Blogs and playlist curators get flooded with submissions daily. A generic mass email gets ignored — here’s how to actually pitch in a way that gets opened and considered.
Research Before You Pitch
Only pitch outlets and curators that actually cover your genre. A dancehall track sent to a strictly indie-rock blog wastes everyone’s time, including yours. Five minutes checking what an outlet actually features saves a lot of wasted effort.
Keep the Email Short
Curators and editors skim, they don’t read essays. A tight pitch that respects their time gets read far more often than a long one that buries the actual ask.
A Simple Pitch Template
- Subject line: [Artist Name] — New [Genre] Single, “[Song Title]”
- Opening: A short intro — who you are, one line
- The hook: One sentence on what makes this track worth their attention
- Link: A direct streaming link, not a landing page
- The ask: A simple, polite request — feature, playlist add, or review
Personalize Just Enough
Referencing something specific about the outlet — a recent feature they ran, a playlist they curate — shows you actually did research, not just blasted a template to a spreadsheet of contacts. Even one genuine sentence of personalization changes how a pitch reads.
Timing Matters
Send pitches before release, not after — most blogs and curators prioritize covering something before it’s already out, not after it’s been live for weeks. This ties directly into planning your release timeline with enough runway for outreach.
Follow Up Once, Then Let It Go
A single polite follow-up after a week or two is reasonable. Repeated messages without response tend to hurt future chances more than help current ones — respect a non-response as an answer.
Build the List Over Time
Keep a running list of outlets and curators you’ve pitched, along with responses (or lack of them) — pairing this with a solid EPK makes every future pitch faster to send. Over multiple releases, this becomes a genuinely valuable resource — knowing who responds, who doesn’t, and who’s worth prioritizing next time.