TL;DR Quick Summary
Cyber PR founder Ariel Hyatt explains how SubmitHub credits actually work, shares what to expect from curator feedback, and interviews SubmitHub founder Jason Grishkoff on how artists should approach the platform.
Table of Contents
Is SubmitHub worth paying for independent music promotion?
If you are trying to get publicity or on playlists, you’ve probably already heard of SubmitHub. But if you haven’t, it’s a platform that lets you submit your music for a small fee to music bloggers, playlisters, and tastemakers who can help give your music exposure.
If you’ve read my book, The Ultimate Guide to Music Publicity, you’ll see founder Jason Grishkoff quoted a few times. I asked him a LOT of questions that didn’t make it into the book but add excellent insight if you are curious about SubmitHub.
Before we get to the interview, something I want to say up front.
Artists come to me deflated about SubmitHub all the time. Two complaints, and both are legitimate. The first is rejection, over and over, which stings when you paid for it. The second is conflicting feedback, where one curator says the vocal is buried and the next says the vocal is too loud, and you end up with no idea what to believe.
We have been using SubmitHub since it launched, so I will tell you the truth about both. Rejection is the normal outcome, not a verdict on your song. And conflicting feedback is what happens when you are getting opinions from a lot of individual people with different ears rather than a considered read on your record.
This is also where a publicist earns their fee. Someone who works with these curators regularly knows who actually covers what, who is currently responsive, and who is going to pass no matter how good your song is. That knowledge means fewer credits spent learning by trial and error, and it means the submissions you do make go to people likely to say yes. If you are going to spend money either way, spending it on targeting usually beats spending it on volume.
If you would rather do it yourself, the rest of this post will save you some of that money.
How SubmitHub credits work
You send your song to curators using credits. There are two kinds, and the difference matters.
Standard credits are free. You get two every four hours, and you cannot stockpile them. Your submission goes to the bottom of the curator’s queue, and there is no guarantee anyone listens or responds. Approval rates are lower. Smaller outlets are more likely to feature standard submissions, simply because they get fewer of them.
Premium credits are paid. Your submission moves to the top of the curator’s dashboard, and the curator is now on the hook. They have to listen for a minimum length of time and leave a minimum amount of written feedback if they decline, within a set window. Miss any of it and your credit comes back to you automatically.
That refund is the part most artists do not realize they have. You are not paying for a placement. You are paying for a guaranteed listen and a guaranteed answer.
Not every curator costs the same. Curators set their own price, between one and four credits, based on how engaged they are and how much reach they have. The higher tiers get a longer window to respond, but they also owe you more: a longer listen and more written feedback. So when someone tells you thorough feedback costs more, that is literally how it is built.
You can also choose to skip written feedback in exchange for a longer guaranteed listen, if what you actually want is for someone to sit with the song rather than type at you.
Read the curator profile before you spend anything. Every one shows its accept rate, decline rate, unreviewed rate and average response time. An outlet with a high unreviewed percentage is telling you it is not paying attention. Skip it.
And if you are unfamiliar with how best to use SubmitHub, read on…
What should artists do before they sign up and start submitting on your platform?
First and most important: set your expectations in the right place. There are hundreds of thousands of passionate and talented musicians out there trying to do the same thing as you (hundreds of thousands of artist profiles on SubmitHub) Yes, your song is great, but many of theirs are too. And not everyone will get the pie they’re hoping for.
Secondly, understand that SubmitHub is not a get-famous-quick scheme. It’s best approached as a “directory” of passionate music curators. Our job is to make it easy for you to choose who to send your music to and ensure they give it genuine consideration. Outcomes after that are based on the subjective take of the recipient, and you should anticipate that the majority of the answers you receive will be “thanks but not for us.” As mentioned above, you probably won’t get the whole pie, but if you focus on the little victories, you’ll find yourself with a nice slice 🙂
How important is having a strong social media platform or a lot of streams before they come to SubmitHub?
Not even remotely important. We focus on the song itself, not the artist’s background. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that many curators prefer to find undiscovered artists street cred is important, and there’s nothing a curator enjoys more than being able to say “I was sharing their music before they got big.”
If I am an artist making music that isn’t very trendy, can I use SubmitHub? – Smooth jazz, cinematic classical, and traditional singer-songwriter, for example.
Yep, at this point there’s a little bit of something for everyone. Obviously, some genres are better represented than others in the digital world (classical, jazz, and classic rock being under-represented). That said, we’ve got thousands of active curators, influencers, and record labels, so even the niche genres have someone to send to.
How many submissions should I invest in to see results?
It depends on the results you’re looking for. The only thing we can guarantee is a transparent, fast “connection.” From there, it’s entirely up to 1) your song and 2) whether you managed to get it to the people who will like it. And that can be tough.
