This article is about song pitching websites. If you are unfamiliar with what a song pitching site is, please head over to this page for the low-down.
My First Impression
About eight years ago, as I walked out of a rehearsal studio in North London, I noticed a flyer on the notice board that said, “Post your CD to us and we’ll send to 100 record labels”. At the time my naïve enthusiasm got the better of me and I sent off my bands EP, along with a cheque for £35 which at the time was a serious investment for me.
Wake Up Call
A few days later I received a letter from the company (I forget their name) stating that my CD had now been copied and posted to 100 record labels and (crucially) that they “can not guarantee that it will be listened to or that I will receive a reply from any of the labels”.
What do you think happened? You guessed it, I received nothing back! Not one lousy reply from any of the companies that my CD was sent to. My CD probably formed the foundation of a three foot high stack of CDs, carefully constructed on the desk of someone who (perhaps) had good intentions (but no way) of listening to them all.
A Maturing Industry
Thankfully today’s “song pitching companies” have started to get their act together, and in some cases, provide a very good service to musicians. Part of this improvement is due to the fact that record labels, music publishers (and others) are embracing online demo submissions in greater numbers and with more creativity, all of which benefits musicians.
A Comparison Chart is Born!
In an attempt to compare all the song pitching companies out there I created a very simple comparison chart, you can view it here: song pitching website comparison chart.
I Ask One Thing Of You
Please comment under the chart if you have used any of the pitching services so that we can all see which ones are working. I am not affiliated with any song pitching service so I don’t care who goes on there, all I care about is which sites actually work for musicians!
I know a lot of people reading this will be asking why we even need pitching companies at all when we can do most things ourselves using facebook, soundcloud and other social networks. That is a fair point, and one that has been discussed at length on the MTT forums. I have come to the conclusion that the DIY approach is great for building a fan base but not so great at getting discovered. This is because;
a) Almost all DIY routes to getting your music heard are so overcrowded that (proportionately) very few bands find success.
b) Submitting your music must start with first knowing who is seeking music. In order to find those individuals who are currently looking for new music, you need to phone/email such a massive number of companies that it is (in my view) unsustainable.
I honestly have always been a great believer in self promotion, but I feel like I am not much further up the ‘stardom’ ladder than I was three years ago. The likely reason is that I am just plain average at self promotion!
I decided to look into song pitching companies a little deeper because I have several musician friends who signed deals as a result of using a pitching website. Pitching sites clearly work for some and I am concerned with which ones are the best? Please visit the song pitching website comparison chart here and help me keep it up to date and accurate.