By Mark Frieser

 

After getting the hundredth poorly executed email pitch in my inbox this morning, this time from a major sublabel that should know better, I feel the need to share a few quick pointers on some ways you can get your email opened and your music listened to by influencers and potential buyers.

1.  Have a good subject line.

This means the subject line should be clear, short and to the point if you want your email opened.  Open rates for entertainment-business emails overall area around 20%, and a lot lower for influencers and buyers who get upwards of 500 emails a day.

The potential reader should know what you’re asking them to look at/listen/open before they open it.  “Hi,” “Music for You,” and other vagaries won’t do anything for you but get your email tossed in the trash.

Something like:

“Great new (insert genre) music from (insert label/artist/publisher name”

would get me to open the email.

Most of the subject lines I see don’t give me what’s inside the email, and as I’m a busy person, if I can’t get an idea of why I should open your email (especially if I don’t know you), I wont open it.

2.  Remember who you’re sending to.

I get a lot of emails sent to me but addressed to other people and I’m amazed that people would send something to me – to my email address which clearly states my name  – and think somehow it’s going to miracle itself into the inbox of whichever major music supervisor, brand manager or agency person they’re looking to contact.

It won’t.

If you want to get emails to a music supervisor, agency person, whatsoever, do some research, find their social media, official website and keep looking until you find a relevant contact.

And if you can’t find one, then call (yes, I said call) their office – ask to speak to them and tell them why.  Then ask for an email to submit a music.  The fact you made all this effort may actually get you remembered in a good way and you’ll be more successful then if you send it to the wrong person.

3.  Know your audience.

This is a must.  When you’re approaching someone, IMDB them, look at the projects they’re working on, and then target the email you’re sending accordingly so that your music helps make their job easier.

And be honest with yourself – listen to the music used in a show or similar projects and think – is my music really the best fit? If yes, great – if not, then wait for another opportunity or find another target.

Your task is to make the job of the music supervisor easier, and if you provide music that works for what they are working on, you’re making it that much easier for everyone to do business.

4.  K.I.S.S.

One of the most crucial points – make it really simple for the potential buyer to listen to and use your music as a temp track so they can share its “syncability” with others.

What does this mean?  In the body of your email, there should be a streaming link (soundcloud preferably – my opinion) and a link to a mp3 they can download.

The MP3 link is crucial because it gives them the option of getting the track so they can test sync it to the project.  And the streaming link makes it easy to get a quick listen and to share with others.

5.  Include Your Contact Info.

It sounds simple, but people forget to leave their name and phone in their emails far too often.  And that’s too bad, because you should give buyers as many options possible to get in touch if they want to use your music.  So leave your name, phone and email at the least.

What else?  I think the above are the key points you need to cover – photos, videos are window dressing – nice but not necessary.

What’s most important is to:

  • Be clear in your email subject
  • Address your audience knowledgeably and succinctly
  • Give them a way to easily listen to your music
  • Include your contact information

And while the above may not guarantee you a sync, it’ll give you a better chance at a fair hearing.