Sending Promos: DJ Lists, Segmentation, DJ Support and Promo Pools.

A release without a support campaign is a published track waiting around. DJs are on the other side of the equation: the people who premiere it on radio, test it in clubs and turn it into a tracklist entry. Sending promos to that audience is a job of two halves—building the DJ list and segmenting the mailing well—and a third that almost nobody does: tracking support to know what is working.

This guide covers the entire circuit, including promo pools, giving music away for an email or follow, and the consent and privacy obligations that come with any contact list. The rule organising everything is to send to a few people thoughtfully and with data, rather than many people blindly in a chain.

How to Send Promos

How to send promos boils down to one sentence: a promo is an invitation, not a bombardment. A professional submission has four elements:

1. A finished, mastered track. DJs test it alongside released records; if it sits several dB below them, it is discarded before the drop.
2. A one-paragraph email. Who you are, what the track is (genre, BPM, key, date and label), why that particular person, and the link. No attachments, no biography.
3. A private link with downloading. One click to listen, WAV for anyone wanting a file, without compulsory registration or an unnecessary password.
4. Timing. Six to eight weeks before the date for serious campaigns; two or three if the release is already close.

The email subject should contain the artist and title, and little else. As with demos, follow up only once, after two weeks, replying to the same thread.

DJ List and Segmentation

The DJ list is not a collection of famous names: it is the group of people who already play something similar to what you produce. Build it with data, not intuition. Three sources, in this order:

• People who have already supported you. Your previous track, the label’s track, your collaborators’ tracks.
• People who play your label. The same logic, extended to the rest of the catalogue.
• People who play similar records. The three or four releases your track would compete with in a set.

That produces twenty or forty names with a genuine likelihood. For each one, ask what public information is available: weekly show, club where they play, platform they use. Segmentation divides them into subgroups: by sound, channel and relationship level. A radio mailing is not a club mailing; a collaborator does not receive the same email as an unfamiliar address.

Segmentation also determines timing: scheduling for the recipient’s time zone is a detail promo managers include as standard and one that multiplies opens.

The table above compares the four channels you can use to reach that list. Combining them is usual: direct submissions for key names, the label’s list for the rest, and a pool or gate according to the aim.

DJ Support and Tracking Support

DJ support is the verifiable fact that someone is playing your track: radio, club, festival or podcast. It is the metric that actually opens doors, because it turns a release into social evidence and provides material for the next campaign.

How to obtain and measure it:

• Radio and podcasts first. They publish a tracklist the same day and usually accept submissions: each broadcast is documented immediately.
• Club tracks with community tracklists. These appear when someone identifies the track, sometimes as an ID for weeks.
• Direct records. Ask supporters to share the set’s date and location, and thank them personally.

Tracking support means putting that information in a sheet: who, when, where and which version. Three habits make it sustainable: search for the track in tracklist services during release week, review broadcasts by the people you sent the promo to, and record confirmed support to cite in the next mailing (“already playing on X’s show”).

That is where support becomes circular: a DJ named in your next promo receives the recognition that makes them listen to your material again.

Promo Pools

Promo pools are paid subscriptions distributing new releases to DJs and professionals in a genre. Their promise is reach and speed: upload the material once and it reaches hundreds of subscribers who have already shown interest. Their limit is also clear: your email competes with dozens of submissions that day and reaches people who may not play your sound.

What to check when choosing a pool:

• Specialisation. A dance or club pool does not work for a jazz release, and vice versa.
• Subscriber verification. A filter for active DJs, rather than only consumer accounts.
• Tools. Per-recipient watermarking, listening and download tracking, and returned feedback.
• Licence conditions. What the files may be used for and what happens if you cancel.

A pool does not replace direct submissions: it complements them. The usual hierarchy is direct contact for existing supporters, the label’s list for its network and a pool to expand reach. If you also want the full ecosystem of pools and licences, DJ Pools and Promotional Platforms develops it.

Giving Music Away for an Email or Follow

The complete exchange is giving music away for an email or follow: you make a track—or a pack of clips—available in return for the listener taking an action: following you, liking you or leaving their email. It is a download gate, and it works because the exchange is immediate and visible to both sides.

What works in practice:

• Give a real incentive. An exclusive edit, a clean intro or a short pack; not the complete single if it is not out yet.
• Ask for one action. Each additional point of friction lowers conversion; one clear action works better than three optional ones.
• Deliver without delay. The link appears as soon as the condition is met.
• Explain the subscription. Someone leaving their email expects your releases, and also expects to be able to unsubscribe.

Its value is not only the download: it is the list. A release with a thousand new followers and five hundred emails is a foundation for the next one. That is why the gate is always connected to an artist page and a sequence of messages with the release date, as described in Free Music and Download Gates.

Consent and Privacy

Every contact list involves processing personal data, and that is where consent and privacy come in. Collecting DJs’ or listeners’ emails requires four basic commitments aligned with the General Data Protection Regulation:

1. Inform people. Who you are, what you will do with the data and how long you will keep it.
2. Free, specific consent. No pre-ticked boxes or adding someone who only requested a download.
3. Make opting out easy. A visible unsubscribe link in every mailing, working without demanding explanations.
4. Minimise. Ask only for what you need: email and, perhaps, a name and genre preferences.

Applied to promos: sending your track to a DJ you already talk to is one thing; importing five hundred internet addresses is quite another. The first is a professional relationship; the second is the fast route to a complaint and a blocked domain.

With a clean list, segmented mailings and an up-to-date support record, the circuit is complete: from demo to contract, distribution to release, and received promos to sent promos.

Next Step

This is the end of the release circuit. If you want to strengthen the foundation of everything else—presentation, digital presence and press materials—return to the branding and press kit guide.