blogroll Advertise 

HOME  REVIEWS  INDUSTRY TIPS  PLAYLISTS  INTERVIEWS

 PODCAST SUBMIT DONATE

SUBMIT TO INDIE MUSIC

A great way to get your music heard is to get a review on

yourself but how do you do that? Find out in this blog

First of all, congrats on your

How to submit to Indie Music Blogs

Tips how to submit to a music blogger

Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for musicians

How to create an EPK

Tips for your EPK

What to include in your EPK

How to get music reviews (and how not to)

Select blogs within your niche

Follow the indie music blog’s guidelines

Don’t use BCC

Engage with the music review sites you’re

Keep your e-mails short and relevant

Make sure your music is easily accessible and

Music promo e-mail etiquette

Paid services worth checking out

List of music review sites

What is a music blog?

Another big advantage of getting featured on music blogs is

Tips how to submit to a music

Your rst impression is the most important one. Make an

How to create an EPK

Tips for your EPK

1. Make your EPK eye-catching and unique so it really

2. Keep your EPK simple. This sounds easy because you

3. Only include your best stuff.

Want to get on more Spotify playlists?

Make sure to check this blog post as well, with

What to include in your EPK

Band photos and album art

Past press and or testimonials

Gigs or tour dates

How to get music reviews (and how not to)

Select blogs within your niche

Simply put: do your research. Don’t just send your music in

Follow the indie music blog’s guidelines

Most blogs have a preferred way of receiving reviews. Some

Tip: Check if you can nd contact details of the writers on the

Don’t use BCC

This sounds harsh, but receiving a bulk e-mail is really off-

Engage with the music review sites you’re submitting to

Prior to sending your music, establish a (virtual) relationship

Keep your e-mails short and relevant

Many e-mails we get start with “I know you must be really

Make sure your music is easily accessible and playable

Use an EPK (see above) or structure your e-mail or contact

Want to get on more Spotify playlists but don’t want to

Many bloggers get hundreds of e-mails per day. Follow up e-

machines. Take a look at the website, see how many articles

Music promo e-mail etiquette

E-mails sent to nobody in particular starting with “Hello!” or

Address the blog you’re contacting personally. If you found

Maybe even share a blog article or playlist you liked on your

Don’t use CAPS-LOCKED subject lines (or CAPS-LOCKED e-

Never attach MP3s or videos to an e-mail. If you want to

Paid services worth checking out