Music Promotion, Marketing and Distribution Newsletter

May 2017

The contacts listed are sorted into FIVE sections:

1. Publications, Review Websites and Music Blogs that will REVIEW your music
2. Radio Stations, Shows and Podcasts that will PLAY your songs
3. Labels, Vendors, Distributors and Promotional Services that will help you to SELL your CD
4. Websites where you can UPLOAD your band's MP3s or videos
5. Helpful Resources for recording artists

SECTION ONE: SITES/PUBLICATIONS WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED

Music Brackets Blog
807 E. Grand River, Lansing, MI 48906
PH: 248-345-2439
Josh Leatherberry inquiry@musicbrackets.com
www.musicbrackets.com/content/blog
A blog that helps promote independent musicians. We prefer to review Alt Rock, Hip Hop, Country and EDM. facebook.com/MusicBracketscom @MusicBrackets

Blues-E-News Magazine
4719 Quail Lakes Dr. Ste. G, Box 190, Stockton, CA 95207-5267
Big Wayne Rinehart wayne@livebluestonight.com
www.blues-e-news.com
Your partner in Blues! Our mission is to support and promote Live Blues as an art form through social media and monthly newsletters. Our magazine features reviews, news and articles. facebook.com/BluesENews @BluesENews

fRoots
attn: Reviews Editor, PO Box 3072, Bristol, BS8 9GF UK
PH: 44-020-8340-9651
Ian Anderson froots@frootsmag.com
www.frootsmag.com
Roots, Folk and World Music magazine. Send 2 copies of your CD and a one-sheet to our mailing address. Please note that we only review new releases from finished production copies, not from advance CDRs without full final packaging. We do not review from MP3s, digital downloads or other lower quality formats, we don't review demos and we rarely review singles. facebook.com/frootsmag @frootsmag

BLABBERMOUTH.NET
530 S. Lake Ave. #466, Pasadena, CA 91101
blabbermouthinbox@gmail.com
www.blabbermouth.net
All the latest Heavy Metal / Hard Rock news and reviews. Updated daily. facebook.com/Blabbermouth.net @BLABBERMOUTHNET

SECTION TWO: RADIO STATIONS, SHOWS AND PROMOTERS

2.1 RADIO - STATIONS AND SHOWS

KGM1 Radio
PH: 475-422-5461
info@kgm1radio.com
www.kgm1.com
Your source for Jazz, Gospel, talk radio and ministry! KGM1 Radio is blessed to bring Christians the spiritual praise & theocratic insight that draws individuals closer to Christ Jesus. KGM1 Radio is also an unique opportunity for the new artist and established artist to showcase their talent by placing the singles and albums in our online store. facebook.com/KGM1onlineradio

Smooth Jazz Network
5737 Kanan Rd. #127, Agoura Hills, CA 91301
PH: 818-337-9772
JoAnn Kepler joann@smoothjazzznetwork.com
www.smoothjazznetwork.com
Now heard in over 30 markets throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Check our website for submission details. facebook.com/smoothjazznetwork

Loud, Fast and Shitty Radio Show
Bob Noxious and Erawk the Sinister lfspodcast@gmail.com
www.loudfastshitty.com
Punk Rock radio show. You can submit your music to Loud Fast and Shitty by e-mailing us your mp3's, download links to Soundcloud, Bandcamp or YouTube video. facebook.com/lfspodcastshow @loudfastshitty

Hillbilly Boogie
SaarstraBe 8, 72070 Tubingen, Germany
PH: +49(0)7073-2250
Rainer Zellner zellner@musiccontact.com
www.musiccontact.com
We cover many musical genres related to Country or Hillbilly.

ITNS Radio
Sam Watkins itnsradio@gmail.com
www.itnsradio.com
Bringing you the best songwriters, artists and music professionals from all over the world! This is the place for great music, interviews by professionals in the music field and a whole lot more!!! Send your MP3s to our e-mail address. @itnsradio

Fuego Beats Radio
Fuego info@fuegobeats.com
www.fuegobeats.com
Broadcasts a distinctive blend of talk radio interviews with a mix of Hip Hop, Pop and R&B music from emerging musicians. Topics range from celebrity gossip to controversial issues relevant to a modern society, as well as pop culture. Submit your music via our ONLINE FORM. Send us an e-mail if you would like to be considered for an interview. @WFBS981

