1. find a label that suits me.
It is probably very important that your application goes to a label that suits you and your genre. So take the time to take a closer look at the label and your relationship to it: "Does the genre I play suit this label?"
It's no good if you produce hip-hop but the label you want to go to is a deep house label. You're bound to be rejected.
The same applies to your appearance: a label that releases goth metal will find it difficult to get on board with an artist who gives the impression of neon 80s pop.
So also make sure that your appearance and how you present yourself online is compatible with the label.
At this point, you can avoid possible rejections and frustrations by doing thorough research in advance.
2. your own brand presentation.
While we're at it, I'd like to continue with the brand presentation.
As an artist, you embody yourself as a brand, so you should pay close attention to how this brand appears to the outside world.
Do your social media posts match your music? If you are a musician, you should also make as many music-related posts as possible on your social media channels. Labels will look at your online presence if they are interested in your music. The occasional food post or travel photo is of course not a bad thing, as your fans will build a personal connection. However, your posts should remain predominantly music-related and identify with your genre and the associated labels.
3. online presence.
How well connected are you? How easy are your social media channels and store pages to find?
Build a network by expanding your presence on as many sites as possible.
Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to provide information about yourself, your artist and your music.
Use platforms like YouTube, SoundCloud, Mixcloud and Bandcamp to make your music, snippets, promos, live performances and DJ mixes available to your fans.
Also use your artist's artist profiles in the stores to show where people can buy your music.
Then collect all these links into one, such as at Linktr.ee.
Such a link allows labels to quickly and effectively check out your online presence and see what you have achieved so far.
4. fan base.
Probably the most important thing if you want to write to a major label is your fan base. Nowadays, labels are no longer interested in building up artists from scratch. You should already have a certain fan base. You can generate this through live performances or through clever online marketing and advertising.
For example, use the streaming services of sites like Mixcloud if you produce electronic music and DJ.
Publish videos of you and your band at live gigs or band rehearsals on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. These materials can not only expand your fan base, but also serve as illustrative material for label applications later on.
Also make video sequences for TikTok, perhaps a new dance to your song, a lip sync or a compact edited summary of how you design your sounds.
Use the full potential of the internet to make yourself or your band known as a performer.
5. goal setting and research.
Aim high. For example, put a really big label at the top of the list that you want to reach. Then look for ways to get there through different labels.
You probably won't land your dream label with your first track. However, by observing other artists who also release there, you can see what paths they have taken to get to that label. Also research whether there are any labels that collide and compete with your dream label. It would be a shame if you got there one day and the A&R (Artists & Repertoire) manager only rejects you because you have previously released on label XY.
6. approach and how to talk to the person in charge.
Research in advance who is the right contact person for your request, who is the label boss and who is the A&R manager? Make sure you use a friendly and polite tone. You often see people approaching labels and disregarding the simplest rules of politeness.
So always start your application with a friendly greeting, followed by a brief introduction and description of your request.
7. what material do I send to the label?
Be careful not to send too many demos, stick to 1 to 4 tracks. If you send too many tracks, the A&R may feel overwhelmed and delete your application. Only send them the best tracks and make sure that these tracks are unreleased. No label wants to release a track that already has hundreds of plays on SoundCloud.
It's best to use SoundCloud links that are set to private for your demos. Also activate the download function, as many label employees are DJs themselves and may therefore also "test drive" your tracks.
It also makes sense to create a separate playlist for each label with the name of the label. This way you can see firstly whether the responsible label A&R has listened to all your songs, and secondly whether he has possibly sent the songs on to other label employees.
It is also a good tactic to make videos at gigs where you "test drive" the new tracks in order to capture the audience's reaction. If you include such a video with the promotion of the track, the chances of an A&R agreeing can increase enormously, as it is their job to assess the profitability of a track.
8. continuous self-improvement
Let's move on to the last point on the list.
Don't let isolated setbacks get you down, look at your journey and constantly improve yourself. It's likely that if this is your passion, you'll spend most of your life in this industry.
Make sure you keep learning and acquiring new skills. Labels these days prefer independent artists who can take care of a lot of things themselves so that the label can concentrate fully on marketing.