What to send DJs with your promo (and how to follow up)

DJs receive more music than they can listen to. The promos that get played are the ones that are easy to say yes to: easy to open, easy to hear, easy to download, easy to tell apart. Here is what to put in the package, a message you can adapt, when to send it and how to follow up without becoming the producer they mute.

What to include

• A private stream they can play in one click, with no log-in. This is where they decide in thirty seconds.
• A high-quality download in the same place: WAV or AIFF, plus a 320 kbps MP3 if you like. Name the file “Artist – Title (Extended Mix).wav”.
• The version they need. An extended or club mix with a clean intro and outro is what DJs play. Radio edits are for radio.
• The basics: artist, title, version, BPM, key, length, label (or “unsigned”) and release date if you have one.
• Artwork, small. It helps your track stand out in a long list of promos.
• One line on why this DJ. “It sits next to the kind of tracks you played at your last few gigs” beats any amount of hype.

Leave out what slows them down: long press releases, a dozen attachments, or a link that asks them to sign up before they can listen.

A message you can adapt

Short wins. The DJ should know what it is and why it’s for them before they scroll.

Subject: Promo: Artist – Title (Extended Mix), for your sets Hi [name], I made this one with your sets in mind: [one line, e.g. "it sits next to the rolling tracks you played at X last month"]. Stream and download (WAV): [link] 126 BPM · A minor · 6:40 · unreleased, out on [label] in [month] / not signed yet If it works for you, I'd love to know where you play it. Thanks, [your name] · [Instagram handle]

That last line matters: it asks for the one thing you want to know, without asking for feedback forms or reviews. Adding your Instagram handle makes it easy for them, and for the people who film their sets, to tag you.

When to send it

• Four to eight weeks before release, so the track has a few weekends of gigs before it comes out.
• Early in the week. DJs plan their weekend sets midweek; a promo that arrives on a Saturday afternoon gets buried.
• Before a run of gigs if you know their schedule. A festival weekend or a tour is when they are looking for new music.
• In small groups, not all at once. Send to the DJs most likely to play it first; their support can help with the next group.

How to follow up

One follow-up, about a week or ten days later. Keep it lighter than the first message:

Hi [name], just making sure this reached you: [link]. No pressure at all. If it ends up in a set, I'd love to hear where. Thanks!

If there’s still no answer, stop. Silence is not always a no: many DJs play music they never reply about. Keep watching their gigs (our guide to finding Instagram clips shows how), and send them your next track when it is ready.

After a play

When you find a DJ playing your track, thank them. A short message with the link to the clip is enough: “Saw you played it at X on Saturday, thank you, that made my week.” It is good manners, it reminds them of the track before their next gig, and it puts your name first in their inbox next time.

Repost only with the poster’s permission, and credit them. If the video was filmed by a fan or the venue, they own it, not the DJ.

What not to do

• Group messages and mass tags. Each DJ should feel the promo was sent to them.
• Chasing more than once, or asking “did you play it yet?” every weekend.
• Sending files in DMs. A link to a stream and a download is all they need.
• Changing the track’s name halfway through. It makes plays much harder to spot in tracklists and comments.

Keep a send list

Write down who got the track, when, and which version. It takes a minute per send and it is the base of everything that follows: which accounts to watch, who to thank, and how many of the DJs you sent it to actually played it. Our guide on measuring a promo campaign shows what to do with it.