Getting attention from music blogs is essential in building a fanbase and constructing your public image as an artist. With so many options to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which music blogs you should submit your songs to. Some artists choose to work with professional press agents while others prefer to do the work on their own. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to simply upload your music to Soundcloud or Bandcamp and hope for the best. As an indie artist, you need to have your music online across streaming music services and promote it. Are you intimidated by having to do your own music promo and want an easy way to do so? Send your project to music blogs right away with feedback guaranteed on Groover: a platform that connects artists directly with music industry professionals.
You may be asking yourself: are music blogs still relevant in today’s music industry? The answer is yes! Sure, independent artists can make a name for themselves on social media and most people discover music on music streaming services. But among music lovers who always want to listen to new songs and new artists, music discovery still happens through music blogs. Music blogs can promote your music through playlists on streaming services and associate you with other popular indie artists or a certain music scene. Music business professionals look to blogs to discover new music, potentially sign new bands to a record label roster, or even find indie music to broadcast on radio stations. Who knows, maybe a booking agent will stumble upon your new album on a music blog and want to program you for a music festival!
Here are the best strategies to find music blogs to submit to that are perfectly suited to promoting your project and find new music fans.
Are you looking to get featured in music blogs? ⬇️
Here are the best strategies to find music blogs to submit to that are perfectly suited to promoting your project and find new music fans.
1. Make a List of Your Musical Genre and Subgenres
One of the most important skills you can have as an independent musician is knowing how to properly pitch your project. To find the best blogs to promote your music, you must first be able to identify your musical genre and subgenres. This all starts with narrowing down some keywords about your style so that the media can associate you with similar artists. If you plan ahead by carefully selecting blogs that fit your style, you’ll be more likely to get media coverage. Do not send mass emails to random blogs to submit music in hopes of a response. This technique rarely works and you will often end up with an empty inbox.
Firstly, write down the main genre or genres your music represents, whether they’re related to rock, electronic, folk, singer songwriter, rap, hip-hop, jazz, or pop. Let’s take the example of an indie pop artist. There are multiple sub-genres within indie pop: alternative, bedroom pop, indie rock, dream pop, lofi and others. Defining these keywords is the first step in finding blogs that are already promoting artists in your style. Many blogs promote a variety of musical styles but there are some that only focus on certain genres. If you’re an indie folk artist, you don’t want to waste your time looking for blogs only focused on electro. Keep this in mind while doing your research.
2. Write Down 5 Related Artists
After narrowing down your genre and subgenres, start brainstorming similar artists who fall into the same categories. Write down at least five artists who make music in the same genre as you. Try to name both up-and-coming artists as well as more established groups. If you get stuck, check out the “Fans also like” section on Spotify, either on your own profile or on the profiles of artists you are influenced by. You can find similar artists on other music streaming services as well like Apple music, Tidal, Amazon music, Youtube music, and more.
| Read also: How to find playlists to get into with the “Fans Like It Too” section on Spotify?
Here are five artists from the indie pop scene as an example: Voyou, Luna Li, Barrie, Tops, and Phoenix. These musicians share some similarities in genre but are very different in style and notoriety. Voyou is an emerging artist on the French scene, while Phoenix has been around for more than a decade and has done multiple world tours. However, it is important to analyze the media coverage of these five artists, regardless of their fame. Reading music reviews and the latest news in your genre can help you find the right blogs to submit your music to.
3. Find Music Blogs Based On Genre
From your list, you can now start searching for media outlets and blogs that have written about these particular artists and want to discover new music. Check out the social networks of each artist to see if they have shared any recent press coverage and album reviews they’ve gotten from music blogs. After you’ve taken a look at their social networks, do a general search for them on your preferred search engine. It will be easier to do your research for the emerging artists on your list because there will be less media coverage available. However, if you search for Phoenix for example, you’ll find coverage by the biggest blogs in the industry and pages of search results. Try filtering the search results by date and go back in time to find out which media outlets were talking about the big bands before they became famous.
