Music blogs that still want to hear from independent musicians

Getting your music heard is hard, and getting your music heard by the right people is even harder. It’s common to hear journalists and others in the industry complaining about unsolicited PR emails from bands, so it’s difficult to know where to tread. 

from DITTO MUSIC

Fear not. We’ve put together this musician’s guide, containing info and links to all the influential sites and blogs who not only accept these emails – but welcome them.

But before you start emailing, here’s a quick word of warning.

Never under any circumstances send a group email. It may save you time, but putting all these addresses into a BCC field and firing over a group email is definitely set to burn more bridges than it would build. 

Spend some time looking at each site individually, see what sort of music they are into and try to relate. If you are a sensitive singer songwriter crooning over an acoustic guitar, don’t contact a hip-hop blog. Find them on Twitter, look at their recent articles, and try and find common ground between them and your music. You know the drill. 

Get started & submit music to blogs

A&R Factory

A&R Factory is a popular music blog with a wide-ranging readership, including record label owners, publishers, radio stations, PR executives, managers and sync licensing firms from all over the globe. 

HighClouds

HighClouds describes itself as the “Music Junkies’ Holy Bible.” Originally an online radio station, the site now focusses on album and EP reviews for emerging artists of all genres.

Xttrawave

Xttrawave is a music blog that prides itself on accepting music from various genres and making it fun and exciting for its audience. Xttrawave celebrates diversity in music, welcoming all genres from pop to rock to hip hop to classical. The blog’s mission is to showcase emerging and established artists, and to provide a platform for up-and-coming talent.

Whether you’re a music enthusiast or an artist looking for exposure, Xttrawave is the place to be.

Aquarium Drunkard

Aquarium Drunkard is a music blog with reviews, interviews, features, mp3 samples and sessions. It accepts all sorts of submissions and covers contemporary sounds with vintage garage, psych, folk, country, soul, funk, R&B and everything that falls in between.

Drowned in Sound

Drowned in Sound has everything to keep you up to date with reviews, music news and community posts. The site commisions around 15 album reviews a week from submissions by unsigned artists.

Pigeons & Planes

Pigeons & Planes is a music discovery blog and the perfect place to go to uncover lots of fantastic new music, whatever genre you’re looking for from anywhere in the world.

Reyt Good Magazine

RGM specialises in helping bands/artists develop through honest artist feedback and reviews. They produce original content every day and want to work with artists and bands to support their next release.

Sidekick

Sidekick Music is one of the leading playlist networks for trendy electronic music with a penchant for Indie & Nu Disco. Sidekick’s mission is to craft a pedestal for artists and their music to stand out on.

Hammarica

The Hammarica network consists of over 40 dance music sites, each with their own sub-niche and unique editorial twist. Hammarica is dedicated to promoting acts with a story, levelling the playing field for electronic artists.

24 Hip-Hop

24 Hip-Hop is an online platform highlighting new hip-hop/contemporary music, videos and content daily. They cover remarkable artists and their music from the fast growing hip-hop Music industry around the globe.

Ride Music

RIDE is an underground music and culture blog based in the UK. RIDE sets out to spotlight alternative hip-hop, rap, grime, drill, and everything in between. On RIDE you’ll find fresh artists that break boundaries, reject the norm and push the culture forward.

FUXWITHIT

FUXWITHIT is a pillar of the music community. As Champions Of The Underground, they are constantly working to break new artists and sounds. Expect to hear everything from trap and bass, to rap, house, future beats and more.

Urban Vault

Urban Vault sources the best of multi-genre underground music, events, apparel, and interviews from around the world. Urban Vault is updated consistently with fresh and relevant content.

FACT

FACT has built up a reputation for featuring some of the biggest up-and-coming artists. They have offices in the UK, US and Australia and their own online TV channel!

King of A&R

Kings of A&R is a one-stop shop for information about new music trends and finding new music. The site accepts music submissions from all types of bands and artists.

Metal Injection

Metal Injection offer the latest news and reviews from around the metal world, mainly for metal videos. You can also upload your own videos for the site moderators to consider for promotion.

The Music Ninja

The Music Ninja is a multi-genre music discovery site based in the deep, dark and melodic shadows of the internet.

Electric Mode

Electric Mode is a well-known champion of independent music, with a strong community made up of artists, labels, producers, promoters, influencers, clubbers and electronic music fans. 

Plastic Mag

Plastic Mag covers all the latest new music and is always open to your track submissions – providing useful feedback too.

Fame Magazine

Fame Magazine has been covering the freshest finds since 2006 and offers both a printed and digital version of each month’s reviews. 

Illustrate

Illustrate is an independent online music magazine that covers a wide range of global genres – featuring the best in up-and-coming alternative, pop and underground music.

The Pit London

The Pit London is the perfect place to submit your new independent music to. Started by childhood friends, Tramell “Darkstepper” Mugarura and Alfred Afari, TPL shares a passion for all things home-grown music.

How to boost your chance of success

Now you’ve got a big old list of blogs to submit your music to, it’s time to make sure you’re presenting yourself – and your tracks – in the best way possible. Here’s some of our top tips to get your music into the ears of more listeners and submit your music to blogs.

Target the right blogs

As we mentioned at the start, choosing blogs that feature similar genres and tracks to your own is the way to go here. Avoid sending out loads of generic emails to a large number of blogs, as it may annoy potential listeners. Instead, target your submissions to those most likely to pick up your sound and style.

Follow ALL guidelines

Pay close attention to submission guidelines provided by any blogs you’re submitting to. Ignoring guidelines only makes things more difficult for yourself and leaves more chance of your release being overlooked. Guidelines can normally be found on blog submission pages.

Use the correct contact details

Locate the contact details of the person responsible for submissions. Address your email to them specifically, demonstrating that you’ve taken the time to learn about the blog and show your genuine interest.

Keep things clear and concise

Include an artist bio that highlights key aspects of yourself and your music. Make it interesting enough to catch the blogger’s attention, but avoid sending an essay or overwhelming them with a wall of text. Consider the busy schedules of the recipients.

Provide easy access to your music

Last but by no means least, make sure to include clear links to your music and social media accounts. This should go without saying, but the easier and more accessible your music, the better chance you have of gaining more coverage and being shared across music blogs.