Why Presentation Matters When Pitching Your Music
When pitching music, you only have minutes (if that) to compel the listener to engage — let alone convince them to work with you. That’s why presentation matters so much.
Ultimately, people want to feel connected to what you’re sending. Solid presentation is critical because our attention spans are the shortest they’ve ever been, and the competition is fierce.
“You can be dedicated to your craft and not know how to present,” says Oliver Gamston, Head of Sync at London-based boutique music publisher OTM. “It depends what you want to accomplish with your career.”
“As an artist, songwriter, producer, or composer, the only thing you can control, other than the quality of your work, is the first impression that you give to potential collaborators or representatives,” agrees Steven Mudd, Head of Publishing & Sync at Baxter House Music.
“As a music publisher with a strong sync presence, we receive many cold email submissions per week and, maybe surprisingly, we actually make a point to review the vast majority of them. We’ve seen it all — from disorganized, dated, and confusing to professional, concise, and impressive.”
Below, we’ll focus on the importance of presentation when sharing your music with industry professionals — some of the busiest (and most distracted) people out there.
Lead with the most important information
Whether it’s a label A&R or a music supervisor, music industry professionals want the most pertinent information about an act’s past, present, and future, and they want it delivered in a way that’s clear and concise. In other words: don’t bury the lede. Give them the who, what, where, when, and why, and do it in as little time as possible.
This could be the story behind a song or artist, data points and sales numbers, how a project relates to the recipient, or a combination of the above. This information can also be delivered in a simple email with clear headers and short bullet points, or in a sleek-looking DISCO Artist or Album Page, a Canva doc, a presentation, a website, or PDF.
“If they haven’t provided any information on themselves as an artist — aesthetic, results (radio/DSP support), previous syncs, regular gigs, collabs, a decent press shot, management, record label, etc), I tend to create a preconceived idea of them,” Gamston says. “By providing an accurate presentation, I’m more likely to believe they exist as a real-life person, and not as a bedroom producer.”
Shil Patel of Tiger Bomb Promo recently told us, “The presentation of DISCO Pages and playlists was a big advantage. Dropbox links didn’t look or feel special to send; you just got a list of file names with no artwork. It was a very anticlimactic experience. DISCO won us over with the ability to add a bio, links, album art, and more. It was polished and complete. A lot of radio stations notice it and appreciate it looking better and having all the information accessible in one place.”
Mudd adds, “For streaming songs, I really don’t like Dropbox, YouTube, email attachments, or multiple links or sub folders in any music presentation. One simple streaming link with your best five to seven songs [is best].
“If the email or link that you send out doesn’t look like you take yourself seriously, then we probably won’t take you too seriously either.”
Consider the layout
In general, your presentation should be clean and simple. That said, if your act’s vibe is anything but clean and simple, find creative ways to visually communicate your brand while keeping the written information clear and concise. Add pops of color, drawings, photos — whatever makes it uniquely you.
“The number one element in an artist’s presentation that grabs my attention right away is eye-catching album/single artwork,” says Rashad Richardson, President of Creative Music Licensing at Madden Flow Entertainment. “Something that’s visually artistic, as opposed to the plain font of the song title or artist name.”
Richardson adds: “It’s always a great look to send a streamable link that has the option to download files. Bonus points when I’m instantly able to download hi-res files or mp3. Sending a link over an email with attachments will win 10/10 times. I’m not only speaking for myself, but the clients we pitch to on our artists’ behalf.
“Lastly, even if a song is unreleased, I love it when artists package their songs as if they will be released soon (i.e., insert ‘great song title’ instead of ‘demo/rough cut v2 version’).”
Mudd agrees: “If the email or link that you send out doesn’t look like you take yourself seriously, then we probably won’t take you too seriously either. This can include a whole host of choices, from hastily and lazily written all-lowercase emails, to overly complicated presentations with too many links, or websites that look like they were made in 2003.”
Know your audience
We recently shared what to include in your Electronic Press Kit or EPK, which outlines how to package everything a journalist or A&R might need. An EPK can serve as your main source of information when pitching to other industry professionals.
