Why Your Song Pitch May Not Be Working
Ever wondered why your song pitches aren’t receiving a positive response, or any response at all? These are real emails that have been shared with me. Names and any identifying details have been removed because the purpose of this article is to help. Without further ado, here’s some reasons your song pitch may be falling on deaf ears.
You don’t include a link.
If people have to do ANY additional work to find your song, you risk your email going into the “too hard” basket. They are already reading your email, include a link and make it easy for them. This doesn’t mean that you overload them with links. One simple link to where they can listen to your music is all that you need. It could be a link to a page on your website where you have all of the links to the song on all streaming platforms. Alternatively, it could be a smart link.
You CC multiple people.
If you are pushing for a blog premiere, or telling someone that you sent them your track first because they are special, send them an individual and personal email. If they are cc’d, it’s obvious they are not the only recipient. It’s impossible to feel special when you are one of 100 recipients. Not only this, but you have just shared a list of email addresses that may be personal and will no doubt see a large amount of spam if they get into the wrong hands. The same goes for BCC’ing people, it’s obvious they aren’t the only recipient.
Too much small-talk.
A little small-talk is ok but you need to be careful. Imagine asking someone how the weather is treating them, while they are stuck in the middle of a typhoon. If the recipient is in the middle of a tragedy and you send a cold email boasting about how great things are going for you, this can come across as inconsiderate. Other small talk to avoid is asking someone how their family or their health is. This is ok if you are friends with the person and genuinely care but it’s best to avoid, especially in cold outreach and follow up emails. Wishing someone well, or sending them a positive message is a much safer option. Getting to the point and skipping unnecessary small talk allows the reader to get to your music quicker and increase the chances of them clicking and listening. If they like what they here and respond, there will be plenty to talk about.
You attach files.
We aren’t all blessed with high speed, unlimited data, or lots of storage on our devices for emails. By attaching an MP3 or (gulp) music video file, you could be forcing that recipients device to automatically download that attachment without giving them a choice. This slows down their email and will likely lead to your email being deleted once it has finished downloading, or sometimes even before. I know some people who block emails with large attachments, meaning your email may never even make it to their inbox.
A streaming link with downloads enabled is far more acceptable, this could be a SoundCloud or DropBox link. A simple link where the recipient can click, stream and download if they choose too. Most of these links also include tracking, allowing you to see if your song has been listened to or downloaded.
You tell them where to place your song.
Curators will make this decision themselves, this can be taken as an insult by telling them where to place your song. Through suggesting a song that may not fit the playlist you could lose their trust and interest in listening to anything from you in future. Let them listen then decide if and where it fits. They are the curator and their ears have the final decision. Your goal is just to get them to listen.
I hope this was helpful. The intention in writing this article was to help you with crafting a more effective pitch. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and I’m aware that some of you may have a different experience. Let’s help each other by sharing this information and making the process of sending and receiving pitches less painful and more successful for everyone!
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.