Going through submissions can be really tedious though. I also know how annoying it is to send out emails and have them ignored. So, to save us all a bit of time and energy, here's a rough guide to the best way to get me to pay attention to what you want to send me.
Engage lazy entitled music blogger mode, where I make a list of requests even though I'm not nearly important enough to be doing so.
The best thing to do is send me an email at jim@ayetunes.org.uk . Easy, huh?
Submitting Music
Things to do:
First of all, you don't have to be a Scottish band to get in touch. The focus of the blog is still many Scottish artists, but if I like you I don't care where you come from. These days Aye Tunes is more of a Scottish based music blog than a blog about Scottish music.The best thing to do is send me an email at jim@ayetunes.org.uk . Easy, huh?
If you are only sending a couple of songs go ahead and attach them, if there's more than that then upload them somewhere and email over a download link. There's loads of places you can upload a zip file to without much hassle, personally I like Dropbox, but others are fine too. Please don't attach a zip file to your email though, Gmail eats attached zips. I'll never get it, you'll think I just ignored it.
You can send me stuff via Soundcloud, but if you do then it's best to drop me an email too, since my Soundcloud notifications don't get checked that frequently, and it's easy for things to get overlooked there.
Giving me access to a download is much preferable to a stream. I like to wander away from the computer sometimes, so if I can take your music with me to listen to it that's great. If you don't want to give me a download for free (which is of course fair enough) then send me somewhere I can stream the songs easily. Again, Soundcloud is good for this, but even better is Bandcamp, where you can try and sell me something too.
If you want to send me a download or a stream of something, please just send it. If you email asking me if you can send me a link I'll probably forget to reply, and we'll both miss out.
CDs. You can offer to send me a CD, but I usually prefer to hear what is on it first. This reduces the chances of you wasting time and money on sending me a CD I don't like, which just lays in a pile somewhere in my house. If you still want to send me a physical copy go ahead and ask for my address.
If you are sending me something for review it is handy, though not essential, to include a wee bit about yourself or your band. A quick bio, any useful links, that kind of thing. Oh, and do try and include details on the release, most importantly the release date and where it will be available from, what format, etc. Don't leave me guessing, I'll just get it wrong, or not get round to checking! Your website address, Facebook, Twitter, all that kind of thing are handy too.
You can send me stuff via Soundcloud, but if you do then it's best to drop me an email too, since my Soundcloud notifications don't get checked that frequently, and it's easy for things to get overlooked there.
Giving me access to a download is much preferable to a stream. I like to wander away from the computer sometimes, so if I can take your music with me to listen to it that's great. If you don't want to give me a download for free (which is of course fair enough) then send me somewhere I can stream the songs easily. Again, Soundcloud is good for this, but even better is Bandcamp, where you can try and sell me something too.
If you want to send me a download or a stream of something, please just send it. If you email asking me if you can send me a link I'll probably forget to reply, and we'll both miss out.
CDs. You can offer to send me a CD, but I usually prefer to hear what is on it first. This reduces the chances of you wasting time and money on sending me a CD I don't like, which just lays in a pile somewhere in my house. If you still want to send me a physical copy go ahead and ask for my address.
If you are sending me something for review it is handy, though not essential, to include a wee bit about yourself or your band. A quick bio, any useful links, that kind of thing. Oh, and do try and include details on the release, most importantly the release date and where it will be available from, what format, etc. Don't leave me guessing, I'll just get it wrong, or not get round to checking! Your website address, Facebook, Twitter, all that kind of thing are handy too.
This one is really important: tag your music files properly. I complain about this a lot of Twitter etc, and most of the time people probably just think I'm being a snob, but it really is something you should make sure you've done. I import a batch of submissions to my music library in one go, it can be anything from a day to a week's worth, and there's almost always something that turns up with no information. If your mp3 is tagged with a track title along the lines of "Final master", or it doesn't include the band name in the artist field then I'm left with music that I don't know what it is, or who it is by. That's really annoying, and more likely to get the track deleted than me pour over umpteen emails to work out who sent me it, what the song is called, and so on. So yeah, tag your files. It is easy to do and there's plenty of guides on the internet if you are struggling. If you still can't work it out then ask me how to do it. Ask really nicely and I might even do it for you.
Things not to do:
Be a dick. That should go without saying, but every now and then someone gets the bright idea that I'll pay more attention if they act like an arsehole to me. I won't.Show a complete lack of research. Try not to start your emails with "Hi Ayetunes". Aye Tunes isn't my name, Jim is. It says so on every post. You might be sending the same form email to every blogger around, but at least do a little checking on things like that first. You can call me Mr. Tunes if you really want to, though if you do I'll spend the next ten minutes imaging I run my own mobile disco, and may gloss over the contents of your email.
Send me straight to MySpace. I really don't like using MySpace, if that is the only option I have for listening to tracks from the EP you want me to review I more than likely won't bother. Apart from anything else, have you ever listened to your music on MySpace? It sounds awful! MySpace is a last resort for me, please try and give me somewhere else to listen to your music and get some info.
Likewise, don't send me to straight to iTunes, I don't buy anything from it. Again, if you want to lure me into paying for your new release right away, Bandcamp is your best bet.
That should cover the main things, any questions go ahead and ask.
I do my best to reply to all my emails, but it takes a while sometimes. If you think I've missed something feel free to remind me after a week or so. I can't review everything I'm sent, there just aren't enough hours in the day, but I do listen to it at least.
If I don't like something I likely won't review it, unless I can offer constructive criticism. Don't take it personally, again it comes down to available time, I'd rather use my time to write about something I enjoyed than something I didn't.
Also bear in mind that a lot of the Scottish bloggers talk to each other, if you bitch about us to the others, there's a good chance we'll hear about it!
Videos:
There's been a huge increase in the number of people sending me links to their new video over the past few months. The thing is, I have quite an old decrepit computer, and it doesn't play well with streaming video. I don't really have anywhere to put them on the blog either. I'm not saying don't send me your handsome new video for the single you've put out, I'm just saying don't expect me to do anything with it, including watching it. Sorry.
Gig Guide Submissions:
I don't do a regular gig guide any more. You are still welcome to tell me what you are up to though. Drop an email to gigs@ayetunes.org.uk with the details and I'll have a look, but it likely won't go on the blog, sorry.Also note that while I'm happy to listen to music from anywhere in the World, I'm not going to travel the World to go to your gig, so sending me details about a US tour, a gig in Sydney, or even just something in London is largely pointless.