I gladly accept submissions. Let me know if there’s something you think I should hear. My inbox does get crowded, so I may not always respond. Don’t be offended if you don’t hear back. I do listen to every submission I receive.
Before you submit, please keep in mind that Synthpop Fanatic is a niche music site. I cover synthesizer-based music that you might hear at a goth-industrial night. Songs built in minor key. Songs that wallow in darkness, romance, and melancholy. Songs that carry the New Wave spirit of bands like Depeche Mode, New Order, and Visage into the future. I enjoy many other types of music, but I probably won’t cover them here. (That includes most synthwave. Sorry.)
What to submit
If you want to increase your chances of getting covered by me and other sites, I strongly encourage you to heed these recommendations.
- Tell a story. Don’t just send me a link to a song. Give me something to work with. A hook, a backstory, some juicy details about why this music exists.
- List your influences. I know artists don’t like to talk about their influences, but it sets a baseline. But don’t just say Depeche Mode. Everyone in this scene is influenced by Depeche Mode in some way or another. Tell me something I don’t hear every day. Surprise me.
- Bullet your vitals. Be sure to give me your background information: location, names of bandmembers, year originated, number of albums in your catalog, preferred genre descriptions. I need those details to write about you.
- Personalize your message. If you send a blanket message to a big distribution list, Gmail thinks it’s a press release and drops it in the “Promotions” tab (or worse, in the Spam folder). I don’t always look there. If you add “Hi Chris” and a brief message at the top, Gmail is more likely to put it in the “Primary” tab.
- Include a picture. The web is a visual medium. If you don’t include a photo, it’s much harder for me to feature your music. I recommend providing a jpg that’s at least 1200×1200 pixels with no words or logos overlaid on it.
Submit your music
If you think your music belongs here, send it my way.