If you’re in a band (or run a record label) and you want to submit your music to us to see if we’d be interested in playing it on our podcasts, we’d actually prefer it if you did NOT send us a records or CDs. Why? Well, it’s a waste of time, and more importantly, an unnecessary expense for you. We’d also prefer it if you didn’t email us and leave messages on our voicemail line trying to promote your band or label. I’m sure you guys don’t like to get unsolicited emails (spam) and phone calls (telemarketing), and we don’t either. Sorry, but you would be surprised (OK, maybe you wouldn’t) at what lengths some people will go to promote their band. So yeah, that’s not how we work. How DO we work? Please read on…

Instead of doing all of the above, here’s what you SHOULD do: Just rip MP3s of your songs (you probably have done this for your Myspace page already, anyway) and upload them to the Podsafe Music Network. You’ll need to register your band and create a page for it there first if you haven’t done so yet, so make sure you do that first. Please note: You can register as a record label there, too. Just click the “I am a label” box during the registration process if you happen to represent more than one band. Then just start uploading as many songs as you’d like (it’s totally free), preferably originals, but you can also upload cover songs if you’ve paid for the licensing for them. We also recommend that you choose either “Garage Rock,” “Garage Punk” or “Surf” for the genre… that way it’ll be a lot easier for our podcasters to find your stuff (each of them has their own separate podcaster account on the PMN). The “Rock’n'Roll” genre is good, too, but that’s a pretty crowded category, and includes everything from hard rock and metal-type stuff to just boring-ass modern rock, and your stuff may get lost in the Generic Rock’n'Roll Sea.Putting your music on the PMN not only makes it available for our podcasters, but about 35,000+ other podcasters as well, so you may end up getting podplay from all over the world and on many different podcasts, which is a good thing, right? The more exposure, the better! And much more satisfying (not to mention CHEAPER) than mailing out promos. Plus, you can add a nifty button like the one below to your Myspace page or band/label website:

After you’ve finished uploading your songs, feel free to post a message on the GaragePunk Podcasts group on the Hideout letting us know to go check ‘em out (we had to turn off comments on this particular page since none of the podcasters check it regularly, anyway). And while you’re here, be sure and setup a page for your band on The Hideout, too (where you can upload up to 100 MP3s and unlimited videos per account). But please remember that NONE of this guarantees your band will get played on any of our shows. But it doesn’t hurt to try, right? Thanks!