How to Choose Music Industry Contacts for Your Release

First, name what you’re asking for

A long list of names can make a release feel busy without telling you what to do next. Start with a clear request: consider a song for a radio show, cover a local release, or discuss a live date. That helps you decide whose work to look at.

A person can have more than one role, so check what they actually do now. Someone who books shows may be useful for a gig inquiry, but that doesn’t make them the right person for a music review. These are starting points for your research:

Explore music contacts in AirTrax →

Look at what they’ve done recently

Read a few recent articles, listen to a show, or watch the creator’s latest work. Look for a connection to your song: sound, local scene, subject, or format. A genre tag is a starting clue; the actual work tells you more.

Try writing one sentence about the fit before adding the name to your shortlist. For example: “This local column covers first releases from bands in our city, and our single comes out before our hometown show.” That is more useful than “They have a big following.” Use details you can point to, not a compliment you could send to anyone.

For radio, check the individual show as well as the station. KEXP’s submission guide encourages artists to learn about its specialty hosts to find a suitable match. It also gives a main submission route. That is an example of an outlet inviting show-specific research; follow each station’s own instructions.

Sources: KEXP: Submission routes, specialty shows, and required files

Check the route and rules before saving the contact

Open the outlet’s own website and look for its current submissions or contact page. Check the person’s role there too. An old directory entry, saved screenshot, or search result can help you find a lead, but it isn’t the final check.

Save the page address and the date you checked it. Note whether they want a form, an email, or another route, and whether they are accepting music now. If they say submissions are closed, wait. Don’t use a personal account to get around that instruction.

The right listening link can differ between outlets. KEXP asks for streaming and WAV download links rather than attachments. Fresh On The Net requires a track to be publicly available in full and worldwide, and does not accept private tracks. Read the rest of each outlet’s rules before submitting; these examples aren’t their complete requirements.

Spotify’s editorial song pitch is another distinct route: use Spotify for Artists for an upcoming, unreleased song. Once the song is live, it is no longer eligible for that song-pitch process. Don’t treat an editorial playlist as just another name on an email list.

Sources: KEXP: Submission routes, specialty shows, and required files · Fresh On The Net: Track availability and submission rules · Spotify for Artists: Editorial song pitching and eligibility

Prepare the right song links and press-kit files →

Use five checks to make your shortlist

Give each possible contact a quick check using the questions below. You don’t need a score out of 100. You need enough evidence to explain why a message makes sense.

If the role, music, and rules fit, prepare a pitch. If a detail is missing, keep researching. If the outlet clearly doesn’t cover this kind of release or doesn’t accept it, leave it off this release’s list. A famous name doesn’t cancel out a poor fit.

• Role: does this person or submission team handle the thing I’m asking for?
• Music: can I name a recent article, show, or project that explains the connection?
• Audience: does the sound, scene, or location fit the people they serve?
• Timing: is my release at a stage they accept, with time to meet any stated deadline?
• Route: have I checked the current submission instructions and prepared what they request?

A small shortlist, with a reason for each choice

Here’s a made-up example. Mira Lane is releasing Last Bus Home, an indie song, before a hometown show. The artist, release, outlets, and their policies in this example are fictional. Mira wants local coverage and relevant radio consideration.

She checks three possible places. Instead of collecting all three addresses and sending the same email, she records a different decision for each:

Turn a clear fit into a first pitch →

Save the reason, not just the address

For each contact you keep, save their role, the official source page, the date checked, your reason for the fit, and the next action. Add any deadline or submission restriction. That gives you enough context to pick up the work next week.

For Mira’s fictional column, a note could read: “Local release feature; covers new bands in our city; use the submission form; connect the single to the hometown show; prepare the listening link and short bio.” In your real note, add the actual source URL and check date.

In AirTrax, use contact notes and status to keep this context with the person, and connect relevant contacts to your release campaign. Check their current details before each new pitch. A saved contact record doesn’t mean someone has agreed to receive every future release.

Choose a first batch small enough that you can explain every inclusion. Three well-researched possibilities are a manageable starting exercise, not a promise of three replies. After sending, record the response and follow any instructions about further contact.

Decide when a follow-up makes sense →