To send a demo to a UK label, find labels that release music like yours, read their submission policy, and follow it to the letter. That usually means a short personal email with a private streaming link, or a form on the label's website. Send only your strongest three or four tracks, check the link works, and then leave it alone.
The rest of this guide covers each step with real UK examples, and shows how to get your demos in order before anyone hears them.
TL;DR
- Research first: label policies differ, and a mass email is easy for A&R teams to spot.
- Follow each label's route exactly: email, web form or private SoundCloud message. Ignoring it can sink a good demo.
- Send a private streaming link with downloads enabled, not a pile of attachments, and keep it to three or four tracks.
- Silence is normal. Check the link, don't chase, and keep writing.
- Sort your voice memos and drafts into a clear board first, so you send your best finished take and not whichever file you found first.
Table of Contents
- Start with the right labels, not every label
- Read the submission policy, then follow it exactly
- What a good demo submission contains
- Get ready before you press send
- Where the process usually breaks: the pile of voice memos
- Our view: finishing is the real submission skill
- Send the email: a simple routine
- Share the same demo with collaborators and producers
- What happens after you send
- Mistakes that get demos deleted
- FAQ
- Sources
Start with the right labels, not every label
The most common mistake is treating the label list as a numbers game. Spotify for Artists puts targeted research first: pick labels whose genre, roster, aesthetic and philosophy fit your music. Then explain in your message why that particular label is relevant. Spotify's quoted label expert, Matt Linden, says A&R teams can recognise mass-emailing, and that a bare link with no context is likely to be deleted as spam.
A quick way to build a shortlist:
- Write down five artists whose records sit closest to yours.
- Look up who released them. The label is usually named on streaming platforms and on the artist's website.
- Listen to the label's recent releases, not only the famous ones. Is your song something they would put out this year?
- Note the label's size and scene. A tiny local imprint and a major-backed indie want different things from a first approach.
- Open the label's website and find the demo or contact page before you do anything else.
Ten labels you know well will beat a hundred you have only skimmed. Keep the shortlist in one place with a note on each: why it fits, which song you will send, and the route the label asks for.
Read the submission policy, then follow it exactly
Every label is its own gatekeeper. There is no universal inbox, and the accepted route can change. Four UK labels show how different the rules are.
| Label | What it asks for | What to take from it |
|---|---|---|
| Revolver Records | Email with the subject "SUBMISSION" plus your artist name, no more than three MP3 or WAV files; larger selections via a streaming or storage link | Subject lines and file limits are instructions, not suggestions |
| King Prawn Records | A private streaming link by email, ideally with downloads enabled, with no audio attachments, plus information about you, the music and your vision | Links over attachments, and tell them who you are |
| Domino | No postal demos; if you are certain of a strong fit, a SoundCloud message is the route, with no guaranteed response | Channels change, so never rely on an old directory |
| Fierce Panda | Email to its demos address, after testing the songs on friends | Wait until the material is ready |
This is why a static list of "labels accepting demos" goes out of date quickly. Treat any list, including this one, as a starting point and check the label's own page on the day you send.
Two details are worth noting. Revolver describes a very broad remit, from ambient acoustic to heavy metal, but you should still check that your music fits before sending. And King Prawn asks for unreleased, mastered material, so a rough voice-memo sketch is not the right thing to send there.
What a good demo submission contains
Labels read a lot of these, so make yours easy.
The tracks
Send your best work, not all your work. Revolver caps email submissions at three files. A Defected executive, in an interview reported by EDM Honey, recommends a focused selection of no more than four tracks for that context. Lead with the song you would play to someone who has thirty seconds.
For songwriters, there is one more question: is it a demo or a finished recording? Some labels want mastered, unreleased material. Others are happy with a strong, clear demo. The label's wording decides, so read it before choosing the version.
The link
Use a private streaming link, with downloads enabled where the label prefers it. Test it logged out, on your phone, before you send. The Defected executive in that same interview specifically warns artists to check that links work. A dead link is the easiest rejection a label will ever make.
The message
Keep it short and personal. Four to six sentences is plenty:
- Who you are and where you are based.
- Why you are writing to this label specifically: a release of theirs you admire, an artist on the roster you sit alongside.
- The link, and the song titles.
- One line on what is happening around you: gigs, a release plan, a following, a producer you are working with.
- Your social links.
That last point matters more than people expect. Fierce Panda's guidance suggests that labels may want evidence that songs could grow into an artist project, and it recommends having at least the beginnings of a live plan. You are pitching a future act, not just a recording.
Get ready before you press send
Fierce Panda notes that many musicians submit too early. It suggests testing songs on friends and waiting until the material is strong. There is no prize for speed. Your first impression with a label is usually the only one you get for that batch of songs.
A readiness check:
- Have at least three people outside your circle of fans listened and reacted honestly?
- Is the version you are sending the best one, not just the most recent?
- Do the lyrics, title and credits match across every file and link?
- Can you say in one sentence what makes this song different?
- Do you have something to say about your live plans?
If the answer to any of these is no, spend another fortnight on it.
