How to send a demo to record labels

Pick labels that release your sound

A label signs what it can sell to the audience it already has. Look at the last year of releases: if nothing sounds like you, the label is not your target, however big it is.

Independent labels are usually more open than majors, and many publish their own demo policy — some take submissions all year, some only at certain times, some not at all.

1. 01List ten labels that released records like yours this year.
2. 02Read each label's demo policy before sending anything.
3. 03Find the A&R or label manager's preferred route.
4. 04Prepare one private link to your best two or three tracks.

What A&R checks first

Fit with the roster, quality of the recording, and evidence that people already care — streams that hold, a live draw, a growing audience in one city or scene. A label is betting money on what happens next; show them the trend.

The demo email

Short and specific: who you are, where you are based, why this label, a private link, and the one or two numbers that matter. No attachments, no mass emails with every label in the address bar.

If there is no reply after a few weeks, send one follow-up with something new, then move on.

Where Virtual Publicist fits

Virtual Publicist lists independent labels by genre and country with what they release, and matches them to your music so you only approach labels that fit.