Genre pools · 6 min read
Send rock and alternative promo to radio and DJs
10+ DJs and 300+ radio stations in NeedlePool’s Promo pool play rock and alternative, in 35 countries. Send them your unreleased track as an Audio Promo campaign: you pick the genre, and NeedlePool sends each one a personal link and shows by name who pressed play, downloaded and rated it. The Promo pool opens with Starter, $14.99 a month.
Rock and alternative DJs and radio in the pool
300+ curators in the pool play rock and alternative. A curator tagged with several genres is counted once, and the numbers are recounted when the pool changes (checked hourly).
- DJs
- 10+
- Radio shows
- 300+
- Countries
- 35
The largest groups are in United States (100+), Germany (20+), Canada (20+).
Numbers only. NeedlePool never exports pool addresses or lists them on screen: you choose by genre, country and role, and it sends the campaign for you. Being in the pool is not a promise that anyone will listen.
What the rock curators in the pool play
One genre covers the family: classic and hard rock, alternative and indie rock, pop rock and soft rock, punk and metal. Radio stations with a rock, alternative or college format are filed here, along with DJs who play it.
Pop is a genre of its own next door. If your song is pop rock that would also suit pop radio, pick both genres when you choose who gets it.
How to send rock and alternative promo that gets a listen
- 1Decide whether to start in United States100+ of the rock and alternative curators in the pool are in United States. If your release has a home market there, send to them first; otherwise send to the whole genre and let the report show where it lands.
- 2Send it ahead of the add dateStations plan new adds weeks ahead. Send the song two to four weeks before release, with the release date in the first line, so a music director can schedule it.
- 3Put the facts in the first linesGenre, BPM, key, release date and one sentence on how your rock or alternative track sounds. A DJ decides from these whether to press play.
- 4Follow up onceA week or so later, write once more to the people who never opened it. From the Pro plan up, tick one box in the campaign and NeedlePool does it for you.
What the curators get, and what you see
Each curator gets an email with a personal link to a player page for your track. They can stream it, download the file you uploaded if you allow downloads, and rate it or write a line back.
The campaign report names who opened the email, who pressed play, who downloaded and what each person rated and wrote. It can’t tell you whether a DJ played the track in a set: some say so in their feedback, and for the rest a listen is the most you can see.
NeedlePool doesn’t guarantee plays, support or airplay.
Why there is no rock and alternative radio promo list to download
The pool holds 5,900+ curators: DJs, radio hosts and YouTube channels with promo addresses that NeedlePool collected, checked and tagged by genre. It never exports the addresses or lists them on screen; you see a curator’s address only when they reply to you. You choose by genre and country, and NeedlePool sends the campaign, so the list stays clean and nobody’s inbox gets resold.
If you already have your own list, import it and send to it and the pool in one campaign; overlapping addresses are removed so nobody gets two copies. Your imported contacts stay in your account: other artists never see them, and your rows are never moved into the shared pool.
Questions
How many rock and alternative radio stations and DJs are in NeedlePool?
10+ DJs and 300+ radio stations right now, recounted when the pool changes; a curator tagged with several genres is counted once. The whole Promo pool is 5,900+ curators.
Can I download a rock and alternative DJ promo list?
No. NeedlePool never exports pool addresses or lists them on screen; you see a curator’s address only when they reply to you. You pick the genre and country, and it sends the campaign for you.
Can I send only to rock and alternative radio shows?
Yes. In the pool table set Role to Radio; All roles takes DJs, radio and YouTube channels together. The genre and country filters work the same way.
Will they play my track?
Nobody can promise that, and NeedlePool doesn’t. What you get is a report that names who pressed play, who downloaded and what each person wrote back.
Is NeedlePool only for electronic music?
No. It started with DJs, and electronic music is still the largest part of the pool, but rock has a genre of its own, and you filter the pool by it the same way you would by house or techno.
What does it cost?
Starting is free, with no card and no time limit: you send to your own contacts. Paid plans open our Promo pool in any genre and start at $14.99 a month (Starter).
Keep reading
- Dance pop promo to DJs and radioThe dance pop DJs and radio shows in the Promo pool, by number and country.
- Pop promo to radio and DJsThe pop radio stations and DJs in the Promo pool, by number and country.
- Soul, funk and jazz promo to DJs and radioThe soul, funk and jazz DJs and radio shows in the Promo pool, by number and country.
- Nu disco and disco promo to DJs and radioThe nu disco and disco DJs and radio shows in the Promo pool, by number and country.
- How to send promo to DJsThe sending side: what to write, whom to pick, how to follow up.
- 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.
- NeedlePool for artistsSend music to DJs, radio and labels and see who listened.
- PricingWhat each plan includes.
Send your rock and alternative promo to the pool
The Promo pool opens with Starter, $14.99 a month. You see by name who listened.