Hi all, this is probably going to seem like a really stupid question, but does anyone know how to get promos from the record companies? I guess you have to be a professional DJ or work at a record company, but how do I prove that? Surely if I said I work for a music website that could count? And do you have to sign up individually for this with each record label, or is there a service that sends them out... I put this here because it's dance promos and remix promos of pop tracks that I really want to get, but if you want to move it it's fine...

what for? a website?

 

most labels actually contact the sites/blogs/magazines/whatever rather than the other way round, most labels i know just send them out themselves, but i guess if you got in contact with the labels themselves then maybe you can get on their promo lists.

I just want them tbh, I like CDs :lol: And I have DJed at the odd party. I'm starting a blog soon, but I doubt it'll be big enough anytime soon to get stuff sent to me. Does anyone who writes for a blog or has a website here get them?

I just want them tbh, I like CDs :lol: And I have DJed at the odd party. I'm starting a blog soon, but I doubt it'll be big enough anytime soon to get stuff sent to me. Does anyone who writes for a blog or has a website here get them?

 

yes, me, not Dance ones though.

 

you have no hope getting them if you just want them, your better off tracking them down from people who sell them afterwards, i know record shops and fairs that often have loads of promos for sale.

I know that too, I'm just trying to blag them, dirty chav that I am :kink: I guess I could start reviewing them or something. It just pisses me off that there are mixes of tracks that are never released apart from on promos.

if you know the tracks you want you can probaly find the mp3s of them if you dig deep enough.

It's not the SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME :snif: :lol:

how is it not the same, promos arent terribly exciting 90% of them are blank covers just with the song title and record label on, in fact a lot of labels e-mail promos rather than mail them anyway. if you are that desperate you need to find people who sell them after they have recieved and no longer have use for them anymore.

When I used to write reviews for a website, I used to contact PR companies if I wanted promo CDs by certain acts. I was sent some really cool ones - Florence + The Machine before they became big, Slow Club, Elle S'appelle, Rosie Oddie, Daruso, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, The Indelicates, Rod Thomas (Bright Light Bright Light), but when you're on mailing lists you do have to sift through a lot of rubbish that they send out.

Check your inbox Martin :kink:

 

As for Chris, I know what a promo is. I just like CDs, and unreleased stuff. It's a bit OCD I guess :lol:

extremely ocd, they are worth nothing, if what bothers you is unreleased tracks you can find them online, i am a fan of physical releases but in the end having a blank sleeve is nothing special when for a lot less trouble you can find the track online.

Get in contact with your nearest Student Radio station and try to get a slot on one of their shows (if you're not a student, don't worry, quite a few of them don't require you to be a student to join, I know Queen's Radio doesn't). Then join the music team of the station (if they have one), who deal with incoming CDs, and see if you can have a look through any of the CDs that have been sent in over the years. Queen's Radio has at least 5 boxes of CDs submitted to us since it began in 2004, whilst KFKX, the student radio station I'm presenting whilst I'm in the States, has an entire room dedicated to submitted CDs, tapes and vinyls (it goes back that far).

 

Also, if you get a radio show, you can feel confident in contacting artists/labels for submissions. When I first started, I heard the song 'Seattle' by The BPA, I sent a friendly MySpace message to Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim), asking him if I could get a download of the song so I could play it on my show, as it hadn't been released yet. To my surprise, he sent out CDs in the post of not only the BPA's singles to date, but also of other artists on Southern Fried records, such as The Whip and Audio Bullys (which I made a special effort to play on my show). The moral of the story, if you don't ask, you don't receive. One thing though, be sure to OK it with the people at the station, if you go behind their back they might take it the wrong way.

 

Hope that's of some use to you.

Thanks, that's a really good idea, would love to get into radio anyway :)