2.2 RADIO PROMOTERS

National Record Promotion
137 N. Larchmont #500, Los Angeles, CA 90004
PH: 323-658-7449
Larry Weir larry_weir@sbcglobal.net
www.larryweir.com
We promote artists and groups at radio with an emphasis on independent labels and recording artists. Over the last five years NRP has worked with many major acts. NRP will assist you in weekly tracking reports...national chart activity & radio interviews. facebook.com/National.Record.Promotion

CIMG, LLC
119 Bowling Ave. Nashville, TN 37205-2357
Tony Bates contact@cimgllc.com
www.cimgllc.com
Our Radio Promotion work focuses on relevant radio stations (terrestrial and online), especially college radio stations, in the U.S., Canada and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Our staff works daily to build relationships with radio stations, regional promoters, music/entertainment publications and websites, and media outlets throughout North America as well as in eastern and central Europe. We work mostly with Rock, Pop-Rock, Americana and Alt-Country artists. facebook.com/cimgllc

Howard Rosen Promotion
521 W. Channel Islands Blvd. #15, Port Hueneme, CA 93041
PH: 805-382-2200 FX: 805-201-7816
info@howiewood.com
www.howiewood.com
Since 1985 We have been helping artists reach their goals of obtaining radio airplay, expanding their fan base, and creating awareness throughout the industry. @Howiewoodpromo

SECTION THREE: SERVICES/VENDORS/LABELS THAT WILL HELP SELL YOUR MUSIC

3.1 SERVICES - PROMOTION/PUBLICITY

PunkBand Promotions
www.punkbandpromotions.com
We are your source for upcoming Punk, Ska & Hardcore Bands. If you would like to have your band join us please sign up to our home page as an artist and add all your bands info, thats it, it is just that easy. facebook.com/PunkBandPromotion @PunkBP

Fear PR
Debbie & Katie Gwyther katie@fearpr.co.uk
www.fearpr.co.uk
London based PR agency specialising in Music & Lifestyle. facebook.com/fearpr @Fear_PR

Grandstand Media & Management (Grandstand East)
39 W. 32nd St. #603, New York, NY 10001
PH: 646-410-0765
Kate Jackson katej@grandstandhq.com
www.grandstandhq.com
A boutique agency specializing in public relations and artist management. facebook.com/GrandstandHQ @GrandstandHQ

Grandstand Media & Management (Grandstand West)
3191 W. Casitas Ave. #155, Los Angeles, CA 90039
PH: 213-278-0320
Meghan Helsel meghanh@grandstandhq.com
www.grandstandhq.com
A boutique agency specializing in public relations and artist management. facebook.com/GrandstandHQ @GrandstandHQ @meghelsel

ACTION! Media and Marketing
PO Box 302709, Austin, TX 78703
hi@action-pr.com
www.action-pr.com
A forward-thinking boutique music publicity and marketing firm that specializes in progressive crossover artist development and high profile multi-media awareness campaigns. As one of North America???s leading Heavy Music tastemakers and top go-to indie publicity and marketing firms, ACTION! delivers strategic media campaigns and well-defined informational blitzes through a multi-faceted platform of wide-reaching marketing tactics. facebook.com/actionpr

CIMG, LLC
119 Bowling Ave. Nashville, TN 37205-2357
Tony Bates contact@cimgllc.com
www.cimgllc.com
We provide Social Media Marketing and Social Commerce Solutions for our clients, in addition to Artist Management and Record Label Services. We work with artists, record labels, agencies, events, and brands of all kinds that want to effectively engage their supporters and fans via social media. Considering the global marketplace and international appeal, we offer our services in several languages as well, when appropriate to meet your goals. We work mostly with Rock, Pop-Rock, Americana and Alt-Country artists. facebook.com/cimgllc

3.2 SERVICES - LABELS, DISTRIBUTORS AND ONLINE VENDORS

Musical Freedom Records
Tiesto demos@musicalfreedom.com
www.musicalfreedom.com
Dutch label featuring Electro, House, Big Room House, Progressive House and Trap. Send demos to our e-mail address. facebook.com/musicalfreedom @musicalfreedom

AFTR:HRS
Tiesto demos@aftrhrsrecords.com
www.facebook.com/AFTRHRSrecords
A sub-label of Musical Freedom Records. The label features Deep House, providing audiences with a new aesthetic and deeper sound. Send demos to our e-mail address. soundcloud.com/aftrhrsrecords @aftrhrsrecords

Firstdub
questions@firstdub.com
www.firstdub.com
Musicians and producers promote and sell your beats and instrumental music online, via website and across the internet with your own personalised music store. All genres and styles of music are welcome including full production, drum loops and solo compositions. Firstdub: built by musicians for musicians. @Firstdub

