Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
An Independent Artist’s Guide to Music Submissions
22
items I recently released a new single (a little pat on the back) and part of that process for me was, “okay, how do I get it heard??'” We are all out here trying to figure it out! Where can we submit our music to gain more visibility, streams, and *finger...
Sections
6
Distribution
Royalties
Sync Placements
Playlists
Radio Play
Blogs & PR
Distribution
I put this one first because of course the first step to getting your music out there is making sure people can hear it!
I personally have only distributed with Distrokid because of the features and one-time costs for a lot of the key ones I like (like lyric syncing because I'm big on socials, additional mastering, etc.).
DistroKid: Upload & sell your music on Apple, Spotify, Amazon ...
Distrokid's biggest competitor seems to be TuneCore as a lot of people I've spoken to seems to recommend it over DistroKid because of their customer service!
TuneCore: Digital Music Distribution Services | Keep 100%
CD Baby seems to be one of the older ones that have been around the longest, reliable for sure but not as many features as the others it seems. One I considered for my first single
CD Baby: Music Distribution with No Recurring Fees
This one is very, very new to the market! I went to their launch event in November and had a great time and met some amazing people there. Have yet to really test out what makes it different from others outside of it's really cool technological inter...
Cashear Music Distribution
Royalties
Still trying to fully get the grasp of the legalities, but at the most basic level, did you write your song? You likely did. Make sure your getting ALL your coins on both plays and your writer/composer shares.
This is who I am currently with! I feel like they are all the same and pretty much do the same things, but this is one of the big 3 though I do plan to switch over from them pretty soon
BMI | BMI.com
Because I'm leaning heavily into songwriting, I do plan to switch over to ASCAP in the next year as they have a lot of events, networking support, and things like that that I am more interested in
Welcome to ASCAP - the world leader in performance ...
The 3rd of the U.S.'s Performing Rights Organization that's againjust collecting royalties on your music!
SESAC
I've done content with them a few times and they are more of a government back organization that makes sure you're getting all the coin you're supposed to get from streaming services if you haven't.
Mechanical Licensing Collective: Home
Sync Placements
This is such a great way to create another stream of income for yourself as a music artist!
Get the IMDb Pro version. I'm suggesting IMDb because a great way to get sync placements in commercials, film/tv is by building relationships with music supervisors. Relationships in this industry is really everything. If you know there are certain t...
IMDb
Though they aren't currently accepting submissions for new artists, I would just keep checking back and follow their accounts for any annoucements relating to this!
Musicbed | Sync Library
You can sell your music to places like this for filmmakers, creators, streamers, etc. to purchase to use in their works!
Royalty-Free Stock Video Footage and Music Library | Pond5
They also open and close their platforms from time to time. Keep checking back on it and follow their socials for annoucements! But great for commercial and film/tv placements
Audiosocket - Artists Registration
This is like a licensing agency.. I think before going to any agency just do your research and be clear on your goals, your budget, and what you're looking to get out it. Try to retain 100% of your royalties as long as possible, but if you're in a pl...
TAXI A&R Music helps Songwriters, Artists, and Composers get Record Deals, Publishing Deals, and Film/TV Music Licensing Deals
Playlists
Places to submit to get your music on playlists!
From my research, this is the biggest tool overall that people tend to use! It's a $1 a credit and you can submit to both curators (playlists, blogs, youtube channels, radio, etc.) and influencers (if influencer marketing is in your strategy). Each c...
SubmitHub: Submit Music to Playlists and Blogs
Most artists say that this service is pretty expensive in comparison, but it is legit, and there are plenty services out there that will try to take advantage of you.
Playlist Push
This site's main thing is protecting you from botted listeners to not harm your algorithm, but if you pay the $9/month you can get direct access to a huge list of curators!
artist.tools — Protect your music from artificial streaming
Have not tried this yet myself, but general consensus is that it's a pretty legitimate platform and does much better at getting you listeners than Groover or PlaylistPush
YouGrowPromo - 100% Real Growth For Your Music & Channels
Radio Play
Yes! People DO still listen to radio.
Groover's primary thing is getting your music to record labels (if that's what you're interested in). They also help you get to DJs & Radio and more recently playlists as well
Find a Record Label & Get Discovered on Groover
Blogs & PR
Because you're going to want to increase your SEO, get your name in front of people, and have some press backing your brand!
Pretty popular blog amongst the indie music scene I've found.. their submissions are also exclusively through Submithub, but if you can get a blog post, kudos!!!
EARMILK
A go to for emerging artists who are looking for features or reviews!
A&R Factory
They also curate playlists but a good place to go and submit for music reviews!
Indie Shuffle
Probably one of the more popular options amongst indie emerging artists!! Definitely comes up a lot around other artists and in all of my research
Hype Machine