Submissions

Submitting your work for review

Most of the music I get to review is sent to me by the editors of specialist magazines such as Fatea, Folk Radio and Spiral Earth or for commissioned reviews from Internet Radio stations like Sunshine Music iRadio or specialist programmes like ‘Along The Tracks’ for Blues and Roots Radio, but increasingly artists are sending me music direct. If you wish to reach out in that way that’s fine but here is what you need to know:

What you can expect from me

• I am a reviewer not a critic. I will never trash or disrespect your music in a review. As a musician and songwriter I know how much effort goes into producing recordings and I appreciate that effort. My job is to find the good things in the music and direct listeners to something they might like to hear. If I do not like your music or cannot find positive things to say about it I will tell you. Please don’t be offended.
• I am sent a lot of material. Sometimes there are not the hours in the day. Music is my hobby and my passion, not my business, so please don’t get upset if I can't get to review your work.
• I plan to publish a review every two weeks or so. If you have a pressing need or time pressures (i.e. imminent release date or upcoming tours) you need to let me know. I will try to accommodate but no guarantees.
• My podcast reviews are generally ‘short and sweet’ at around five minutes. They are for a listener to ‘dip a toe’ into your music and, hopefully go looking for more. By publishing the podcast review I give you permission, and encourage you to use quotes from the review for promotional purposes and, where appropriate, to include or embed elements in your EPK for promotional purposes. That’s what these reviews are for and is their prime purpose. I do not have or expect thousands of listeners. I hope to be a part of the business of getting your music out to the widest audience possible as part of your own promotional work.

What I expect from you

• Please do not send me material without contacting me first. @philsongwriter on Twitter is the best approach.
• Please do not send me unsolicited files by email. A link to a drop box, sound cloud or other file is best. Please be sure to include as much biographical and promo info in PDF format as you can. I may not know much about you or your music so all help in that area is welcome. By sending your material to me you are acknowledging that you are assigning me the right to include your material for publishing in the reviews podcast 
• If you use material from the podcast reviews in any way please include a credit and a link to com/Phil-Thomas-Reviews-Podcast
• Please be proactive in your use of these podcast reviews when using social media. ‘Likes’ and ‘Retweets’ are all very well but not as effective as a direct request from you to visit the review site and click ‘Follow’ or ‘Subscribe’. That is the way I know that my reviews are having an effect.
• If you use my reviews in your promo material please let me know. I like to see how my work is being used. If you get feedback please pass it on. It helps.