Single Release Pitch Templates for Artists | TAP
Single release press pitch templates
By TAP Editorial Team
Quick answer
A single pitch is short. Open with something the person actually published, say what your track is in one line, give a link that plays on a phone, and stop. Send it three to four weeks before release, to one named person at a time, and follow up once. The eight templates below cover the first approach, offering somebody the first play, radio, the follow-up and release day.
A single has a short window and you only get one go at each person, so the email has to do its work in the first two lines. What makes it work is not the writing, it is that you read something they published first. That is the part nobody does, and it is why a plain email from an artist who clearly listened outperforms a polished one that could have gone to anybody. Everything here is written to be sent under your own name, which is your advantage rather than a compromise: the person who made the record is more interesting to hear from than somebody paid to write about it. Fill in every bracket, and never send one with the brackets showing.
The first email to a writer
Your standard approach to a blog, a website or a writer. Three to four weeks before release, one person at a time.
Subject: [ARTIST NAME], new single [TRACK], out [DATE] Hi [NAME], I read your piece on [something they wrote, and roughly when]. [One clause on why it stuck, or what you agreed with. One clause, not a paragraph.] I'm [artist name], from [town]. My single [TRACK] is out on [date]: [link]. It's [one line on what it actually sounds like, in plain words]. [One sentence on the thing about it worth writing about: what it's about, where it was made, what happened.] Please hold anything until [date, time, UK]. Thanks either way, [Your name]
Under 150 words. The link goes near the top, not buried at the bottom, because a writer decides in the first ten seconds whether to press play. If you cannot fill in the first line with something specific they published, do not send it: go and read, or pick a different person. Never a group send, and never with everybody's address visible.
Offering somebody the first play
You want one outlet to have the track before everybody else. Four weeks out, and only to one place at a time.
Subject: First play of [TRACK] by [ARTIST NAME], out [DATE] Hi [NAME], I'd like to offer you the first play of my new single [TRACK], out [date]. I'm [artist name], from [town]. [One line on the track.] Here it is: [link]. I'm asking you rather than anybody else because [the actual reason, naming something they have covered]. I'm not offering it elsewhere while you decide. Happy to send artwork, photos, or answer questions. If it's not for you, no problem at all, just let me know so I can go elsewhere. [Your name]
The last line is the important one. It gives them a reason to answer quickly, and it tells you when to move on. Offer it to one place at a time and mean it. The single fastest way to burn a contact is offering four people the same exclusive, and it is always found out. Give them a week, then ask once, then move on.
The radio email
Producers and presenters. Different from press in almost every way, and shorter.
Subject: [ARTIST NAME], [TRACK], out [DATE], [genre] Hi [NAME], [TRACK] by [artist name]. Out [date]. [Genre], [running time]. [Clean, or: one word to be aware of at 1:12.] I'm from [town]. I've been listening to [their show] and [name a specific record they played]. Stream: [link] Broadcast quality file: [link] [Your name] [Email, phone]
Name one track. Give the running time and flag anything that would need editing, because saying it yourself saves them a job and marks you as somebody who has done this before. Offer a broadcast quality file, meaning a WAV, as a link. Check each station's own submission page before you send, because several want a form rather than an email and sending to the wrong place is the same as not sending.
The second single, mid-campaign
You have released one already. This one is easier because there is now something to point at.
Subject: [ARTIST NAME], [TRACK], out [DATE], second single Hi [NAME], [Either: thanks for covering [PREVIOUS TRACK] in [month], which is why I'm writing again. Or: I sent you [PREVIOUS TRACK] in [month], which didn't land, no problem.] New one, [TRACK], out [date]: [link]. Where the last one was [x], this one [y]. [One line, and make the difference real.] [If true and checkable: since the last single it has had [named radio play / a named playlist / a named live date].] [Your name]
Anchor it to the previous release rather than starting from nothing. Anything you cite as momentum should be a fact somebody could check in half a minute: a named station, a named playlist, a named show. Never quote stream counts. They are the one number everybody knows is easy to inflate, and using them makes the rest of the email suspect.
Playlist curators and people who make videos
Independent playlist curators, channels, and people who use music in what they post. Casual, short, no pressure.
Hi [NAME], I've been listening to [playlist name] and [name a track on it, or something they posted]. I'm [artist name]. My single [TRACK] is out [date] and I thought it might sit alongside [that track] on there: [link]. No obligation at all, and no need to reply if it's not right. If you want it early, it's yours. [Your name]
Four lines. Naming a track on their playlist is the whole message and there is no substitute for it. Do not offer money and do not respond to anybody who asks for it: a placement that was bought tells you nothing and can cost you more than it gives you. Check the playlist looks like a real one with real listeners before you spend the time.
