The Recommender

Artists often ask us which method is best when it comes to reaching music bloggers. The short answer is that there’s no single method that will guarantee getting noticed, but there are aspects to the approach that are worth taking note of.

One road block is that the email inbox of a music blogger is ridiculously busy. The quantity of (often shitty) emails renders this approach a weakened method. We’re not discounting it entirely, but you should be aware that a lot of bloggers simply scan down the email addresses and the title, rarely actually opening it to check it’s full contents, as that would simply take forever. This means that you had better put something eye-catching in the email title, although if you’re email address is completely unknown to the blogger that still might not be enough.

Additionally, don’t be scared to be personal in the email, using first names on the email instead of “dear blogger“, or “hello everyone“, as that just feels like you’re shouting at a crowd and hoping someone will stop and listen – bloggers won’t stop and they won’t listen. Also, please try and actually read the blog’s content to find out if they’re likely to be into your music. We’ve never posted a Lady Gaga remix and we never will. The same can be said for anything by that incessant Don Diablo!

Away from emails, one thing that seems to work well is getting your music to the blogger through a ‘trusted source’. We often take note of what’s sent by certain PR companies, as their rosters match our tastes and they interact with us regularly, building the relationships and we therefore give their suggestions our time. Also, most bloggers are a part of a network. They love to chat and interact online, which is a major reason why the best music whips around online so fast. Bloggers read other blogs. We regularly discuss music on forums, Facebook and perhaps most commonly on Twitter, forging strong, trusting relationships, so equally this can be an avenue for artists – perhaps try following us on Twitter and strike up a real conversation, before you pitch us your latest single?

If a decent blogger, whom we have a good relationship with, punts a band over to us then his suggestion is likely to leapfrog the hundred emails we got that day. It was an interaction such as this that brings to today’s recommendation - Amusement. They got fellow music blogger, Carl, (from the excellent Illegal Tender blog), onside and once they got his stamp of approval it was only a matter of time before they then got ours.

Andrew Smith and Joe Sigee, from Surrey, have only existed as a duo for a couple of months, so they’re barely out of the wrapping – in fact they’re barely in the wrapping yet! Already labels are beginning to hover and offers of gigs are coming in for them, but they’re holding back a little longer to concentrate on recording more work.

There’s is a sound that combines simple synths with blinding vocals. Layers are built up from such simple elements, but they ultimately deliver lush tunes that rush through you like you’ve snorted them. That’s not to say they thunder through their pop songs, as their pace walks along thoughtfully, finding them making music in a zone that the Klaxons should have visited, if they hadn’t taken such a wrong turn in their spaceship.

More tunes are sure to follow very soon and we will be happy to update you when they do, but rest assured that they appear to be designing intelligent songs with a remarkable maturity. Above all the well-written emails and chatty networks, the greatest lesson that Amusement can teach other artists who might want to get on the blogs is in fact the most obvious of all – write great music. (MB)

AMUSEMENT – TAKE ME ALIVE

AMUSEMENT – WHY DOES NOTHING GROW