5 Tips For Getting Featured On Beatport

So you have a new release and want it to be featured on Beatport. Well get ready, because there is a lot of competition. But the good news is that it can all happen with consistency and, of course, good music. We work very hard to help our clients get features each and every week. Here are some simple yet effective ways to increase your chances of being featured on the coveted site.

1. Plan ahead

Planning ahead is VITAL to landing a feature. All banners that you see on the site are actually planned weeks in advance. So remember to deliver your release four weeks prior to it being live and communicate all of your marketing efforts to us so that we are able to relay these details to the brand. Brands such as Beatport want to know what you’re doing to promote so that they too can get behind the material. If you’re a distribution client of ours, make sure to complete the “Featured Release Form” located in the SymphonicMS. Important things to have handy are:

*Amount of fans artist has

*Amount of fans label has

*DJ support

*Marketing efforts done

*Expected sales

*Charts (Great tool to promote your sound to fans and Beatport users)

2. Look the part

Branding is key in today’s music industry. People need to recognize you, recognize your work, and recognize the footprint you leave behind you. In short: be memorable.

“Your listeners do not consume your music. They consume your brand that in the process creates their identity”

Having a high quality brand is very important. This is your music’s first impression, so spend quality time on fine-tuning your appearance. Have professional artist photos, a professional logo and a professionally designed website and social presence.

When trying to get your release featured, we recommend a high-quality release cover. Everyone sees the cover art before they hear the music. Not only will Beatport judge it, but all the blogs will as well. It should draw everyone’s full attention, and for the better. This will not only help you get more fans, but Beatport will see that you have taken the time to get some cool artwork and have made a strong branding effort.

Artwork these days is as important as the music and can be the deciding factor as to whether or not it gets a feature, banner, position, etc. Use smart design principles. Get help from a professional graphic designer. Symphonic can also help you design your release.

3. Have a solid sound

Today, a lot of music is being pushed out to the masses, so it is important that you take the time to make a GREAT record. First, make unique music. Don’t try and emulate or copy others. Try and really push the boundaries of music creation because you can be the first to the game if you make a particular song with a sound that nobody has done before.

In addition, learn to be patient and dedicate the time needed to polish your sound. Creating a final product that you can be proud of will help your case in terms of promotion as well. With tools like Promo Mailers, such as the one Symphonic Distribution offers to their clients for free, you can send your tracks to tastemakers and other DJs to get feedback and reviews. Use these tools to your disposal and to help you improve your production!

4. Promoting & Social Presence

Make sure that all of the social networks that you do decide to use for the promotion of your material are up-to-date. If you aren’t using it, close the account. Also, remember to cross-promote. Include links to other social networks within each network so fans can find all of your information with ease. Beatport and other retailers do their research and they will support someone that has a solid and a well-branded social presence.

Once you are ready, promote like crazy! Reach out to blogs, get support from friends and other producers, make sure the label and artists are promoting as well, do DJ charts, and anything that is cost-effective and can help spread the word. Start conversations and always make sure to follow up. We’re in the music business so think outside the box and think about different ways you can promote your music. Use all the tools at your disposal to make it happen!

In addition, the best indicators that your release will sell well on Beatport is the amount of plays your release has on SoundCloud. Work on getting as many REAL plays as possible. Never buy SoundCloud plays because doing that is terrible for your presence and doesn’t achieve anything. Don’t scam your fans.

Join SoundCloud groups to help get more traction as well.

5. Interact with Beatport

Beatport likes to see that labels and artists interact with their platform. So make sure to have your DJ profile updated and constantly be creating new charts. To learn on all the tools available on the site, you can read our post on Selling your music on Beatport – Tips and Tools.

6. Follow up and be consistent!

Once you’re done with that round of promotions, then do it all over again! Being in the independent music industry should give you goals to establish relationships, following up on those relationships, and consistently releasing quality music as well as driving solid promotions.

Make sure that any coverage you do get while you’ve been promoting, you actually communicate it to your distributor, at least a week in advance so we are able to communicate to the specific genre managers. Beatport un fortunately does not send us notifications about the releases they select for features, so we suggest you review the various pages of Beatport on release week to see if your release was selected.

Best of luck, and welcome to hit me up via twitter at @janettetology if you have any questions!