Music Blog Premiere is a buzzword in the music PR space. Many musicians want to get their tracks premiered on music blogs. If you take a spin around top music blogs you’ll see exclusive music blog premieres pop up in headlines quite a bit. An amended version of this blog post can be found in Ariel’s book The Ultimate Guide to Music Publicity. Available for purchase now!

We’re attracted to the word Premiere because it sounds fancy, regal, and quite literally, exclusive. In the arena of emerging artists, premieres are often seen as some sort of magical key to unlocking popularity. However, few artists who ask for them understand exactly what they are, how to get them, and the reality of their value in the grand scheme of things.

The following is a guide for everything you need to know about music blog premieres.

What a Music Blog Premiere IS:

A premiere is offering blog-exclusive content (i.e. a track, music video, EP stream) in advance of its release. The music blog can host solely on their site for an agreed-upon period (usually 24 hours). It can be an excellent tool that can be leveraged within a larger strategy.

What a Music Blog Premiere IS NOT:

A magical key to unlock massive amounts of plays and attention. Sadly, we’ve noticed that even though it’s nice to have a music premiere, they don’t attract a massive amount of buzz.

What You Need for a Music Blog Premiere:

You cannot get a premiere if you have no exclusive content to give. If you have an unreleased track, music video, or album that you are willing to stream, you might consider a premiere as part of your release strategy. Note that other content (photos, lyric videos, behind the scenes extras) are not usually content that a blog has any interest in premiering. The release of those assets requires different tactics.

In addition to unreleased content, you will need patience, a strong familiarity with music blogs in your genre, and a sense of where you are in the zeitgeist.

The Logistics of Getting A Music Premiere:

Talent and creative genius aside, everything is easier when you are connected to the right people. This is why hiring a well-connected publicist can be a valuable decision. This is especially helpful if you’re looking to secure a premiere on influential sites. They will give you what you are looking for. 

Your mid-tier blog is featuring about 2% of the material they receive on a daily basis. Not all of these submissions are for a premiere. If you want to stand out in an editor’s 2,000 email deep inbox, it helps to have someone reaching out on your behalf who already has a great relationship with them.

You MUST Pitch One At A Time

Whether you have a publicist or are pitching for a premiere yourself, which is entirely possible – the process is very similar. Due to the fact that you are offering exclusive content to a site, you must pitch each outlet one by one.

In other words, it is very bad form to offer two sites the same content simultaneously. You must wait to either hear back or feel like you’ve given the site enough time to get back, before reaching out to the next site.

Start with your loftier goal sites and work your way down. How long you wait between pitches depends on your relationship with the site, your past experience reaching out, it’s size, and the probability that you will be featured. A great music publicist will have a good understanding of these things.

NOTE: Not all sites participate in premieres. Many have soured from them as the pressure from publicists and labels and managers and artists became annoying and overwhelming.

How Valuable Are Music Blog Premieres?

As mentioned previously, a premiere can be a great component in a larger PR strategy. Think about your track, your video, your EP and how you want to utilize them. Each asset is not in need of a premiere. A good strategy is looking at want you have to work with and then figuring out the best way to move the pawns to achieve your ultimate goal.

If you’re an up and coming artist looking to build cachet, landing a premiere on an influential site can be a great way to build up your stature. Offering a blog exclusive content is an excellent way to get a site to feature you, who normally wouldn’t. There are quite a few sites who will only feature an artist they’ve never heard of through a premiere. If one of your goals is to get a particular site’s stamp of approval and tap into their readership and social following, offering them a premiere might be the best way to do it.

That being said… 

Scoring a premiere on a major site is often times, not the be-all and end-all if you want to cast a wide net and get listens and traction. The site that premieres your track has lots of prestige and a large devout following. But remember that your premiere will not be the main attraction on the site. Your premiere may not even be on the homepage for a full 24 hours. With those stats in mind, it’s easy to see the necessity for an effective social strategy coupled with lined up features for after the premiere date.

A music premiere can also expand the lifespan of a release. Building this into your overall marketing strategy is key. If you premiere an album stream one day, and a week later make the album available for purchase. That’s twice the amount of times you can hype up a release on your social channels.

Resources to Help Find a Premiere

Music Submit

Music Submit offers ways to submit your music to college radio, internet webcasts, and FM radio stations in addition to getting your music reviewed and published in print and on internet music publications. They assist independent musicians in acquiring interviews with radio DJs and Q&As with music bloggers, and makes blog posts on their website to aid musicians to reach potential fans.

And, it’s a very simple process to join.

First, create your music press kit. When uploading, make sure to include your songs, pictures, and other materials that go along with your music. Next, submit your songs to radio stations and blogs for your music genre. This exposure is great for artists of any caliber.

This is a paid service, but do not fret! Music Submit offers different prices depending on the services you want to use. To start, you can always do their “per submission” option. By just paying per submission, you get to choose 6 or more radio stations to submit your music to. Then there is a monthly subscription. The price for this subscription is $15 per month where your music will be submitted to the “Best Shot” music webizines, radio stations, music communities, and music ‘zines every month! Music Submit also offers three “Best Shot” subscriptions; “Best Shot” 40, “Best Shot” 100, and “Best Shot” 200. The prices for these subscriptions are $40, $75, and $120 with an under $1 fee per submission. 

The Indie Bible

The legendary Indie Bible has been going strong for 20 years. It’s a trusted resource for independent artists of all genres, providing assistance with music promotion, record deals, music reviews, radio airplay, distribution and radio promotion. The Indie Bible is over 1500 pages and is organized into 16 Sections. Each section is sorted by GENRE and GEOGRAPHIC location.

If you need assistance getting worldwide exposure on a limited budget, The Indie Bible can help! IN FACT, we have partnered with The Indie Bible to help get your career to the next level in this Ultimate Indie Bundle!

SubmitHub

Yep, you can find a premiere via SubmitHub! All you have to do is upload your next release onto the platform AT LEAST a week before your expected release date, ideally with a private Soundcloud link.

When you go to submit your song, look to the left hand side. Under “Additional Filters,” you will find an option that says “Is this a premiere request?” By selecting this box, your submission options will be filtered to blogs and playlists who do premieres.

Need help finding the right premiere home for you? Get the Cyber PR Indie Bible Bundle Today!