Members rlm297 Posted September 5, 2009 Members Share Posted September 5, 2009 Could someone please recommend a few places that would review an independent "retail ready" CD? How can a band that's not in the majors proactively garner a large number of reviews? Do music magazines/websites have "No CDs Welcome" policies just as A&R guys do, or do they mostly welcome CDs for submission? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dthraco Posted September 7, 2009 Members Share Posted September 7, 2009 Most major towns have some sort of local paper that can do reviews. Fanzines and stuff do it too. You might find a few places that take a fee for a review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Inazone Posted September 8, 2009 Members Share Posted September 8, 2009 It also depends on genre. For example, "underground" genres like certain types of metal, hardcore and punk get less attention from the mainstream media than pop and R&B, but have quite a bit of Internet presence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matximus Posted September 8, 2009 Members Share Posted September 8, 2009 Magazines are dead. Find a Web site. There are scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZigZagWanderer Posted September 28, 2009 Members Share Posted September 28, 2009 The Indie Bible is a pretty good source for magazines and websites that will review stuff. I don't think anyone minds getting unsolicited review copies. Most of the ones you send out will be ignored, but you will get some reviews. Note also that you will get bad ones, so you have to keep that in mind. I love reading reviews of stuff I've worked on, and I'm always surprised at what people write. You never know who will love it and who will hate it. Here's a set of reviews of CDs my band has put out over the past few years: www.hernextfriend.com/press.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted September 29, 2009 Members Share Posted September 29, 2009 You might find a few places that take a fee for a review. I do some writing for this site: www.reviewyou.com It costs $35 and you get a 500 word review by a professional writer. The review is posted on their website, that you can send people a link to, and also reprint it for use in your promo package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ronan Murphy Posted September 30, 2009 Members Share Posted September 30, 2009 Two ways to get there. Do the legwork and find writers that you think might be into what you do and find a way to get to them directly or you could find a good indie publicist. One of my indie (no label at all) clients got a write up in "Entertainment Weekly". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted September 30, 2009 Moderators Share Posted September 30, 2009 I do some writing for this site: www.reviewyou.com It costs $35 and you get a 500 word review by a professional writer. The review is posted on their website, that you can send people a link to, and also reprint it for use in your promo package. so anyone who ponies up $35 can get a 500 word review? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted September 30, 2009 Members Share Posted September 30, 2009 so anyone who ponies up $35 can get a 500 word review? Basically, yes. When I started writing for them a few months ago, I asked "what happens if I get a CD to review that is really not very good?" They said to be truthful, but try to be constructive in your criticism. So far, I've reviewed about a half dozen albums and they've all been great (luckily). They have writers who specialize in various genres and try to assign CD's to appropriate writers so that someone who writes about classical music would not be reviewing a heavy metal album, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted October 1, 2009 Moderators Share Posted October 1, 2009 Basically, yes. When I started writing for them a few months ago, I asked "what happens if I get a CD to review that is really not very good?" They said to be truthful, but try to be constructive in your criticism. So far, I've reviewed about a half dozen albums and they've all been great (luckily). They have writers who specialize in various genres and try to assign CD's to appropriate writers so that someone who writes about classical music would not be reviewing a heavy metal album, for example. how do I get a gig like that? I'm doing it here for free all the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackwatch Posted October 1, 2009 Members Share Posted October 1, 2009 I'm thinking the same thing Daddy, 6 or more reviews a day and I could just about make it....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjrake Posted October 3, 2009 Members Share Posted October 3, 2009 I do some writing for this site: www.reviewyou.com It costs $35 and you get a 500 word review by a professional writer. The review is posted on their website, that you can send people a link to, and also reprint it for use in your promo package. interesting. i can see why some of us here would question this, but just checked out the site and it seems legit. some of your testimonials are from industries i respect (like the founder of CDBaby). -PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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