Let’s look at the media coverage of French indie pop artist Voyou. He was featured by some of the big French media outlets like France 3 and Radio France, but there are also small indie music blogs that wrote about his project, including indiemusic and EUROPAVOX. Go through each artist on your list and take note of who has written about them.
By using the five artist list technique, you’ll do some real research rather than searching for “best indie pop music blogs“, “top electronic music bloggers” or “blogs to submit music“. The music industry is constantly changing and it is essential to know what artists are being talked about and, more importantly, who is talking about them. Its the smartest way to find the outlets with an established audience of music fans that could be interested in your project.
4. Find Music Blogs Based On Identity
Nowadays, artists represent so much more than the music they make. When we stumble upon a musician we like, we usually want to know more about who they are as a person. Music marketing and music promotion is often centered around storytelling and the entire aesthetic of an artist. Find music sites that are curated for artists like you.
A good exercise is to ask yourself the question: what defines me as an artist besides the music I play? Are you are a woman navigating a male-dominated industry? Contact feminist blogs that promote women in music. Are you inspired by cinema or fashion? Find blogs to submit music to and media outlets that talk about these cultural intersections! Is your debut album centered around your lyrics and songwriting? Find blogs that highlight singer songwriters. By investigating what makes you unique as an artist, you can find blogs to submit music to that are perfectly suited for your voice.
5. Find Local Music Blogs
A great technique to find music media outlets that are relevant to your project is to think locally. Did you attend or are you studying at a university that has a music blog or a college-radio show? Contact them and pitch your project, encouraging your community to listen to your music. Are you a band playing in your garage in Brooklyn? Look for blogs that promote the Brooklyn independent scene. Even if its a blog thats a bit under the radar or niche, it could have a solid following of readers and thus, listeners. I personally contacted my hometown’s local music blog to promote my project, even though I moved away ten years ago. By thinking with a local focus in mind, you can find music blogs that will take a personal interest in your story. All that is left to do is pitch your project!
6. Prioritize Independent Music Blogs Over Big Media
It would be great if every emerging artist could land a feature in Pitchfork, but unfortunately, this is not how the music industry works. Instead of focusing on the big outlets, try to put your time and energy in contacting the smaller and more accessible blogs. Most large blogs are not open to unsolicited submissions anyway and are run by journalists and PR people. Independent blogs are generally more receptive to music submissions and are actively looking to promote underrepresented and emerging artists. Getting featured in these blogs is a great way to get your music heard. More importantly, music managers and artist development from independent labels use these music blogs to discover new artists. If several small blogs are talking about you, your following and legitimacy will no doubt grow stronger.
| Read also: How to contact music media outlets, blogs, journalists with Groover?
Bonus: Top Music Blogs By Genre
With these strategies, you will be able to customize and refine your list of music blogs to contact. Do some extra research on platforms like Hype Machine and Indie Shuffle to find blogs to submit to. You can also check out music magazines in print, but we recommend focusing your efforts on Internet based blogs at first. If you’re looking to boost streams, make money, and distribute your music to the biggest audience possible, get noticed by the music blogs. Once you’re featured, their subscribers will become your subscribers and the promo snowball effect will be in motion.
If you want more tips, here’s a list of our top music blogs to submit to directly on Groover. You can also check out the full list of music curators & professionals sorted by genre and location at the bottom of the Groover homepage!
> Pop
- High Clouds – Belgium
- Music & Fashion Blog – France
- Plastic Magazine – United Kingdom
- Longueur d’Ondes – France
> Rock
- The Joy of Violent Movement – United States
- Indieoclock – Brazil
- MOWNO – Italy
> Rap, Hip-Hop, and RnB
- Wordplay Magazine – United Kingdom
- HipHop Paranoia – United Kingdom
- Interlude – France
- Backpackerz – France
- Dummy Mag – United Kingdom
> Folk
- York Calling – France
- Berlin On Air – Germany
- Tonic Grain – United States
> Electro
- Meet & Greet – France
- Riptide Mag – France
- Guettapen – France
- EKM.co – Canada
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2 commentaires
Really interesting article, thank you! 🙂 Music blogs are still a thing, let’s take advantage of it!
Thanks for the useful information, I will definitely put it to good use!