As an independent artist, press is critical to boosting brand awareness and attracting new listeners to your music. While the new music discovery spotlight has shifted away from blogs towards editorial playlists and algorithmic curation, blog and media publication write-ups, press releases, reviews, and interviews still remain important. From small blogs to huge media corporations, most music publications accept public submissions to get the attention of their editorial team. While not all content on these publications is created from submissions, going through the publications’ individual submission processes is the best way to catch the ears of their editors. In this article, we’ll cover the best music blogs and publications to submit music to as well as how to submit to each of them.
Pigeons & Planes
Pigeons & Planes is a music publication owned by Complex. Pigeons & Planes largely focuses on pop, hip hop, and electronic music, but features artists across genres. Pigeons & Planes often highlight on social media their favorite submissions and have a great ear, catching acts like osquinn ahead of the curve. Interested in sending your music to Pigeons & Planes? Just shoot an email to submissions@pigeonsandplanes.com.
The Fader
The Fader is a magazine and online publication created in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen, and the first print publication to be released on iTunes. For 20+ years, The Fader has covered the hottest and most interesting actors in music, style, and culture. Reaching out to The Fader’s editorial team is pretty simple. Send an email to editorial@thefader.com.
ELEVATOR
ELEVATOR has released many of the underground hip hop, alternative, and pop scene’s biggest music videos and singles on their YouTube channel, from artists such as XXXTentacion, Lil Mosey, Egovert, Steven Moses, NICK PROSPER, and more. In addition to their YouTube channel, their website and blog features countless articles, interviews, and reviews of independent music. However, unlike the other publications, ELEVATOR costs a small fee to submit music to. To submit music to ELEVATOR, head over to their submissions page: https://submissions.elevatormag.com/.
Conclusion
And, our editorial team accepts submissions! If you’re interested in pitching to DCR, head over to our Submit Music page. Interested in more articles to help out independent artists navigate the music industry better? Check out our free artist resources.