BomberMusic
music@bombermusic.com
www.bombermusic.com
We're a Punk company, we have ethics and beliefs that were formed growing up in the Punk scene. We are happy to help other bands, labels, zines etc with a similar outlook. As one element of a scene grows and spreads, it should seek to help others do the same, to build true foundations, to keep true to the ideals we hold dear and in doing so help sustain a part of the music business with morals and real music. We work with a lot of bands - Punk, Hardcore, Ska, Rock, Metal, Psycho and Rockabilly. We do not accept demo CDs. If you want to send us your music, please send a LINK to your Facebook/ Bandcamp/ website using our online contact form. Please never send MP3s. facebook.com/bombermusic @bombermusicltd

ONErpm
info@onerpm.com
www.onerpm.com
A digital music distribution platform and store for independent artists, labels and music fans around the world. Our goal is to empower content creators from anywhere in the world by providing them with the tools to easily distribute, promote, and sell their music both at home and globally. We distribute to the world's top music stores, most innovative new services, in some of the promising new markets. We charge a one-time delivery fee per service that we deliver to. You choose which stores you want to sell your music in. For a complete list of distribution partners and pricing, please visit our pricing page. @ONErpm

SECTION FOUR: SITES WHERE YOU CAN UPLOAD YOUR BAND'S MP3s OR VIDEOS

DittyTV
info@dittytv.com
www.dittytv.com
A television network that celebrates Americana and Roots style of music. Our television network features live concerts, music videos, interviews, documentaries, and more. We produce and broadcast our own live shows and feature video from a variety of passionate music inspired video producers. We are actively seeking music-related video content to include on our music network. If you've produced or own music-related video content, we'd love to broadcast it to the world! While DittyTV produces a great deal of content, we are also curating and playing music videos and other content produced by people like you. Do you want to see your original music broadcast to world? Just submit your video via out ONLINE FORM! Our staff will catalog, process, and prepare the video for broadcast. The $35 processing fee helps cover some of the costs associated with processing the actual data into our system, preparing it for broadcast (audio levels, frame rates, codecs and other boring but important stuff) and delivering it to the world. facebook.com/DittyTV @dittytv

JukeBoxAlive
311 Montford Ave. Asheville, NC 28801
PH: 828-232-0016
Will Cumberland cumberland@jukeboxalive.com
jukeboxalive.com
Our Advanced Jukebox Player protects your music from being digitally downloaded, yet allows fans to hear your music online. This creates exciting possibilities for you to present yourself to new audiences without being ripped off.

SECTION FIVE: SOCIAL NETWORKS AND ONLINE COMMUNITIES

Snapchat
www.snapchat.com
An app used on iOS and Android smartphones. Enjoy fast and fun mobile conversation! Snap a photo or a video, add a caption, and send it to a friend. They'll view it, and then the Snap disappears from the screen - unless they take a screenshot. @Snapchat

SECTION SIX: HELPFUL TOOLS AND RESOURCES FOR YOUR BAND

6.1 RESOURCES - GENERAL

DIY Musician Conference 2017
DIYcon@cdbaby.com
www.diymusiciancon.com
CD Baby's DIY Musician Conference will be happening September 30th through October 2nd at Chicago's historic Congress Plaza Hotel. Come to meet like-minded artists and leave with an arsenal of knowledge to help move your career forward. The second DIY Musician Conference will be even bigger and better than the first. Expect even more sessions, evening events, networking opportunities and, by popular request, a jam room! @cdbaby

Festival Network Online
PO Box 18839, Asheville, NC 28814
PH: 828-658-2779 FX: 828-645-3374
Julie Cochrane julie@festivalnet.com
www.festivalnet.com
Lists more than 10,000 events throughout the U.S. and Canada seeking performers, from local & regional to national & international. @_festivalnet

6.2 RESOURCES - EDUCATIONAL

Make It In Music
PO Box 51871, London, NW2 9BR UK
PH: +44-208-830-7831
support@makeitinmusic.com
www.makeitinmusic.com
After working tirelessly to find, develop and hone young talent for many years, it became glaringly obvious to us that the young hopefuls always had the same questions and always made the same mistakes in their quest for fame and fortune. This resource was created to help you succeed in the music business. @MakeItInMusic

CD Baby Podcast
13909 NE Airport Way, Portland, OR 97230
Kevin Breuner podcast@cdbabypodcast.com
www.cdbabypodcast.com
Join CD Baby's Kevin and Chris as they discuss current music news, interview artists and industry professionals, offer tips and tricks to help today's independent musician move their career forward and much more! Interviews about how to be a successful musician without compromising your art. It's a perfect time to take advantage of the many opportunities for Do-It-Yourself artists that are springing up everywhere. @cdbaby @kbreuner

