We’ve updated our Best Practices to help you get the most out of our platform. These guidelines include helpful submission tips, advice on how to get features and prime positioning on site plus handy marketing pointers to aid you in the release process, from delivery to release day and beyond. The labels and artists that consistently follow the procedures outlined here dominate the top 100 and regularly break into the top chart positions. So please take some time to read through and put your best foot forward. Help us to help you maximise your sales, the better your releases do on Traxsource, the better it is for us!
PLANNING YOUR RELEASE
SUBMISSION TIPS
- Deliver Early: In order for our A&R team to properly evaluate your releases for positions and extra features, we recommend you deliver a full 2 weeks before the Traxsource live date. Please note, due to our site update process, submissions received less than 10 days are not eligible for any featured positions.
- Choose Friday Release Day: Last year, The International Release Date changed from Tuesday to Friday. Traxsource main site update still occurs on Monday morning at around 10am EST each week, with a “mini” update on Fridays called Weekend Weapons. Releases we feature in the Weekend Weapons typically go on to do very well, so we always recommend to choose Fridays as your release day to allow your releases to be considered.
[Releases in red all previously featured on the weekend weapons chart]
- Choose Pre-Order: We recently introduced our new Pre-order function, allowing customers to preview and buy your tracks on Traxsource prior to the official Traxsource live/release date. Setting up your release as a pre-order allows you to build traction and excitement around your record on social channels with the Traxsource pre-order link before it's officially released and start accumulating sales which will count towards your first live day chart positions, ensuring your release gets the kickstart it should. More about pre-orders HERE
- Consistency and Quality: The most important thing you can do is to keep the standard of output high for your label. This means to take your time and create the best sounding music you can, with high quality artwork. Don't be afraid to hire a professional mastering engineer.
HOW TO GET FEATURED
- Give Traxsource Exclusives: Giving Traxsource exclusivity on your release is the surest way to get our attention and can greatly enhance your chances of receiving a prime position. In our A&R back end system, we give a special consideration to exclusives, which can make all the difference in a close tie between releases fighting for the same spot. This includes, but is not limited to, front page banners, genre banners and features, Hype Chart placement, What’s Hot placement, Upfront Promo and Essentials lists, Traxsource LIVE! plays and extra promotions like news, social and magazine promotions. Releases with this extra support go on to dominate the top spots in the charts more often than not.
- Give Reciprocal Support: Your support for us is something we value very much! Traxsource is a store with the heart of an independent label and therefore places a very high value on strong reciprocal relationships with its labels and artists. Driving your fan base to us is the perfect way to show us your support and boost your sales. There are only so many prime positions each week, if you have got one please go out and tell the world about it! Or if you want us to notice your music, developing a fan base and driving them here to support you here is a great way to start that conversation.
- Plan Ahead: We encourage you to shout when you have an exciting release and do so early. There's a lot of music every week and we are working quite far in advance on many aspects of promotion, so it's important to us that you let us know when something is especially noteworthy. Speak with your aggregator or the A&R manager in your genre, give them a heads up on your releases as early as possible so you can optimize your chances of getting featured.
- Communicate With Us: Communication is key. If your release has scored vital premieres, achieved good press coverage, important radio plays and so on, let us know. Keeping an open line of communication with our A&R and marketing teams will ensure that we can help you in the best way possible over the course of your campaign.
- Same Time, Same Billing: We understand that not all campaigns suit exclusives and some great records you may wish to release with a universal digital release date. We strongly encourage you to still drive your fans to Traxsource and adopt our ‘Same Time, Same Billing’ ethos. List all stores with the same billing, include all buy/pre-order links and promote all stores with the same breath in order to still catch our attention with such releases.
STAY CONNECTED
- Get Social: Connect with us on our social networks and various platforms
Traxsource News | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Instagram | Soundcloud
- NEW - Stay Current: Encourage your labels/artists to keep their Artist pages up to date with current hi-res images and updated bios via the new label / artist entity accounts.
Contact our Label Support team here to get set up with an entity account:https://traxsourcelabels.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Alternatively, direct labels/distributors can update label pages via the label system. Artists can submit requests and updates for an artist page HERE
- NEW - Use approved Traxsource logos: We always appreciate our logos on your social promotions and campaigns. Please note that we have updated our look to a fresh new logo for 2017 and beyond.. You can download the new logos HERE
- Signatures, Websites and Linkbacks: It's a very quick and simple yet often overlooked thing. Including Traxsource links to your Artist / Label release pages everywhere you can will help people support you here. Things like email signatures, websites, social pages etc are always a massive help.
RELEASE DAY AND BEYOND
TIPS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR EFFORTS
- Deliver DJ Charts: Ensure your artists deliver DJ Top 10 Charts in support of each release. (DJ Chart Instructions below). Charts are a simple and powerful way to build your audience, to support your releases and make great content for socials. Create charts as often as possible to support releases and ensure it’s a symbiotic process, have your artists support their own releases alongside those of their peers to gain maximum exposure.
How to create a DJ Chart (Entity Accounts)
Entity Accounts for artists, distributors and labels. An Entity Account is a self administration system for artists and labels to manage their page biographies, press images and publish DJ Charts on Traxsource at any time. Entity Accounts are available for all artists and labels who have their music on Traxsource.
To get access, you can request an entity account HERE
Social Best Practices
- Promote your release heavily: Encourage your labels/artists to drive their fans directly to the buy page making sure all promotion shows clear messaging and links to purchase on all major social networks, specifically:
- Facebook: Ensure you tag @traxsource and all artists / labels in your posts to drive your fans to your release and aid cross-channel marketing efforts with release images and pre-order / buy links. Video is one of the most powerful tools on Facebook and videos of you or other DJs playing your music can be a massive draw for other DJs when it comes to buying your records. Include calls to action like ‘Listen’ ‘Buy Now’ etc with the relevant Traxsource pre-order or buy links in all of your video posts.
- Instagram: Ensure you use the release artwork when doing promotional posts on Instagram, both static images and 15 second teaser audio / video clips work well for promotion. Be sure to tag @traxsource in your posts to drive your fans to your release. Adding a call to action on posts with a short link in your bio will also be beneficial - e.g. ‘Click link in bio’
- Twitter: Regular tweets are a powerful marketing tool for labels. Ensure that you and your artists are tweeting the Traxsource pre-order / buy links throughout your campaign, as well as any charts and the release artwork. Be sure to tag @traxsource and the artist and label in your posts to drive your fans to your release and aid cross-channel marketing efforts. Be sure to thank any artists including your release in their own efforts, via DJ charts etc. If you receive any prime placements via e.g. Weekend Weapons, tell the world!
- Soundcloud: Include links to your Traxsource release pages in the track upload descriptions and be sure to customise your buy links on your uploads to include the Traxsource buy / pre-order link. If you have scored premieres via other channels for press, please ensure you pass on the relevant Traxsource buy / pre-order links to the hosts for inclusion in the descriptions.
- Cross-Promotion: Cross-Promotion is key. Encourage your labels / artists to support their peers and to respond to support from other artists, this is a collaborative industry and it may well be a returned shout out from another artist that helps your release succeed.
THANK YOU
Thank you for your amazing music, it's what makes Traxsource what it is. We are growing rapidly and we want to help you grow with us! Our A&R Team is extremely passionate about finding the next big thing and we encourage you to take advantage of these best practices in hopes of building a mutually beneficial, long term relationship. Thank you for taking your time to read through this. With a good collaboration we can achieve great things..
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