The info here is 100 percent meant to be of help. A lot of these ideas evolved after I started a thread on social media soliciting opinions from promo people, musicians, music writers and DJs about what they like and dont like about the music submission process, and what works and what does not. There is no one best way, and what follows below definitely applies only to me, and there are DJs and writers and publications that have VERY specific ways that they insist on, but, I do think that in general this kind of approach will work well in many situations. One thing expressed by many was that everyone wants less SPAMMY feeling communications, and that feeling bugged will turn them off. Another often heard complaint, was that many couldn't understand why bands were making it so hard to listen to their music. The ideas here are set up to give you then best chance of having your music heard.

If you make music and think I might enjoy playing it on the radio show and want to submit it for airplay consideration, here is what you need to know:

I listen to ALL the music sent to me (with one exception - when publicists pitch EVERY project they work as part of a huge mailing list), although sometimes it takes a long while, and what works for the show gets played on the air. If you follow these instructions, there is a 100% chance I will check out the music you send.

Please know - I DESPERATLEY WANT to discover new music that fits into the radio show. I have been turned on to some of my absolute favorite new music by strangers and publicists who have sent in submissions, but please note: the format of the show I'm doing now features many genres of music and the slice of contemporary music that fits is very small. Saying "NO" to talented people whose music I like is one of the few things I dislike about putting the radio show together (another is the traffic on the way home!), so please keep in mind that there is a ton of music that I like, and listen to at home, that just does not quite fit into the format for this particular show.

If you are not sure if your music is a good fit you might want to CLICK HERE to search the playlists of past shows for bands that you think are similar to yours.

I'm reminded of an artist that sent me a couple of submissions, months apart. He followed up and asked what I thought, and I responded both times that I had listened and that the genre of his music was not quite right for my show. He responded "Well what kind of music do you play?" I think it's fair that when submitting you have at least the basic knowledge of the outlet's needs - in the end you'll save your self a lot of time and help you to build lasting relationships. You can throw a ton of spaghetti against the wall, and some of it will stick, but, that doesnt mean the wall wants you to throw spaghetti at it.

If you want to email me after you submit to ask "Did you get my music?" or "Did you like it?" there is no need to, unless your email bounced back to you, I got it, and if the music is right for the show you will hear it on the air. There is nothing wrong with a gentle follow up - BUT: for many people I talked to your best chance of sucess is not to follow up. The exception to this is to send a follow up with NEW RELEVANT information. If a month after your first email your record got a four star review in MOJO that compared you to one my favorite bands - that is huge news and you should share it - but dont use this concept as an excuse to poke people.

The best way to share your music with me is:

I recommend you put WAV or 320kb MP3 files in a free DROPBOX folder, and email me the link to that folder (dont use Dropbox's "share folder" function, just copy the link to that folder and send me that address), and if you have cds or lps available, let me know if you're happy to send one, if I can use one after listening to the files. Also, please let me know if all the songs are FCC friendly, or which ones are not. Sending a short bio is helpful, but not stricty necessary, and, unless I know your music already, comapring your sound or style to a known band or two is very helpful.

It does not have to be Dropbox - but, for me, sending links to stream-able and downloadable files is the easiest and the best way for me to hear submissions the soonest.

A word about art work: like I said I am 100% going to listen to your music - but, your goal is to get people's attention, so if you choose to enclose the artwork or use it on your streaming site - do yourself a favor and make sure the art reflects your creativity. The art is another chance for you to get people's attention and express what you're about - I'm a real believer that a strong visual representation is one way you can distinguish yourself from the many submissions coming in.

Lately a lot of submissions contain only streaming links to Spotify or Apple or Bandcamp - THIS IS A TERRIBLE TREND - I will eventually listen, but it makes the process complicated, and makes your songs much much harder to check out and much much much much much harder for me to play on the radio, also if possible - send non-expiring download links (another plus for Dropbox).

There are a lot of reasons why starting by sending links to files (and not a cd or lp) is the preferred way to go, but if you want, you can start by sending a physical copy to:

Michael Shelley
WFMU
PO Box 5101
Hoboken, NJ 07030

PLEASE NOTE:
You might want to send a copy of CD submissions to WFMU's Music Director, who might choose to add the cd to WFMU's library. CLICK HERE to see the details of how to do that.

Also, if you are sending a link to files, it is a good idea to make sure that title of EACH SONG'S FILE includes the name of the band and the name of the song... it is amazing how often files get submitted that, when un-zipped, are titled something like "Final Mix ver.2 vocals up" and I end up not knowing who the band is. I also suggest that folder names include artist name and the name of the album, and I suggest you tag your files with ALL of the info you possibly can. Mp3Tag is a good free program to do that CLICK HERE to download it.

THANKS!

Michael