6.3 RESOURCES - TOOLS AND APPS

ArtistEcard
163 North York Rd. Elmhurst, IL 60126
PH: 323-871-4821
info@artistecard.com
www.artistecard.com
A multi-application platform, designed for entertainment professionals and record labels/management companies to promote talent and their related work. With ArtistEcard, you can build your own website and create a digital press release [EPK], create mobile applications for an iPhone and an Android, as well as create a Facebook application. Best of all, you only need to enter information once--when you create a profile. Once the profile is ready, your information is synched with the rest of the ArtistEcard applications. ArtistEcard allows you to customize backgrounds for free, and offers an easy-to-use content control panel that lets you make changes anytime. Fast, easy, affordable; no programming skills or designers required. facebook.com/artistecard @artistecard

MyNewsletterBuilder
comments@mynewsletterbuilder.com
www.mynewsletterbuilder.com
A user-friendly, feature-rich, online newsletter management program for novices and professionals alike. facebook.com/MyNewsletterBuilder1

6.4 RESOURCES - AUDIO

Peerless Mastering
1085 Commonwealth Ave. #322, Boston, MA 02215
PH: 617-527-2200
info@peerlessmastering.com
www.peerlessmastering.com
Dedicated to providing the highest quality restoration. We offer the highest quality stereo and 5.1 pre-mastering, CD, CD Enhanced, and DVD-A authoring and full audio restoration. Our staff is exceptional at giving our clients the best quality and service, guiding them through the final phase of their sonic process with ease and expertise. We are uniquely equipped to provide the highest quality mastering available anywhere. We have the expertise, equipment, and skills to achieve the full sound potential of your album. As more and more artists are choosing to record in project and home studios, high-quality professional mastering in an acoustically accurate room has never been more important. Working at Peerless' state-of-the-art studios with our highly trained engineers, you can realize your sonic vision and make your recording sound as full, warm, punchy, and clear as possible. We will guide you through every step of this final phase of your project, and you will be truly amazed when you hear how incredible your music can sound. @PeerlessMaster

6.5 RESOURCES - ORGANIZATIONS

Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous
2-156 Sherbrook St., Winnipeg, MB R3C 2B4
PH: 204-480-3380
www.homeroutes.ca
A Canadian house concert network that helps artists to overcome the cost barriers of traveling long distance. Our innovative model offers a viable and lasting alternative to the traditional relationship between artist and presenter because it marries the needs of both into one dynamic program. Artists pay their own transportation costs and the hosts put them up and feed them all along the circuits. We provide the artist with a tour book that has directions to everywhere and all the contact info required for a detailed touring schedule. Within the framework of Folk-Roots we are talking about contemporary Singer/Songwriters, Blues artists, Bluegrass players, Old Time players, World music artists, Folk-revivalists, Country-Blues, Celtic and British musicians, Cajun and French Canadian musicians etc. A complete spectrum of world class Traditional and Contemporary Acoustic music, a bit of everything. facebook.com/homeroutes

SECTION SEVEN: THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE

Musicians, do you NEED to be on Snapchat?
by Chris Robley, The [DIY] Musician Blog
© 2017 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission

Snapchat for musicians: a beginner's guide

If you've been on the planet for more than a quarter century, you could be forgiven for not really knowing much about Snapchat. Though the social platform has been around for years, its primary users are in their teens and twenties.

"Snapchat is for teen sexting," the cliche goes.

But with 77% of college students using the app daily, and over 400 millions "snaps" a day (and a valuation of $16 billion) Snapchat can't really be ignored anymore.

So let's ask the question: do you need to be on Snapchat as a musician?

[For my honest opinion, scroll to the bottom.]

Like everything in this industry, there's no one answer that will apply to all artists.

Currently Snapchat's main user base is 13-25 years old, and 70% of those users are female. If you perform Renaissance madrigals with newly penned lyrics about Medicare Part D in the style of 1950's Rockabilly, you might not need to waste your time on Snapchat. Then again, young people listen to all kinds of music these days, so maybe that's exactly where you need to be!

Let's back up for a second, though.

What is Snapchat?

Put most simply, Snapchat is a messaging app where the messages self destruct after a certain period of time (or after viewing).

According to Wikipedia:

Using the application, users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. These sent photographs and videos are known as "Snaps". Users set a time limit for how long recipients can view their Snaps (from 1 to 10 seconds), after which Snapchat claims they will be deleted from the company's servers.

