Spotify Monthly Listeners

How to build a music-industry contact list

Updated 5 October 2026 · 2 min read

The quality of a promotion campaign is capped by the quality of its list. A large file of stale addresses is worth less than a short list of people who actually curate your genre.

Cover the categories that fit your release

Different releases suit different audiences. A club record needs DJs and electronic press; a singer-songwriter release needs blogs, folk radio and playlist curators; a sync-targeted track needs supervisors and labels.

  • Playlist curators, filtered by genre where possible.
  • Radio stations and specialist shows in your format.
  • Music press, bloggers and newsletters.
  • Labels and distributors for industry interest.
  • Management, booking and promoters for live and representation.

Verify before you send

Every invalid address in a campaign is a bounce, and a run of bounces damages the sending domain for all your future campaigns. Checking syntax, domain mail routing and known disposable domains before sending is not optional at volume.

Our verification is included with every paid plan, at an allowance that matches your monthly email allowance, and invalid or unresolved addresses are held out before the campaign is sent.

Keep it alive

A list decays. Addresses change, outlets close, curators move on.

  • Remove hard bounces immediately and never re-add them.
  • Record when each contact was last approached and what happened.
  • Retire anyone who has not replied in several releases.
  • Add new contacts continuously rather than rebuilding before every release.

Why we do not sell the list

Our library is selectable inside campaign setup and is not a downloadable file. That is deliberate: a list that changes hands gets burned, and the people on it stop reading. Contacts are materialised into a campaign so that the outreach is real and the relationship stays yours.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy a music industry contact list?

You can, but purchased lists are usually stale, unverified and often scraped without permission. Sending to them produces bounces and complaints that damage your domain.

How big should my list be?

A few hundred well-matched, verified contacts is enough to run every release for a year. Relevance matters far more than size.

Do I need permission to email a curator?

You are sending a business-to-business pitch about your own music to a published contact address. Keep it relevant, honest and easy to opt out of, and respect local anti-spam law.

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