I’d strongly recommend starting with a smaller spend; somewhere between 10 and 30 credits to get your toes wet. Your first few submissions are likely to be your *worst*, and there are definitely many lessons you’ll be able to learn along the way.
What advice do you have for DIY musicians just starting out with your platform?
Many musicians have tried and failed (or succeeded), and many have shared their experiences and tips. So my advice for those just starting out is to do a bit of research beforehand.
Anything else you’d like to say to indie artists about the publicity process in general?
It’s rough. I think one of the best things you can do is show your existing fan base that you’re finding success — by sharing the blog posts and playlists you’re included in. It gives them ‘social proof’ that they’re not crazy for loving your music; clearly everyone else loves it too.
Here are some tips and tricks that we utilize here at Cyber PR that may help you when submitting your music:
Don’t spend too much at one time!
With SubmitHub, it’s as easy as a click of a button to send your music off to curators and bloggers. It’s so user-friendly that you can easily spend all your credits in a few minutes. While this isn’t terrible, we have found that spacing out your submissions across several rounds gets better results, since you have time to see how your music is performing and regroup if needed. You may find that your music doesn’t fit a genre that you thought it did, or that certain outlets are taking a break, and you may want to approach them when they are back.
Pick your genre with care.
The biggest part of submitting your music through SubmitHub is picking the right genre. When you submit, SubmitHub shows you curated bloggers, playlisters, influencers, etc., based on the genre you classify your music as. The genre you think you are may not be the one curators identify with, so be prepared to adjust.
SubmitHub matches your genre with the most likely matches in its sources; pitch and rate them on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being a bad match and 10 being a great match. We suggest you don’t pitch to curators with a rate below 7.
Submit to smaller and bigger sources.
SubmitHub has thousands of curators with varying influence and size. It’s always good to submit to curators who are smaller and have lower influence to boost your music, and it’s great to be able to get in touch with the bigger ones that are typically harder to reach otherwise. We suggest pitching to a mix of smaller and medium-to-large curators because that will give you the most diverse and successful results.
Pitch only small outlets and you will never get real reach. Pitch only large ones and almost nobody says yes. The mix is what produces both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SubmitHub worth paying for independent music promotion?
SubmitHub is worth paying for independent music promotion if an artist has high quality tracks and targets hyper specific genre curators. Using SubmitHub allows musicians to guarantee that bloggers and playlist owners will actually listen and provide feedback. The platform works best when artists thoroughly research each curator’s approval rating before spending credits.
How much should I spend on SubmitHub to start?
Start small, somewhere between ten and thirty credits. Your first submissions will be your worst ones, because you are still learning which genre tag fits you and which curators respond to what you make. Spend a little, read the feedback, adjust, then spend again. Blowing your whole budget in one session teaches you nothing.
What is a good approval rate on SubmitHub?
Most artists sit well below what they expect, and most responses will be no. That is the platform working as intended, not a verdict on your song. Track your own rate across rounds instead of comparing to anyone else. If it climbs as you refine your genre tag and your targeting, you are doing it right.
Do I need a big following before using SubmitHub?
No. Curators are listening to the song, not your follower count, and many of them specifically enjoy finding artists before anyone else has. Being early on something is the entire appeal for a blogger. A small following is not the obstacle. A song that does not fit the curator you sent it to is.
Can I use SubmitHub if my genre is not trendy?
Yes. Jazz, classical and singer songwriter material are less represented than pop and electronic, but there are curators for them. The harder part is tagging yourself correctly. SubmitHub matches you to curators by genre, and the label you would use for yourself is often not the one curators search under.
How do I pick the right curators on SubmitHub?
Use the match rating and do not pitch anything rated below seven. Then spread your picks, roughly even between smaller curators and medium to larger ones. Only small and you never get real reach. Only large and almost nobody says yes. The mix is what produces both placements and momentum.
Is SubmitHub better than hiring a publicist?
They do different jobs. SubmitHub gets your song in front of curators who will listen and reply, one submission at a time, and you do all the work. A publicist brings relationships, timing, strategy and a campaign built around your release. Artists starting out often use SubmitHub. Artists with a real release usually want both.
Who is Ariel Hyatt?
Ariel Hyatt is the founder of Cyber PR, a music PR and marketing agency for independent artists, and the author of seven books on music marketing and publicity, including The Ultimate Guide to Music Publicity and From Buzz to Bond: How to Stop Chasing Hype and Build a Lasting Music Career. She teaches artists to build a Fan Sanctuary, an owned audience, rather than chase followers. Her books are at https://cyberprmusic.com/music-marketing-and-pr-books/
Ready to learn how to master your own publicity? Order The Ultimate Guide to Music Publicity! Out now.
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