An even more effective move is to customize slightly different packages for different audiences.
For example, getting playlisted on DSPs like Spotify, TIDAL, or Apple Music is competitive. A pitch to DSP decision makers or playlisters would include:
- Focus track
- Past playlist placements, especially noteworthy ones
- Streaming stats across platforms
- Ads you’ve run and how they performed
- What you’ve done to drive traffic to the platform you’re pitching to (tag them on social media, run a giveaway directing new fans to follow you, etc.)
- Select press quotes and links
- Tour dates to show that your audience is growing outside your hometown
An independent artist submitting mixes to labels for signing consideration could include:
- The music
- A brief artist bio + album bio
- Why this release is a fit for their label
- Sales history if relevant/available
- Streaming links and stats, if impressive
- Social media links and follower count, if notable
- Noteworthy press coverage (pull quotes and links) of any past releases
- Notable playlist features
- Tour history
- Festival appearances
- Radio plays/charting
- Tour plan and/or availability
- Any data backing up significant fan growth
Senior Music Supervisor at Saatchi & Saatchi Jarred Causly pays closest attention to metadata, DISCO links, and a presentation that includes all different track formats.
“The elements in an artist presentation that grab my attention are their metadata,” says Causly. “If they’re affiliated with a PRO, if they’ve got all of their splits on the publishing side, on the writing side, and on the master side, that’s an automatic attention-grabber that allows for me to pitch to clients a lot easier. Over time, I’ve seen that be more successful.”
Causly adds: “Just as important is how [artists] send the music over to me. As a music supervisor, I need to get a file link. The best file links out there bar none for me to use are going to be DISCO because it allows for you to have all of that information all in one.
Lastly, presentation that’s best received and successful on my end is going to be if the music that they send over has different formats to their tracks and has different versions to the tracks: meaning an a cappella version, hook-only version, an instrumental version, and a clean version (if it applies). If all of that is in a presentation, it’s a green light for me to pitch, and it’s an amazing feeling that I don’t have to do extra work on my end in order to push an artist’s project.”
The written pitch
When pitching your music, tell who you’re pitching who you are and highlight any connections or friends you might have in common. Or, feel free to reveal who gave you their contact info or suggested you reach out. Having a referral from someone they trust will help compel them to keep reading.
Then, share exactly what you’re emailing about and why you think it matters to them.
Highlight the most important information in bullet points, even if it’s already on your linked DISCO Page or other presentation. This way, the recipient has what they need to even consider clicking the link. You can also link out to your online presence, whether it’s Bandcamp, Instagram, or the streaming platform you perform best on.
Peter Suk, Head Of Licensing at Koze Music, outlines what he looks for in an artist’s presentation and what information is likely to make him spend more time with submissions. “If the presentation requires us to inquire further because there is missing information, then we will often go to the next submission because the required back and forth will take up far too much time. “
Mudd also suggests including a “Recommended If You Like” section: “A quick ‘we sound a bit like these artists’ can never hurt for a visual summary before we even get to hear the music.”
Finally, end your email with a “call to action” — something that prompts a reply. That’s not to say that they will reply, but it improves your changes. You can ask if they’re up for a call, if they think the project is a fit, if they have any feedback. Even better, if you live in the same city, offer to take them out for coffee.
Every artist’s presentation is different — so find one that is unique to you
There is no one road to success in the music industry. Some bands keep their online presences incredibly sparse; others are over-the-top. Both options can work. Certain things increase your chances of getting a reply, though: clear, concise language, putting relevant information where the reader can easily find it, getting creative with visuals, and, crucially, delivering your music in a way that’s easy to consume.
“Your presentations need to be modern and cut through the noise,” Mudd says. “Most people won’t take the time to sift through overly complicated, poorly constructed, or otherwise lackluster presentations, so put your best foot forward! Try your best to make it easy for us to go ‘read… read… click… click… wow!’ and you’re in great shape.”
With DISCO Pages, it’s super easy to upload and organize audio, photo, and video files. Learn more here.
