Dear budding musician/producer/label/PR representative,

Thank you for considering me when sending music out.

Please remember that I get sent a lot of music. I love the fact that I get sent music all the time, but because of the amount of tracks, releases, dubs, albums, EPs and music that I get sent, it can be difficult to organise, listen to and keep track of everything.

To get your music heard by me in the best way, and for me to keep my sanity when receiving and organising music, I’ve put together some guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t do when sending me music.

Do not send me an mp3 as an attachment to an email My inbox is already big and busy enough. I don’t want to spend ages waiting for your email to load in my inbox because it’s downloading a 15Mb file on to my machine.

Do not send me an incomplete track I would prefer to get a full track please. Then I can get a feel for the entire piece, as well as play it out, or in a mix if I want to support your music.

Do not send me music via a Facebook message Facebook is not a great platform for sending music, and I don’t always check my messages and notifications there. It is easier for me to handle things I am sent with my email inbox. I can mark them “to do” or work through them systematically.

Do not send me music via a Twitter message 140 characters is barely enough room for a URL and a couple of words. I don’t keep track of my Twitter direct messages either. It is easier for me to handle things I am sent with my email inbox.

Do not send me an empty email with just a link It will probably be flagged as spam for a start. I will not click a link unless I know what it is, and I would prefer you to put in a little bit of effort when you write me an email.

Do not send me the track in 3 different ways You emailed me, sent me a Soundcloud message, a Twitter notification and a Facebook note about this track. I got it the first time. Please just tell me once, via email.

Do not add me to the huge CC list on your email It’s not very nice to get an email that has been sent to 200 other people. It’s not very personal. It’s even worse, when everyone else who got the email can also see all the email addresses. Please write to me directly. A little care and attention goes a long way. I don’t really care for the BCC field either, since I know you’re just blasting this email to more people than you can write to at once.

Do not give me your life story This is not about writing ten paragraphs about how you grew up listening to music, or how you would describe your sound with a million genre names. Please just be concise and try not to write too much. I don’t have time (or really want to) to read it all, and it will most likely get skimmed. This is more to do with the music.

Do not remind me every day about the track you sent I got your email (unless you got a failed delivery note) so I will check it when I get the chance. If you don’t hear back from me, then I may not have had time to check it, or maybe it just wasn’t my thing, and I don’t need reminders every day. One polite reminder after a week or two would be sufficient. If you don’t hear after that, it wasn’t good enough, and sadly that’s the honest truth.

Do not tell me you’re 13 and you’ve only been producing for 3 months Firstly, your age is irrelevant if the music is good. Secondly, telling me you’re inexperienced is not going to encourage me to check your tracks. I’ll assume (perhaps wrongly, but still) that they’re lacking in either effort, skill or direction. This is based on experience. I have yet to meet someone who has just started, who is good enough to support or release. These things take time.