Where the process usually breaks: the pile of voice memos
Here is the problem we see again and again among songwriters. The song exists, but it lives across forty phone recordings named "New Recording 87". There is a chorus idea from March, a better verse from June, a take with the right feel but a bad lyric, and a take with the right lyric but a flat vocal. When a label asks for three tracks, you can't remember which version was the good one.
Before you send anything, do three jobs:
- Gather every take of each song in one place. Stack versions of the same song together so you can compare them side by side.
- Choose the winner on purpose. Listen back to your candidates the same day, in the same order, with the lyrics in front of you.
- Label the final files clearly. Use the song title and the artist name, so nothing arrives as a file called "idea final 2".
A board with stages helps here: raw idea, in progress, demo-ready, sent. Songs that reach the last two columns are the ones you can pitch with confidence. You also see which ideas are still a sketch and shouldn't go anywhere yet.
Our view: finishing is the real submission skill
Songdrafts was built by songwriters who lost good ideas in camera rolls and file folders. Our view of sending demos is simple: most of the work happens before the email.
A label is judging how finished a song feels, but you are the one deciding which take is the finished one. That is a filing problem as much as a creative one. Generic cloud storage holds your files but doesn't know that three of them are versions of the same chorus, or that one is in a different key and tempo from the rest. That's why we built Songdrafts around a structured board: you can tag takes, stack versions, merge ideas into one song, keep lyrics alongside the recording and filter by key, tempo or tag. When you are choosing three tracks for a label, you are choosing from a clear picture, not scrolling.
Sharing matters too. We think a demo link should open for the listener without them having to make an account or download anything. Links can carry timestamped comments, so a producer or co-writer can say exactly where the bridge drags. For anything you don't want circulating, links can expire or be password protected. Nobody should have to pass around raw audio by attachment.
We also don't train AI on what you upload. Unreleased songs are your livelihood, and you shouldn't have to wonder where they end up.
None of this replaces research or a good song. It just means that when you do send a label three tracks, they are the three you meant to send.
— SongDrafts
Send the email: a simple routine
Once your shortlist and your songs are ready, work through this order:
- Re-read the label's page on the day you send. Policies change.
- Choose the songs the label asked for, in the format it asked for.
- Create or check your private link. Open it logged out.
- Write the message, naming the label and the reason you chose it.
- Use the exact subject line if one is specified. Revolver, for instance, asks for "SUBMISSION" plus the artist name.
- Send it from an address that looks professional, not a nickname from school.
- Record the date and the label in your tracking list.
Do not attach a stack of large audio files unless the label tells you to. King Prawn explicitly rejects audio attachments, and Spotify's guidance points the same way: a clear link with context.
Share the same demo with collaborators and producers
Labels are not the only listeners. Before you submit, it can be worth getting a producer or co-writer to comment on the take. Sending a link with timestamped comments is much faster than a voice note saying "somewhere around the second chorus". It also keeps feedback attached to the right version. If you are working with several people, keep one board per project so the feedback doesn't scatter across messages.
If you want a tool to keep your drafts and demos together, Songdrafts is built for that. A Founding Membership is available, with a money-back guarantee for the first 30 days, so you can try the workflow on your own back catalogue before you commit.
What happens after you send
Most submissions get no reply. That is not necessarily a verdict on the song, and it is rarely a technical failure. Domino says plainly that it receives a large volume of enquiries and cannot guarantee an individual response. King Prawn says it will try to reply but cannot answer every demo. Fierce Panda says every email will be read and the tunes played eventually, but it can't respond to each one.
So:
- Consider the submission done once the link works and you have followed the label's policy.
- Don't send "have you listened yet?" messages. Fierce Panda specifically asks submitters not to.
- Keep a record of what you sent and when, so you don't resend the same songs to the same label.
- Keep writing. The next batch of songs is the best use of your waiting time.
If a label does reply, with interest or with a no, answer politely and briefly. A decent exchange can matter more in a year than the original demo.
Mistakes that get demos deleted
- Mass emailing. Spotify's label expert says A&R teams can tell. Write each message separately.
- Wrong genre. Check the roster, not just the label's name.
- Wrong channel. Emailing a label that only takes web forms, or sending a postal package to a label that has stopped accepting them.
- Attachments and expired links. Use a private streaming link that you have tested.
- Too many tracks. Three or four is the ceiling in the guidance above.
- Submitting too early. Rough sketches belong with trusted listeners, not with A&R inboxes.
- Chasing. One message, then silence.
FAQ
Which UK record labels are accepting demos?
It varies, and it changes. Revolver Records, King Prawn Records and Fierce Panda each publish an email route on their own sites, while Domino no longer takes postal demos and points to SoundCloud for strong fits. Always check the label's current page before you send, because directories age quickly.
Should I send a link or an MP3?
Follow the label's wording. Some, such as King Prawn, ask for a private streaming link and reject attachments. Revolver accepts up to three MP3 or WAV files by email and prefers a link for larger selections. When nothing is specified, a private link with downloads enabled is the safest choice.
How many songs should I send?
Three or four at most. Revolver limits email submissions to three files, and a Defected executive recommends no more than four tracks. Lead with your strongest song and leave the rest for later.
How long should I wait for a reply?
There is no standard time, and many labels never reply. Domino, for one, says it cannot guarantee a response because of the volume it receives. Don't chase. Treat the submission as complete and get on with your next song.