Promo to DJs · 4 min read
How much does music promotion cost?
There is no single price: it runs from your own time to an agency’s fee, which most agencies and radio pluggers quote per campaign on request. Paying per curator costs $0.78 to $1 a credit on SubmitHub, where a curator asks for 1 to 4, and €2 a curator on Groover. A promo pool is a monthly plan instead: NeedlePool’s Promo pool opens with Starter at $14.99 a month.
Five ways to promote a track, and what each costs
- 1Doing it yourselfFree in money, expensive in time: finding the DJs and radio hosts who play your genre, their promo addresses, and writing to each. It works for a short list of people you already know.
- 2Buying a listCheap and the worst value: old addresses, people who never asked for your music, and bounces that hurt your sender reputation. The guide on DJ promo lists explains why.
- 3Paying per curatorSubmitHub sells premium credits at $0.78 to $1 each, and a curator asks for 1 to 4; Groover charges 2 Grooviz, €2 at list price, per curator. Both guarantee a reply. SubmitHub is built around playlists and blogs, Groover around a wider mix of professionals, DJs among them.
- 4Hiring an agency or a radio pluggerA person who knows the DJs or the stations and works the release for you. Most quote per campaign rather than publish prices, and none can promise plays or airplay.
- 5A promo poolA monthly plan that sends your track to curators by genre. NeedlePool’s Promo pool holds 5,900+ DJs, radio hosts and curators. The Promo pool opens with Starter, $14.99 a month.
Radio promotion: pluggers and doing it yourself
A radio plugger pitches your track to the stations and shows they know, usually for a campaign fee quoted on request. Ask what it includes: which stations and shows, for how many weeks, and what report you get at the end.
For independent releases the shows that matter are often specialist and online shows, and you can reach them directly. NeedlePool’s Promo pool holds 2,527 radio shows and hosts.
How to set a budget
Decide what a good result is first: plays and downloads from DJs who matter for your genre, a label reply, airplay. Then compare what each option costs per person reached and what you can see afterwards.
Per-curator services charge for every contact. A monthly plan costs the same whatever you send within its allowance. Agencies charge for their time and their contacts.
Questions
How much does it cost to promote a song?
From nothing but your time to an agency’s campaign fee. Per-curator services charge about $0.78 to $1 a credit on SubmitHub (1 to 4 credits per curator) and €2 per curator on Groover; a promo pool charges a monthly plan.
How much does a radio plugger cost?
Most pluggers and radio promotion services quote per campaign on request rather than publish prices. Ask which stations and shows the fee covers, for how many weeks, and what you get in the report.
Is paying per curator worth it?
When you want a guaranteed answer from a few specific curators, it can be. For a wide first pass at DJs and radio in one genre, per-contact pricing adds up: 50 curators on Groover at the standard rate is 100 Grooviz.
What does NeedlePool cost?
Starting is free, with no card and no time limit: you send to your own contacts and get 10 label pitches a month to labels of your track’s genre. Paid plans open our Promo pool in any genre and start at $14.99 a month (Starter).
Keep reading
- SubmitHub vs GrooverPrices and reply guarantees side by side, and where DJs fit.
- Where to find DJs who take promosWhy bought lists fail and where working promo addresses come from.
- How to submit music to radio stationsSpecialist shows and online radio: what to send and to whom.
- How to send promo to DJsThe sending side: what to write, whom to pick, how to follow up.
- Electronic music release planWeek by week: label pitch, promo to DJs and radio, release week.
- NeedlePool for artistsSend music to DJs, radio and labels and see who listened.
- PricingWhat each plan includes.
Start without a budget
Send to your own contacts free and see by name who listened. The Promo pool opens with Starter, $14.99 a month.