Music Industry Quick Tip: Know Who You’re Contacting

Whether you are promoting your music, looking for a label, trying to snare a manager or agent, or trying to establish any kind of music industry relationship, there is a simple, yet often overlooked, trick you can use to increase your chances of success – know who you’re contacting.

Sounds pretty obvious, right? Well, it doesn’t just mean to know someone’s name and email address.

• What is their job?
• What kind of experience do they have?
• What kind of music do they like?

There are a few reasons why doing your homework before you approach someone with your music makes sense:

It Saves Everyone Time

So, you want a review of your new country album. OK, well, why are you sending it to someone who doesn’t write reviews – or doesn’t write reviews of country music? The whole blind, throw a bunch of promos at the wall and hope a few journalists who cover your kind of music get hit thing isn’t very effective. The same holds true for the whole send a copy to every label you can find an address for approach. In the end, you’ve wasted the time of the person who received the music they can’t/won’t do anything with, and you’ve wasted your time by targeting them instead of focusing on the people who might be able to help you.

It Saves You Money

Sure, throwing a few digital copies of your music around doesn’t take a bite out of your wallet, but there are going to be times when you are going to want to do a mailout of hard copies of your promo material. Every bit of postage adds up, as does the cost of the materials inside each envelope. Sending your hip hop demo to an indie pop label, for instance, is akin to throwing money out the window. Targeting your campaigns – press or otherwise – can help you save a tremendous amount of money.

It’s Just Plain Nice

You’re hoping to build a business relationship or just get a little advice from the people you contact. Asking them questions/sending them songs that show you’ve taken the time to understand what kind of help they can offer you and what kind of music they work with says that you respect their time. It will get you off on the right foot.

Of course, like every rule, there are exceptions. If you have a relationship with a writer, label or someone else in the industry who may not really be in a position to help you but is always interested and supportive of what you’re doing, by all means make sure they are on your mailing list. It’s not only a nice thing to do, but you never really know when that hard rock music journalist will recommend you to that country journalist who may give you a big review.

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