Unlike your band's Facebook Page, YouTube channel, blog, Twitter feed, and almost everything else on the Internet, Snapchat is not about archiving or preservation. Because the messages self destruct, users can get creative and imbue their "Snaps" with a sense of immediacy, secrecy, or ultra-honesty - and there's less pressure on the content to be super high-quality since it won't be around long anyway.

Snaps don't usually feel like they're created for the eyes of the whole world. They feel more... personal and ephemeral. Which, of course, is the beauty of Snapchat as a music marketing tool. You can communicate with your fans in a way that doesn't come off as obvious promotion. Not only that, but studies have show that Snapchat users are more engaged with brand messaging than on competing social media services. One survey even showed that nearly half the users they spoke with would open a Snap from a brand (or band) they hadn't heard of before.

But before you answer the question for yourself about whether or not you should be using the app ...

How to promote your music on Snapchat

... let's look at some ways you can use Snapchat to communicate with fans:

Tell them how you're feeling - Make a confession. Jump for joy. Go on a (short) rant. Again, because Snaps don't last forever - unless someone is being tricky on the other end of the message - you can be as real as you want to be in the moment. In fact, it's probably best to think of these kinds of Snaps as the most important you create, because the more personal they feel, and the more frequently you make them, the more your followers will be amenable to Snaps that are more obviously promotional.

Share info about discounts - This is probably the most common commercial usage of Snapchat that I see, from the Chinese restaurant down the street letting customers know what their daily specials are, to a band giving fans a 15%-off coupon code on merch for the day.

Preview new clips - Want to tease a new track you're working on while you're still in the studio? Or share 10-second clips of every song on your album in the days leading up to its release? Do it with Snapchat, and add some text or info about where fans can go to pre-order (like PledgeMusic).

Give your fans a behind the scenes glimpse - Recording. Backstage. Driving between gigs. Whatever. Get personal. Get silly. It'll all be a distant memory in 24 hours anyway!

Announce a new record or merch item - Show us. Or tell us. Or both.

Ask fans to create their own snaps about your music - It could be them at one of your shows, or modelling your t-shirt, or lip-syncing to one of your songs.

You could also snap snippets of lyrics, an album cover with one of the tracks playing, and lots more.

Making your snaps more interesting

Okay, if you're saying woah, hold on, back up, easy there, I don't even know how to snap in the first place, check out this video below: In that video, she talks about adding emojis, geofilters, drawings, time of day, text, and even your speed in MPH to your snaps. But there are a few other ways to spice things up on Snapchat, including:

Hidden colors - You can drag your finger across the screen to unlock a wider color palette that can be used in your drawings.

Stories - This feature puts different video and text elements together to create a larger narrative.

Adding music to Snaps - Just what it sounds like. This is done by running an audio app (such as Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc.) at the same time as you're creating a Snapchat video. The tutorial below shows you an easy way to do this using Spotify:

While we're on the subject, there's another benefit to letting Snapchat users record audio from their phones while shooting videos: user-generated content, or its Snapchat equivalent (fan-created Snaps that use your music). So make sure your fans know that you encourage them to share your music on Snapchat.

Want some Snapchat inspiration? Check out these 10 bands who are doing interesting things on the platform. Also, take a look at this music video which was created by compiling a bunch of Snaps.

So after all that, do you think you should be using Snapchat as a musician?

Here's what I think...

You should definitely try it out if:

* You're already on Snapchat and love the platform

* Your core audience is using Snapchat, meaning they're ages 13-25

* You have the resources - budget, time, or team member assistance - to build another social media community (because if you do, Snapchat and Instagram are growing every day)

If the criteria above doesn't apply to you, you're probably better off spending your energies elsewhere.

The way I see it, if you only have so many hours or minutes a day for online music promotion, you should be spending that time sharing songs, videos, photos, and blog posts that can KEEP working for you over the long haul - because they're archived, permanently searchable and accessible on your website, newfeed, or photo gallery.

Everything you do on Snapchat will eventually be erased, deleted, gone. That's great for all the reasons I mentioned earlier, but it's not helpful if it distracts you from your goal of making things you hope will last forever.

Chris Robley is the editor of DIY Musician Blog. As a songwriter, Chris has released 6 albums of original material. As a producer and/or session-player, he's appeared on over 50 records, mostly by pop, rock, folk, and jazz artists from the Pacific Northwest. This article originally appeared in the October 14, 2015, DIY Musician Blog .

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