I guess everyone that is an intake in some way always gets these hopeless people. We actually speak about them when we meet and have always fun stories about the weirdest ones. I’m talking about send-outs.

As a former radio programmer and now as a booker and playlister, I get quite many emails each week from different artists who want me to play their songs. To be exact just this week I counted 90 emails, and I’m pretty small so if I was a programmer on a bigger thing, I can guess we are talking over 200 emails a week or more.

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from an artist that released a single. The problem here is that instead of reading the guidelines and using the form we use they straight send the mail to my inbox. By doing that they ended up in my spam folder. Even if they wouldn’t have ended up in the spam folder I would never open a mp3 straight from an artist. It is as stupid as opening an attached file from a spammer, a pretty good way to get some nasty virus into your computer. Also, it’s a good way to get your inbox totally clogged with big files that you didn’t ask for. These Muppets did it even worse, they send an mp3 and a wave and a super big press picture and bio. In this case the worst thing, they put the text as a PICTURE. In my program, it didn’t show since they had some strange endings on the picture as well. If I would read it I have to download it. First rule NEVER send the file straight into the inbox, put everything in a link. The second rule, check if the playlist, magazine, or radio station has a system to receive files. Most actually have and tell that on their homepage what they need and how to send stuff. Today also most use a system like Groover or Submithub.

Since it ended up in my spam box I never saw it. Now they sent out a reminder about the first mail. Since that didn’t have an attachment it went through. There they didn’t follow the second rule. They asked in the first email for an answer if I was going to play the music. Here are some statistics that I did last half year. During a month I listen to around 400 songs. Out of those I can easily say that 350 is not even up to standard. Out of the 50 that is in the standard around 10 make it to the list. I probably would need an extra week each month just to write back the word, no to everyone. I know in the statistics since I have been an intake on Groover and Submithub that just writing answers to everyone took at least an hour a day, but then I got paid for doing so, and then you are sure to get an answer. I can also tell that those I answered over 50% answered back with something, another song, a question or a thank you. If that was my mailbox, I then would add over 250 emails more. Have a lot of silly discussions with artists who don’t understand that their music is mediocre and won’t fit on the playlist. Me answering to everyone that I won’t play your music would lead to a mail hell. This is why silence is the big no and the rule is taht you can’t expect an answer of not playing the song if you not paying for it.

You can send a reminder. To be honest, can I see on the email in the text if it’s worth listening to. If you put it as a picture, it’s a good reason for skipping it. The text itself gives a lot away, writing about how unique and a new wave of music and how good it is usually is a good sign that it sucks. No achievements just that they get new fans from around the world, well 25 subscribers on YouTube I won’t really call a lot of people, after over two weeks out and still not over 1000 streams on Spotify seems like this minimalistic fan base of 12 people doesn’t seems to care. Back to the reminder, don’t do like this artist asking if we listened to the song and if it fitted the station. That is just rude. Instead, when you remind people to use a positive message with an achievement that is relevant, then we might look into it. Instead of just sending a cold email, do some research, in this case, the music was not even something they would play. The artist hasn’t checked out what our programming is about. The third rule is to do some research and don’t try to shoot at everything,

By Peter Åstedt