“You probably think that you’re an expert emailer … You spend most of your workday composing, sending, receiving and replying to emails,” says Victoria Turk, a senior editor at WIRED UK in a TEDxAthens talk. “You live in your inbox.” However, if writing and replying takes up too much of your time or you worry that your emails are disappearing into the ether without getting an answer, then “you’re probably doing it wrong,”she adds.
On average, the typical music blogger gets 348 emails per day. Many of these emails go unread or glossed over. So how do you get people to read your emails and listen to your music? Then how do you convince them to write about your music? We will go over all this and more in this article to make your lives easier!
Research who you’re writing
Sure spamming a million emails to various blogs without addressing who they’re talking to may work for some people, but the vast average of those emails will just be deleted immediately.
“Frankly, I just delete all emails that are sent to my inbox that don’t even address me by my name.” -Patrick Soper (Writer for RaverRafting)
“I’m more likely to respond to emails that are addressed to “Phil”, as opposed to “Philip”. It definitely has more of a personal touch to it” – Phil Mortillo (Editor for RaverRafting)
Once you know their name, then you should research who they are as a person. What genres do they cover? What articles have they written? Do they make music or art? Do the manage an artist?
Once you know all this, use it in your email. Cite articles of theirs you liked and say why you liked it. Point out the genre’s they listen to and write about and how your music fits in that style. If they make music, art or manage an artist, mention that. Tell them what you like about it. You would be surprised how much further your music will go if you just do this much.
Get to the point
“When it comes to email, good etiquette is not about the fancy flourishes; it’s about respecting other people’s time,” says Turk. An overly long or detailed email benefits neither the sender nor receiver.
Merlin Mann, the person who coined the term inbox zero, told Turk this invaluable advice: “Assume everyone you’re communicating with is smarter than you and cares more than you and is busier than you.”
However, don’t be too concise. Get to the point, but still write in a manner that seems warm and cordial.
Prepare your attachments
This is something people almost always forget to send. We need to know more about the track. Send an Electronic Press Kit with your email. Also, attach a link where we can download high-quality press shots and artwork for the album or single.
Send all songs to us as easy to stream links. We don’t want to download any more stuff than we have to, nor do we want to sign in to a website or purchase the track.
Finally, please attach a separate PDF with an artist statement for the track we are to listen to. The artist statement should be a couple of paragraphs long explaining in detail why you made the track and what the story of the track is. Show the research that went into making the track. Talk about the concepts and how they manifest in the track. Most importantly, tell your story here.
Give thanks
Many music bloggers don’t make money doing this, and are doing this purely for the love of music. So regardless if you get a write-up, thank them for their time. Any time you do get a writeup, thank the blogger again with an email (or better yet, a handwritten card if you have mailing info), and share the link with anyone and everyone. Some Blogs can make money through ad revenue based on how many people visit their site. If they see that by featuring your music their traffic spikes, that’s a good reason to write about you more in the future.
Sources and further reading:
https://ideas.ted.com/yes-there-is-a-right-way-to-write-an-email-here-are-some-simple-rules/
https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/music-promotion/get-music-bloggers-reply-email/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/04/16/5-tips-to-write-an-email-customers-will-actually-open-during-a-crisis/#1a49c77a26d1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9UjeTMb3Yk
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