How to Get a Blog Premiere for a Song

Getting a blog premiere for a song can be one way of cutting through the digital noise. Not only does it mean you’ve had your talent validated by a tastemaker but it also has the potential to open up new worlds of opportunity in the form of gigs or wider industry interest.

However, with almost as many music blogs and online mags as there are new and emerging acts striving to be heard, where do you start when looking for the best blog for you?

How to get a blog premiere for your music

Do your research

Rather than blanket emailing as many sites as you can find, it’s worth spending some time doing some Google trawling.

You might already have some favourite places you have book marked as the best place to discover new music. Or look to artists who sound similar to you - where have they gone to debut their music?

ICMP songwriting graduate and artist Alessandro Ciminata believes the latter approach is a great option.

“I learned about the most influential blogs by following my favourite artists. The Line Of Best Fit, The 405, Earmilk, Clash, amongst all the others are good places to start.”

Approach your blog of choice in plenty of time

Strategy and planning is everything. So draw up a timeline of when you want to release your music. Get your plans in order, then once you’ve made contact with your blog, you can get everything prepped in plenty of time, whether it be promo images, the music or copy for social posts.  

James Brister, artist manager and ICMP industry liaison executive, says:

“Ideally you want the blog to premiere the day before the actual release of the track (some people are asking for a premiere on the actual day of release, so that can sometimes work too) and you want that premiere confirmed a good 3-4 weeks in advance. This mean you can confirm ‘pitch points’ to feed into your distributor and digital service providers such as Spotify and Deezer.”

Approach them in the right way

As we’ve mentioned, blanket emails aren’t the best way to contact a blog. Or anyone in the music industry for that matter.

Instead, do some research and try and find out either who the blog editor is or, if they’re a bigger publication, what their new music expert is. You’ll need a name and an email address. Or even better, an introduction from someone who they trust or know. As a music journalist, I’ve always been more willing to give something a listen if I received an email either personally addressed to me or from a recommendation. Showing that you’ve done some research, plus some manners goes a long way…

Pick your music carefully

When you’ve found and made contact with the appropriate writer or music hack, then what next? Now comes the music. But what to pick? It might be obvious but selecting your most powerful work might be the best way to go to ensure maximum impact.

If you’ve done everything correctly, then this could be the first time new listeners come into contact with you. Ideally, you’d like to convert them into fans so showing off your best side is a good look.

Make it easy for the blog/writer

Make sure when contacting a blog that you make it as easy as possible for the writer to access all the relevant information. So get everything in that email in an easily digestible format including any achievements or up-coming gigs.

James Brister advises:

“Attach a press release in Word format (PDF’s can be frustrating to copy and paste from!). Also, make sure that the body of your email is captivating, engaging and has a clear link to the track in the early part of the email; don’t waffle on, then put the link at the bottom!”

Make the most of your premiere

Getting that premiere should hopefully create a flurry of activity around you and your music so try and make the most of it.

Alessandro says:

“Once it gets live on a blog, it has few hours/one day of exclusivity, where I usually post the premiere link on all my socials. I tend to arrange all premieres on the Thursday before the release date so it helps the momentum and creates interest around the release.”

Good luck!

‍

‍