5 Tips To Get Bloggers To Write About Your Music

It used to be that just one good review in a magazine could sell loads of albums. Even a bad review could be really good for business if it was in a publication like Rolling Stone.

That's all changed since magazine reviews have become pretty irrelevant as the music world has moved online. Now its the music blogs like Pitchfork or Stereogum that can make the difference not so much in sales, but visibility to a new audience.

Sometimes those larger blogs are tough to break through, but the smaller bloggers still provide more of a one on one chance to state your case.

But how do you approach bloggers in the first place? There really is a right and wrong way to do it, so here are 5 tips to get a blogger interested enough in what you're doing to actually post about it.

1. Read the blog for a while to become familiar with the theme and feel. You can turn the blogger off completely by sending something cold without knowing the backstory of the blog.

2. Make some post comments without any overt marketing. Just try to move the conversation along on a few posts. The idea is for the blogger to recognize you as someone who contributes regularly and adds to the conversation. 

3. Only after the blogger becomes familiar with you is it safe to reach out about what you’re doing. If you're a regular reader and contributor, the blogger is much more likely to read a press release or take a listen to your music. 

4. Sometimes asking a question about your project gets a response. While many bloggers are too busy to answer every email, many go out of their way to accommodate a regular reader and contributor. As a result, it's perfectly okay to follow up after you've sent something to the blogger and there's a good chance he'll answer. 

5. Never hard sell, just inform. Hard sell is a turnoff in general. Don't do it. It's okay to state the relevant information, but keep the superlatives like "Best band ever!" out of the equation.

If you want additional tips and tricks about promoting yourself or your music online, check out my Social Media Promotion for Musicians book. You can read excerpts at bobbyowsinski.com.

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5 Things Music Bloggers Hate Most

There was a great post the other day on Digital Music News by Nina Ulloa about the "9 things not to do when emailing music blogs." It's something that you should definitely read, but I've created my own version of the things to avoid when email a music blogger (although you can find a similar list in my Music 4.0 book).

1. You get the blogger's name wrong. No one will take your email seriously if you misspelled their name.

2. You send a generic email blast. This is especially bad if you happen to CC all the other blogger's addresses for everyone to see. If you're going to do this, at least do a BCC (blind carbon copy, which means that no one other than you can see the addresses).

3. You place them on your mailing list without advising them first. Most email service providers prohibit this anyway, as they want everyone on your lists to voluntarily opt in. Music bloggers particularly hate this though, so don't do it unless they ask.

4. You turn on the SPAM machine. Music bloggers hate when you keep badgering them with the same info. It's OK to follow up or send a reminder, but if they don't respond after a couple of tries the chances are low that they're going to respond at all.

5. You don't read their blog before emailing. Bloggers hate it when you send them something that blatantly indicates that you've never seen their blog before. It's the ultimate turn-off, and will probably get you permanently banned from the site.

Want to know the way to a music bloggers heart? It's simple really. Contribute to their blog with regular comments that are not self-serving in the least. When you become a part of their community, you're much more likely to get a blogger's attention when you need it.

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