At Cygnus Music we have an application process where we ask artists and labels to outline their plans, their commitment to promotion and marketing, and demonstrate the levels of engagement for their music and online content. From this information we’re able to quickly gauge how well prepared the artist or label is.
We love to work with competent artists and labels who are passionate about the content they distribute. We enjoy working with well organised, friendly individuals and teams.
All new applications will be carefully reviewed, however we prioritise applications that meet the following criteria.
NEW Label
fundamentals
community
existing Label
performance
press, radio & TV
A high weighting is given to the commitment to marketing and online promotion of the artist and each release. This can be the more traditional approach of Magazines, Blogs, Music News and Radio Plugging, to the more modern approach of Social Media campaigns, Playlist Pitching & Placement, Tastemaker/Influencer Promotion and Fan Gating.
Artist Criteria
music
Performance
fan base & Engagement
YouTube
press, radio & TV
Additional information when assessing an application:
1. Reach of brand, label and/or artists (main weighting).
Social network/s must be active and show high levels of engagement. We also give a high weighting to: Spotify Artist pages with regular releases and high monthly listeners, established artists who have been releasing on existing labels for several years, active SoundCloud accounts with high engagement, YouTube channels with large subscriber bases/high play counts and any other platforms where high engagement is captured.
2. Finished quality of the audio submitted.
We require 2 new and forthcoming releases, produced to a high industry standard. If a label is requesting to move to us from their current or previous distributor we may ask for sales information.
3. Marketing plans proposed or in place.
You should demonstrate a commitment to marketing and online promotion of the brand/artist and each release. This can be the more traditional approach of magazines, blogs and radio plugging or it can take a more modern approach of social media campaigns, playlist pitching, tastemaker/influencer promotion and fan gating. If artists have a significant reach this can be just as effective.
4. Social networks in place.
We give a high weighting towards labels and/or artists with well branded social media pages, and good quality online content that has high engagement, with particular focus on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, X and Snapchat. However, this is not essential; providing that you can demonstrate the (1) reach or potential reach of you brand/label and artist/s.
5. Artwork, Branding and Image.
We give a high weighting to labels, artists and organisations with good branding, high quality artwork, professionally graded videos, and well-presented media assets. Stores and publications consider this a high priority, and it helps us significantly when pitching for featured content.
6. Engagement in existing content online
We give a high weighting to content that has performed well. We also score highly if the artists on the label are performing well on download stores and streaming sites.
7. Label infrastructure, team, and resources
We love to work with competent artists and labels who are passionate about the content they distribute. And, we enjoy working with well organised, friendly individuals and teams.
If your label is accepted, you’ll receive a welcome email and have full access to our label management system. If your application is declined, we will provide a detailed response as to why, and the specific areas we hope you can improve on with a future application.
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