Most demos are rejected before anyone hears eight bars. Not because the music is bad, but because the submission made listening inconvenient. A label owner opening a phone between sets will not download a 90MB WAV, will not request access to a Google Drive folder, and will not read four paragraphs of biography before pressing play.
This is what works, based on how the labels we build sites for actually process their inboxes.
Send a link, not a file
A private SoundCloud link is still the format most electronic labels prefer. It plays instantly, it works on a phone, it does not fill an inbox, and you can swap the audio at the source without resending anything. Private Bandcamp links and unlisted streams work equally well.
Attachments are the fastest route to being ignored. If a label asks for files, it will say so, and it will usually tell you the format it wants. Until then, assume the answer is a link.
Send two tracks, not eight
Pick your two strongest and lead with the stronger one. A long submission does not read as prolific, it reads as unable to self-edit, which is the exact skill an A&R is testing for. If the label signs the two, it will ask what else you have.
Write four lines
The whole email should fit on a phone screen without scrolling. Who you are, where you are, what the tracks are, and one honest sentence about why this label rather than any label.
- Artist name, and the name you release under if they differ
- City, because it matters for bookings later
- Track titles with the link, private streams preferred
- One line showing you know the catalogue, naming a specific record
Name the file and the tracks properly
If you do end up sending files, name them Artist - Title, not final_master_v4_USE_THIS.wav. This sounds trivial and it is the single most common reason a track that was liked cannot be found again three weeks later.
Show you have listened
The line that separates a considered submission from a mass mailout is a specific reference to something the label released. Not flattery, just evidence. Labels with a stated position on what they release, and there are many, can tell instantly whether you have read it.
Then wait, properly
Two to four weeks is normal for an independent label where the person listening also runs the pressing, the socials and their own release schedule. One polite follow up after a month is fine. A second follow up is not.
Silence is usually a no. Most small labels do not have the capacity to reply to everything, and the ones that promise a response, like the labels that publish a 48 hour window on bookings, are making a real operational commitment. Treat no reply as information rather than an insult.
Where to send it
Use the label demo form if it has one. It exists because the label wants submissions in one queue with a status attached rather than scattered through a personal inbox, and going around it to a personal address does not put you ahead of the queue. It usually puts you behind it.
Common questions
- Should I master the demo before sending it?
- No. Send a good mix. Labels expect to master, and a heavily limited demo hides problems they need to hear. A clean mix with headroom reads as more professional than a loud one.
- Is it acceptable to send the same demo to several labels?
- Yes, and every label assumes you have. Do not claim exclusivity you are not giving. If a label offers to sign a track, tell the others it is gone.
- How long should the tracks be?
- Send the full arrangement, not an edit. Labels listen for how a track develops, and a 90 second edit removes exactly the part they are judging.
- Do I need a website to submit a demo?
- Not to submit. But if a label likes the track, the next thing it does is search your name, and what it finds decides whether the conversation continues. A single page with your music, your city and your contact is enough.