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| Emphyrio |
 Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:13 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2011
Posts: 1128
Location: Limerick
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Righto Gents, and possibly ladies.
When a band has recorded a demo/EP/album, obviously they're gonna wanna get it reviewed. We sent off our demo to a multitude of sites, mags etc. Now this was grand cos we bought a lightscribe CD burner so we were able to put the image on the disc and it didn't break the bank to print off the inlay, and we just put them in plastic sleeves for the most part, or if they were being sent overseas we put them in slimline jewel cases.
Basically it didn't cost us a fortune to get some feedback. Now, we are currently recording an album and quite frankly we're gonna have to beg, borrow and steal to pay for the recording/mastering/duplication. Obviously when we've the finished product, we'll again be looking for reviews etc but realistically we can't afford to send off CDs anywhere near the same extent as we were able to with the demo.
My questions then are:
1) how does one go about submitting the album in digital format. Can you do a digital format of the album?
2) Is there specific guidelines as to how this is done?
3) Is it an accepted format for sending stuff for review?
4) Any sites/publications where this is accepted instead of physical copies of the CD?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated |
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| GOATLORD |
| Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:23 pm |
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 9046
Location: Northern Ireland
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| We did it via email - asking the question first to a load of webzines before submission. It is really a case of trawling the net for the right sites. It is time consuming but not costly which is the name of the game |
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| Emphyrio |
| Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:30 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2011
Posts: 1128
Location: Limerick
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GOATLORD wrote: We did it via email - asking the question first to a load of webzines before submission. It is really a case of trawling the net for the right sites. It is time consuming but not costly which is the name of the game
that's kinda what we were thinkin. Bit of a pain in the hole alright but if it saves a few quid... Thanks dude |
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| GOATLORD |
| Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:58 pm |
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 9046
Location: Northern Ireland
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| Yep its a pain in the hole but a necessary evil. |
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| deeeznuuuts |
| Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 7:32 pm |
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Joined: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 3660
Location: Costa Del Larne
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| just find a good hosting space for your album download with presspack |
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| balor |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:17 am |
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Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 868
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I use digital promo package for my label, more so than actual standard issue press packs.
Personally I much prefer this method when it comes to costings for obvious reasons. If your band has a website you should be able to host the album on your own server. I have a .rar file in which the reviewer downloads which included a lossless copy of he album with artwork & .pdf of the bio and usual info all inside it.
Don't ask them - Just email them introducing yourselves and tell them your aim with a short bio in the email with the direct link to download the file.
I found it's really only the one man webzine's that are really anal about getting the free CD. Don't be afraid to say no to them about getting a physical copy. Explain the costings issue too them if necessary. |
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| Emphyrio |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:56 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2011
Posts: 1128
Location: Limerick
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balor wrote: I use digital promo package for my label, more so than actual standard issue press packs.
Personally I much prefer this method when it comes to costings for obvious reasons. If your band has a website you should be able to host the album on your own server. I have a .rar file in which the reviewer downloads which included a lossless copy of he album with artwork & .pdf of the bio and usual info all inside it.
Don't ask them - Just email them introducing yourselves and tell them your aim with a short bio in the email with the direct link to download the file.
I found it's really only the one man webzine's that are really anal about getting the free CD. Don't be afraid to say no to them about getting a physical copy. Explain the costings issue too them if necessary.
Thanx dude, we do actually have a website and the bassist has done this "lossless" file stuff (I don't understand all this lark, but he does keep us informed) with the demo and will with the album tracks too. We prob just need to make a couple of very minor adjustments to the website so by the sounds of it. Thanks for the help |
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| sirocco_jim |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:29 pm |
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Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Posts: 2894
Location: Cork/Waterford
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| doing this for sirocco's new release at the moment - I've set up a login area on our site where the reviewer can login in and get a stream of the full album + pdf artwork, bio, press pack, etc.. seems to be the way forward |
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| jobrok1 |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:53 pm |
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Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 1878
Location: www.irish-metal.blogspot.ie
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I've been emailed a few dropbox links to presspacks from bands.
Martin did it for 3HC's EP... Have a natter with him about it. |
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| strong reaction |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:23 pm |
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Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 832
Location: Belfast
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We sent out emails which had a link to our dropbox folder containing a bio/press blurb, mp3's, photos, upcoming dates.
Didn't run into any major problems. |
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| Emphyrio |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:59 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2011
Posts: 1128
Location: Limerick
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jobrok1 wrote: I've been emailed a few dropbox links to presspacks from bands.
Martin did it for 3HC's EP... Have a natter with him about it.
I actually did on Sat night John, I'll get Mike to have a look at sortin it out. That'd be his area of expertise |
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| Emphyrio |
| Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 2:42 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2011
Posts: 1128
Location: Limerick
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| just a quick bump on this to see if anything else comes to light. Ta! |
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| lisatiffany |
| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 3:33 am |
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Joined: 10 Aug 2012
Posts: 171
Location: Dublin, Ireland - Lisa @ soundshootermusic.com
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Not directly involved to your topic but it's kind of similar. Anyways I used to have to send physical copies of my portfolio to different companies like MCD or record labels/band managers that had gigs coming up that I wanted to shoot. Now everything is digital and I've made up different pdf press packs and portfolios instead of many physical copies. A lot of the bands I've worked with do more than half of their submissions digitally and some reviewers seem fine with that.
It all depends on how well and financed the band actually are, if it's a well known signed group then reviewers expect physical CD's but ifs its not then they know to accept digital copies. I finished a CD cover and artwork for someone recently and it was all sent off into a dropbox along with the audio. It's becoming a lot more popular to use dropboxes and login downloads for reviewers. Like someone said don't be afraid to send digital versions because of costs, a good digital presspack can say a lot about a band. Usually a typical band presspack involves 1 A4 page about the band and 3 to 4 similar sized photos that can be used with the review should the reviewer need them.
What I usually do is build a 7 to 8 page press pack that has an eye catching cover, just enough information on the inside cover to show experience, I list magazines and papers I've been published in, then after that it's a few pages of different subject matter with pictures relating to the topic. I've heard from some sites that reviewers find digital copies to be even more professional and accessible because they can listen to it on so many devices. If you do go digital remember to have whoever is ripping the music encode the basic data of the track into the file, I've been given e.p's from bands and once I put them in the computer I realized they weren't named so I had no idea what track I was listening to. I was recently asked if I'd like to contribute and review material on a Metal site so I'll know more about what to expect if I go for it. It's a good topic that should probably get a few bumps every now and then given that so many bands are probably wondering the same thing. |
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