How to promote for free your releases on this blog :
I’ve decided to compile on this page the most frequented questions asked by labels or artists about the promotion of their music on this blog.
Feel free to contact me at manutek@mixcollectors.com for more information or additional questions.
First of all, you can click here to see an example of a review done for a label who send us some materials.
What is the purpose of Mix Collectors ?
Mix Collectors is an independent blog talking about Soulful, Deep House and Garage music from the 90’s up to now.
Mix Collectors is run by House head Manutek who worked during the 90’s as a music critic and columnist for the #1 DJ magazine in France, Only For DJ’s that is still active today.
Manu had a monthly review named Vocal Station in this mag where he used to give some large place to vocal house productions with beautiful voices and rich melodies.
With the help of his friends, artists, DJ’s or just music fellas from all around the world, Manutek is keeping Mix Collectors as the #1 Soulful House blog in French language.
If you try/use the french version of Google and enter the name of some releases reviewed on Mix Collectors, you will surely find them at the top page results.
Why your blog is in French, I don’t understand this language ?
Well, first of all French is my native tongue
Two, there are so many blogs and forums already talking about House in English language, that we’ve decided to give an alternative to 220-250 millions of persons speaking French around the world.
There are many countries speaking French in the 5 continents, not only the small (but beautiful !) France.
If you look at the bottom of the Mix Collectors main page, you will see that our followers are coming from everywhere and many are also living in the United States.
Since May 2013, reviews about new releases include an English information (if provided by labels or artists) (see Updates below).
What do you need to write a review about my release/track ?
For our music reviews we need the following things :
– full tracklist of the release (official or promo release);
– official scheduled release date (on sites like Traxsource, Beatport, Juno… or your own !);
– full versions or audio extracts (3 minutes minimum) of each track of the release;
– picture insert of the release in good quality (700×700 pixels recommended) or record label logo;
You can also add artist biographies, record label history or all useful information about your release.
Of course I write reviews for free… House music is just a passion for me.
If I send you a release do you give me the guarantee that I will get a nice review on this blog ?
Mix Collectors is an independent blog, that means we review only the releases we TRULY appreciate.
We give two awards to the selected releases :
– Full Support : given usually for releases that picked up our attention with one or few great tracks, and for artists/labels what we would like to encourage;
– Best Release Of The Month : given to massive releases with top quality tracks, the must have !
We never give bad comments about a release. People should say I don’t feel it instead of I don’t like it, talking about music and arts in general.
If we don’t feel a release, we just don’t talk about it or we just give to our followers a short information without enthusiastic comments.
Do you review only digital releases or also vinyls, cd’s ?
We can review all support, just contact us by mail, we will give you an address where to send your materials. Vinyls or cd’s are welcome !
I’m afraid about P2P piracy and don’t want to send you releases before their official release.
An alternative is to send us your files with a low quality (128kb or less) or only audio extracts (spinnets) of each track but with at least a length of 3-4 minutes in a way to review it properly.
We like to talk about breaks, bridges or outros in our reviews, so if a track lasts 9 minutes please give us a lil’ bit more than 3 minutes of sample to talk about it.
How can you guarantee me that the tracks I send you, will not be shared on P2P illegal sites ?
It’s all about trust and professionalism. We know that promos I receive from labels or artists, have to stay promotional materials only and can’t be shared. I’m very strict on this point.
Updates
Advance Promos only (May 2012)
From now, I’ve decided to review as « New Releases » only the advance promos not available yet on Traxsource. This decision was taken in a way to give more exclusive information to my followers and also due to a lack of time for running the blog. Thanks for your understanding. Manutek
English version available (May 2013)
Reviews will now include an English information (if provided by labels or artists) for our readers.
We have more and more international visitors reaching the blog.
So we do believe that they will appreciate to find more information in an alternative language to French and that labels will also appreciate to have their press info published –> Example here
Bonjour, j’ai plusieurs milliers de vinyles de tout genre et en particulier de l’elektro et de la maison, ma question ais simple, comment faites vous pour numériser aussi proprement vos vinyles? Stylus, logiciel …? merci
UNmicalement
Bonjour Stéphane, cela demande pas mal de travail…
1) avoir des disques en bon état ou les nettoyer avec un produit comme le LGL
2) avoir du bon matériel d’écoute, certaines cellules et diamant étant plus sensibles aux craquements que d’autres. J’ai du Denon, Yamaha comme cellules, je n’utilise plus Ortofon qui ne rendaient pas assez bien les aigus selon moi.
3) j’enregistre les fichiers en Wav et je corrige les craquements avec un éditeur d’échantillons. Perso j’utilise celui de Cubase. Je n’utilise aucun plugin de restauration automatique car ils altèrent trop la dynamique du son, donc cela peut prendre parfois beaucoup de temps sur certains disques.
4) j’ajoute ma touche perso de mixage sur le fichier avec des plugins d’égalisation et de compression (Izotope Ozone, Eiosis)