Labels & demos · 4 min read
How to send a demo to a record label
Check the label’s own demo rules, then send one unreleased track as a private streaming link with a short, personal email: your name, genre, BPM, key and one line on why it fits their catalogue. Follow up once after a week or two, and never pay to be signed. In NeedlePool this is a label pitch: one MP3 to stream or your private SoundCloud link (the master is never attached), your track details and your note, with the label’s reply going to your inbox.
Eight steps from track to inbox
- 1Choose labels that release your soundOpen a label’s catalogue and play its last ten releases. If your track would fit between them, add the label to your list. If you would have to argue the case, skip it.
- 2Find the demo rules and follow themMany labels publish a demo address or a form on their site, some only take demos through a platform, and some don’t accept unsolicited demos at all. The label’s own rule beats any template, this one included. If it names a subject line or a link format, use exactly that.
- 3Send finished, original, unreleased musicLabels sign music nobody has heard. A track already public on SoundCloud or streaming is usually a pass, and so is a remix or anything built on an uncleared sample.
- 4One track, one private linkA private SoundCloud link or a hosted player: one click to listen, nothing to download. No attachments and no zip files. Offer the WAV when they ask.
- 5Write four or five linesWho you are, the track name, genre, BPM and key, the link, and one sentence on why it suits this label, naming a release of theirs. Use the A&R’s name if the site gives one.
- 6Say what you’re offeringA single? An EP? Say which. A label that knows what you want can answer yes or no faster.
- 7Follow up once, then move onWait a week or two, longer for a big label, send one short line and stop. Silence is the most common answer, and it isn’t personal.
- 8Never pay to be signedA label that asks you for money to release your track is selling a service, not signing music.
Send it to DJs before you pitch
NeedlePool’s Promo pool holds 5,900+ curators: DJs and radio shows, chosen by genre. Send them the track before you pitch a label: the report names who pressed play and who downloaded it, and DJ support is worth a line in your email to a label.
How to send promo to DJs →The sending side: what to write, whom to pick, how to follow up.What a label pitch looks like in NeedlePool
A label pitch is its own campaign type. The A&R gets an email with a player page: one MP3 to stream or your private SoundCloud link, your BPM, key and genre, and your note. The master is not attached and can’t be downloaded. The label replies from its own page, and the reply reaches you directly.
Every label gets a personal link, so the campaign shows which labels opened the pitch and, on an MP3 pitch, which pressed play, by name.
The label pool holds 2,400+ labels. Filter it by genre and country and pick the ones to pitch. On the free plan you get 10 label pitches a month, to labels of your track’s genre. Paid plans open the whole pool in any genre, starting with Starter at $14.99 a month and 50 label pitches a month.
A pitch is never a guarantee of a listen, let alone a signing.
Questions
How long do labels take to reply?
From a few days to never; many reply only when they want the track. With a label pitch you can see whether the A&R opened it and pressed play, so silence stops being a guess.
Should I send my demo to several labels at once?
Read each label’s page: some ask for exclusivity while they review, and most don’t say. If nothing is stated, personalise every email and give each label its own link. NeedlePool does that automatically, so one label’s plays don’t show up on another’s.
MP3 or WAV?
Send a stream first and offer the WAV when asked. On a NeedlePool label pitch the label listens to an MP3 stream; the master is not attached and can’t be downloaded.
What does it cost to pitch labels?
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
- Demo submission email templateThree emails to copy: the first one, the follow-up and a short version.
- Tech house labels accepting demosThe same guide for tech house labels.
- Techno labels accepting demosThe same guide for techno labels.
- Melodic house and techno labels accepting demosThe same guide for melodic house and techno labels.
- Deep house labels accepting demosThe same guide for deep house labels.
- Afro house labels accepting demosThe same guide for afro house and afro tech.
- A LabelRadar alternativePitching labels: how NeedlePool compares on reach and price.
- NeedlePool for artistsSend music to DJs, radio and labels and see who listened.
- PricingWhat each plan includes.
Pitch labels from NeedlePool
The free plan includes 10 label pitches a month in your genre. No card.