How to Get Signed by a Record Label in 2025

Have you ever sent a track to a record label, you hit send and then you wait - and wait - and never hear anything back? Not a single word, not a "thanks, but no thanks." Just silence...

If you're a musician, artist or producer, then this most likely has happened to you at some point. It makes you start to question everything about your own music.

I know exactly how you feel because I've been on the other side of that silence.

(I've released my own music with independent labels and also major publishers, but I've also sent hundreds of tracks into the void, never to be heard from ever, ever again.)

The only reason I feel confident sharing this advice with you is because for years and years, I worked inside the belly of the beast. I spent my 20s working for the biggest record labels and music publishers in the music industry.

So let's talk about the real reasons why you aren't hearing back from record labels.

Why Your Demo Might Not Even Get Heard

The first and most brutal truth is that they probably never even heard your song in the first place.

When I was at the first label I worked at, I was responsible for checking the SoundCloud mailbox, and every week we had at least 100 demo submissions.

100 tracks - do you think I listened to all of those? No way. There just wasn't enough time in the week, but my job was to filter out the ones that I thought were good enough, and my boss would then listen to those, and then maybe we might look at signing one.

As there were so many, I would just listen to the first 30 seconds of a track, and if it didn't grab me, then it was gone.

So, if you're just sending one email and hoping for a call, forget about it. There's no way that's gonna happen. You're playing a lottery that you're not gonna win.

The key here is persistence - follow up, be creative in your messaging, try and find different ways of contacting these people. Can you find their LinkedIn? Can you call them and craft a message that's unique, not just a copy-and-paste email that you're sending to 20 different record labels? Show that you're interested in their music. Show that your music fits their label and that you know who they are. This is what will help you stand out from the stack.

How to Make Your Track Stand Out

The second reason you might not have heard back is that your song didn't sound good enough. Maybe 10 or 20 tracks stood out from that huge pile, and I’d only listen to those all the way through to those.

So, what was I listening for?

1) Is it interesting? Does it make me want to keep listening? Was there something about it that made me go, "Wait, what’s going on here?" Did it sound different from everything else I’d heard that week?

2) Will this mix stand up sonically against the other songs we release? Is the mix clean? Is the bass muddy? Are the vocals sharp or too quiet? All these things I was evaluating in the first 20-30 seconds.

A good quality mix is non-negotiable. If your track doesn't hold up in terms of sound quality, then chances are it’s going to get skipped. Even at the demo stage. The bar is just too high now and the budget isn't there to spend developing artist. So invest the time and energy to make sure it sounds great.

Is Your Music Special Enough to Get Signed?

The third reason, and yes, this might sound harsh, is whether your track is actually special. The barrier to making music now is the lowest it has ever been.

Almost anyone in the world with a laptop and some basic software can make tracks and put them online for people to hear.

Labels are drowning in a sea of average music. It’s hard to stand out, but you have too. You need to offer a sound that hasn’t been heard a million times before, but also isn’t so far from the norm that listeners are confused and can't identify with it.

Does your song have a unique hook? Is there something that makes the listener suddenly pay attention? If not, it’s just going to get lost in the noise.

And this is difficult for musicians, artists, and producers to hear: music is a business, and labels are a business. They already have a roster of proven artists. They don’t know who you are, they don’t care who you are. Are you going to be reliable? Are you easy to work with?

They already have people they trust, other artists they’ve already invested in, and they need to recoup advances and royalties. So they’re going to be backing their own artists more than new artists. They also have release schedules planned months and months in advance. You as a brand new artist may not fit into those plans.

What can YOU offer to the record label?

Ask yourself: what can I offer this label? Don’t just ask, “What can the label do for me?”

Think about what you can bring, how you can add value. Do you already have a loyal following? Do people show up to your gigs? Will you generate revenue for them?

In the old days, labels had big budgets and could afford to take a gamble on a new artist. Unfortunately, those budgets aren’t there anymore. They are looking for artists who already have proof of concept—an audience that will stream your music, buy tickets to your shows, and engage with your 'brand.'

Do you even need a record label in 2025?

Maybe not. But if you’re going to go it alone, be prepared to do a ton of marketing. Post on social media multiple times every day. Build email lists. Collaborate with other creators.

If you’re like me - and don’t particularly enjoy that stuff, it’s still necessary because algorithms can put your music, performance, and brand in front of millions of people with just a single post—a task that would have cost labels a small fortune in the past.

The hustle is real. You’re going to have to get out there, play shows, post on social media, collaborate with other artists, do remixes, and be part of your local scene.

I think there’s a big misconception in music that someone will just come along and discover you - but that's highly unlikely. Y

ou need a bit of buzz, maybe a particular image, or something a label can use to promote you.

Stop waiting for the phone to ring, the email, or the DM. Use this post as a roadmap to make your next demo the one that gets heard by the label you want to release on.

If you need help getting your song to sound good enough for labels, then send me a message about working together.