When the date moves
The release has shifted. Send this the day you know, to everybody who has the track.
Hi [NAME], [TRACK] has moved from [old date] to [new date]. [One short clause on why, honestly, without over-explaining.] If you had anything planned around the old date, let me know and I'll work around whatever suits you. Sorry for the change. [Your name]
Send it the day you know rather than the week you get round to it. Dates move all the time and nobody minds; being told late is the part that costs you. One clause on the reason is enough. Do not blame anyone, do not write three paragraphs, and do not quietly hope nobody noticed.
The follow-up
A week has gone by with no reply. Once, and only once.
Hi [NAME], Just bumping this in case it got buried. [TRACK] by [artist name] is out [date]: [link]. No need to reply if it's not for you. [Your name]
Three lines, and it goes as a reply to your original email so the whole thing is in one thread. Say no need to reply and mean it. One follow-up is normal and is often the email that gets read; a second moves you from persistent to a problem, and there is no third. If nothing comes back, note it and try them with the next record.
Release day and afterwards
Two short emails. One on the day to anybody who has been waiting, one afterwards to anybody who actually did something.
On the day, to anybody holding the track: Hi [NAME], [TRACK] is out today: [link]. Thanks for taking a look at it. [Your name] --- Afterwards, to anybody who covered or played it: Hi [NAME], Thank you for [the specific thing, named]. [If they wrote something: the line about [x] was the best thing anybody said about it. / If they played it: hearing it on [show] made the week.] I'll send you the next one when it's ready. [Your name]
The second email is the one nobody sends and it is worth more than the whole campaign that preceded it. No link in it, no ask, nothing to click. What it does is turn a one-off piece of coverage into somebody who opens your email next time, and that is the only thing on this page that compounds.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should I send a single to press?
Three to four weeks for most blogs and writers, and more if you are offering somebody the first play, which needs a decision made before anybody else is approached. Radio varies by station and often wants longer, so check each one's own submission page. Sending in release week means asking somebody to drop what they are doing, and the answer is usually nothing at all.
Should I tell different people different things about the same single?
No. The song, how it was made and why it exists stay the same in every email. What changes is the first line, which is about that person, and what you are offering them, which might be a first play for one and a review for another. Writers talk to each other, and contradictory stories are noticed and remembered.
Is it worth offering somebody an exclusive first play?
Yes, if you only offer it to one place at a time and you can say why that place. It gives them something nobody else has, which is a reason to do it properly. It goes wrong exactly one way, which is offering the same exclusive to several people at once. That is always found out and it costs you all of them rather than one.
What do I do if the release date changes after I have pitched?
Email everybody who has the track on the day you find out. One short message with the new date and an offer to work around whatever they had planned. Nobody minds a moved date; what damages a relationship is finding out from somewhere else, or discovering the track went out a fortnight before the date you gave them.
How many people should I write to for one single?
Twenty to thirty, chosen because they actually cover music like yours, written to individually. That takes an evening or two and it works. A hundred sent at once takes ten minutes and does not, and it also uses up the same hundred names for the next release. Your list is a long-term asset and a mass send spends it all at once.
From the field
Proof points
- Optimal pitch lead time for a single: 6 to 8 weeks before release for radio, 3 to 4 for press (Liberty campaign cadence)
- Named contact reply rate vs generic inbox: 5x higher (Liberty internal data)
- Best UK send window: Tuesday and Wednesday 09:00 to 10:00 UK (Across 60+ campaigns)
- Plays curve: About 60% of plays in the first 3 weeks of release, tail through week 8 (WARM monitoring)
What actually happened
Roam Belle: Single trajectory, 96 plays with declining curve typical for the format (2025)
Singles win on calibration, not coverage. I pick three or four shows where the track actually fits, write a one-line reason for each, and stop there. Sending the same pitch to 200 contacts looks busy on a tracking sheet and does almost nothing for plays. The shows that add tracks are usually the ones where the producer reads the email and thinks, that is a fit.
Chris Schofield, Radio plugger, Liberty Music PR
Related resources
Further reading
- TAP Blog — In-depth guides, comparisons and advice for independent artists running their own promotion.
- UK Music — The voice of the UK music industry, representing labels, publishers, and collecting societies.
- Music Week — Industry news, charts, and analysis for music professionals.
- The Music Network — Global music business intelligence and networking.
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