The Music Submission Survival Guide

A practical guide for musicians, an inside look for music lovers, and surprisingly good advice for everyone else. Plus, win tickets to see Beth Gibbons!

Yep, this post is a little bit more geared to the musicians in the room than usual. I promise there’s still plenty for everyone here, but if you’re really annoyed, don’t worry — I’ll be back next week with my usual music recommendation content.

Have you ever wondered how bands manage to get discovered?

In the face of massive amounts of AI-generated content taking center stage and streaming platforms prioritizing profit over discoverability, how the hell are musicians supposed to stand out?

Sure, sometimes it’s money — PR teams, “industry plants” (a topic I won’t bother getting into for now), or aggressive social media campaigns.

But sometimes, it’s just knowing how to write a decent email.

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I’m no industry bigwig. Hell, I barely exist in the music business ecosystem. But I do have this newsletter, and that means I get a lot of submissions in my comments, DMs, and inbox.

Most of the time, this is great. You all know how much I love discovering new artists, especially small ones, and sharing them with you. Those emails and DMs are part of how I build my Known Unknowns playlists, for a start. But just as often, the issue isn’t the music; it’s the way it’s pitched.

Cool… so, what do you want me to do with this video exactly?

The other day, after I received flurry of comments and emails with YouTube links sans context, I realized that a lot of musicians are missing a trick.

So, I recruited an expert to help.

How Not to Screw Up Your Music Submissions - A Guide

If you don’t already know and love Cassidy Frost, former music publicist and current author of

Dedicate Your Life To Music

, now is the time to make your acquaintance.

I may not be a musician, but I still never miss an installment of their newsletter. It’s not just because they know their shit, which kind of goes without saying, but because they are passionate about building community around music. That’s exactly what I’m doing from the listener/appreciator side of the equation, so you can imagine why we were drawn to each other.

I asked them to help me out in crafting a guide for how to make music submissions stand out more. Not just to me, but to anyone actually “in the biz.”

First: Cassidy — a positive person and industry insider helping musicians craft pitches but never actually receiving them — will give you a lot of incredibly useful “Do”s.

Second: I — a pessimistic goblin inundated with music submissions but otherwise a total rube — will lay into the “Don’t”s.

Together, we hope to provide you with both sides of the coin.

Oh, and non-musicians? Don’t be so quick to rush off. This isn’t just about music submissions — it’s about how people try (and fail) to get noticed. It’s about learning to lean on your community when looking for opportunities, and the fine line between “putting yourself out there” and “annoying the crap out of people.” This is just as relevant for job applications, networking, or trying to get that one person to text you back.

(And if nothing else, there’s Beth Gibbons concert tickets up for grabs at the end of this post!)