You released an album, and now you want to unleash it on the masses. Apart from online distribution, a couple of music videos, you’d like to have some critics listen to it and give their honest opinion about it, perhaps this will grow your audience? But how do you approach these music blogs successfully, so that they might consider your music in order to review… Sit back and relax, in the following article we’ll give you some tips on how to approach music blogs.

Running a music blog myself, I’m receiving tons of promotional emails on a daily basis, from PR agencies to labels, to bands themselves. PR agencies and labels perhaps don’t really need advice for doing their job well, but artists sometimes it feels like it might be more tricky for artists…

Research well…

First of all, a common problem that I have encountered as a blogger, is that people love to send out bulk emails, without even researching the blog. My blog is in English, but it doesn’t stop people from sending me press releases in a bunch of other languages. Don’t send a Spanish press release to a webzine based in Finland, that’s mostly focusing on English content.

This goes without saying that sending the wrong kind of music to the blog you had in mind, also will get you nowhere. If a webzine is mostly focusing on jazz, you don’t want to send them your technical death metal release.

Be personal…

There’s nothing more frustrating than getting a bulk email, that starts with how amazing your blog is while knowing that the other end hasn’t really checked out your blog. Why did you choose this specific blog to ask for a review? Have you read any reviews on the blog that are related to your band? Do they love the genre of music you’re playing? Give them a reason to review your music!

Bloggers get irrelevant pitches all the time, so you’ve got to stand out not only by your music but you also should connect with the webzine, so you get to create long term connections.

Don’t focus on huge media

The bigger the media, the bigger the opportunities they get. Often, they might not be focused or inclined to review local bands anymore. Smaller webzines often are more niched and have a higher engagement rate than their fellow competitors.

Your pitch

Make sure that your pitch sounds catchy, captivating and that it leads into them listening to your album. If you are not the best writer, it’s not a bad idea to hire an agency to write your press releases, and who can help you build up an outstanding press kit. Have someone proofread any press release or biography that you have written. Everything needs to be perfect!

Be understanding

Not all bloggers have the opportunity to answer your emails. We get a lot of emails on a daily basis, so sending a million follow-ups about why you haven’t gotten to review their album, often is not very appreciated, in fact, it may come across as disrespectful.

Final Thoughts

When you have your next release, and you are planning to pitch your music to a couple of blogs, make sure you keep these tips in mind, and hopefully some of these pitches will turn into raving reviews!

If you need help writing a pitch or creating the perfect press kit, consider asking us for our thoughts! By subscribing to our newsletter, you will get once a month useful tips and tricks to help you get started!