IRC connects talented artists with music lovers around the world by writing profiles, reviews and publishing great new songs in regular playlists and mixes, giving thousands of people per day one-click access to the best in new, and rarely heard, music. We are honored to be one of the most popular indie blogs that feature both well-known and rarely heard indie and alternative music. IRC is visited by over 150K people, and more than a quarter of a million page views, a month from all over the world.

- Music Submission Guidelines
- Band Promotion & Marketing
- Writers, Photographers and Illustrators
- Thank You Everyone
- Help Spread the Word!


New Submission Guidelines - Please read carefully

Update (Jan. 10, 2010): We are no longer accepting submissions of 2009 music unless it accompanies a 2010 single/EP/LP release.

Important: All submissions must be MP3 links that end with .mp3 or include attached MP3s, and follow the guidelines below completely - no exceptions. We simply have to streamline this process to keep it manageable.

The most common reason we cannot consider a submission is because it doesn't folllow our guidelines, especially when it comes to including a MP3 (either a link or attachment).

Due to the enormous number of submissions we receive, and the incredible amount of time it takes to go through all of submissions, we can only except MP3 links or attachments to current year/upcoming year songs.

All MP3 link submissions must end with .mp3 and play automatically in all web browsers when clicked on (please test before submitting).

Important: Include the album name, the song title (preferably the song title should be in your MP3 link itself) and the year of release (month, day, year) in your email (see below). Please also include your official website and/or MySpace link, and label name, if applicable.

Make sure that your MP3 links are functional for many months to come, or indefinitely because sometimes it takes a while before we can feature your music. It's best to include at least two MP3 links, but no more than four. Please only send ONE email with everything in it.

With each submission, you must type: "I, [Your Name, Position] give Indie Rock Cafe permission to post this music" at the end of your email. You must be an official representative of the band to submit.

Please don't forget to include "MP3 Submission: Song Title - Band Name" in the Subject of the email; if not, we'll never see your email, or hear your music. Please do not send fancy, extra small or large formatting (like HTML) in your email submission - only plain text (ASCII).

Email to indierockcafe at gmail (dot com)

Required: Copy and paste the following bolded text - with your answers - into your MP3 link(s) submission email:

Band Name:
Your Name/Title:
Location(s):
MP3 Link(s):
Song(s) Title (if not in the MP3 URL)
Album Title:
Album Release Date (Month/Day/Year):
Website Link:
MySpace Link:
Record Label:
Type of Music:
Who You've Opened For:
Where You Have Been Written About Previously:
A short bio (not more than 200 words please):

Finally: Please add a link to IndieRockCafe on your blog, website, social media page or wherever else. This helps us determine your popularity among Internet music fans.

That'll do it!

The following is an example of a perfect music submission

Email Subject "MP3 Submission: "Stop" - The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir

Band Name: The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Your Name/Title: (removed for privacy)
Location: Chicago, IL
MP3 Link(s):
1. http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/files/mediakit/02%20Stop.mp3
2. http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/files/mediakit/14%20Tear%20Down%20The%20Opera%20House.mp3

Song(s) Title (if not in the MP3 URL):
Album Title: And The Horse You Rode In On
Album Release Date (Month/Day/Year): Sept. 16, 2009
Website Link: http://www.sygc.com
MySpace Link: http://www.myspace.com/scotlandyardgospelchoir
Record Label: N/A
Type of Music: Prog Rock/Pop
Who You've Opened For: Editors,
Where You Have Been Written About Previously: SPIN, IGuessImFloating, Stereogum, ConsequenceofSound.com, etc.

A short bio (not more than 200 words please):

With Welsh-born Elia as the ringleader, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is a free-spirited collective of musical visionaries who turn out exuberant and rough-hewn chamber pop. Among the talent that performs and/or records with the Choir includes core players like bassist and recording engineer Mark Yoshizumi, guitarist and vocalist Mary Ralph, drummer Jay Santana, violin player Ethan Adelsman, keyboardist Alison Hinderliter (Le Concorde), and a brass section made up of Sam Johnson (Mucca Pazza, Hawk & a Hacksaw) and Matt Priest (Canasta).

Thanks again for your interest in IRC. Long live independent and alternative music!


Band Promotion & Marketing

If you or your band are interested in personalized band promotion to get word about your music to more people and increase your visibility, fan base, sales and numbers at your gigs, as well as other benefits, from a professional who knows how to do all that and more, please send an email to holdtheonion (at) gmail. com with the email subject line "Artist & Band Promotion".


Writers, Photographers and Illustrators

If you are a writer and would like to contribute album reviews, write up features about bands and artists or contribute your own concert and other photos, we'd love to hear from you. Please send an email to indierockcafe (at) gmail (dotcom) with the Subject as RE: Contributing to IRC. This is a perfect way for your work to get exposure to tens of thousands of people every month.


Thanks to Everyone

We just want to say to thank you to so many of you for sending your music, regularly visiting the blog and in general making it possible to do what we do; maybe someday soon, this can become a real job rather than a hobby (this is a very 'indie' operation). If that happens, the amount of coverage and cool indie things we can do will increase significantly. There's still a lot of great music we have all never heard, or have yet to hear, and it's our mission to bring as much of it to you as possible in an easy and concise way.

Help Spread the Word!

We appreciate your help in promoting the site on the web, sharing it with friends and whatever else you can think of. We don't make any money doing this, so your volunteerism, if you will - like adding any post from IRC to Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon, MySpace and linking to IRC from your own site, etc, is appreciated greatly. You're participation helps give us the juice needed to keep up our faith that this is all worthwhile.

You can also help by adding links from IRC to your favorite social networking sites (like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, etc.) and signing up for the “Feed Me Indie” RSS feed and sharing the site with friends.

Starting as a hobby in 2006 to share music with friends, IRC has grown to a worldwide audience of thousands of people every day. In fact, daily traffic to this site has tripled from the winter of 2008/9 to the summer/fall of 2009, with over 100,000 unique visitors a month. Thanks especially to the thousands of regular, loyal readers who appreciate what we are trying to do, and hope to do in the future.

If you'd like to add a link to us, or just bookmark the site with your favorite bookmarker, please do. Each time someone does this, it spreads the love and makes us want to post more. :)

If you're linking to a specific page, please use anchor text like "Animal Collective" or "Best New Indie", depending on what the content is. That helps everyone out a lot!

To leave a comment for a posting or a general comment, click on a post on the IRC website and then click on the Comments link. No login is required to leave a comment, but is encouraged.

Thanks for your support!

IRC on the Web and Top Links:

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In Dee Mail playlist series
Best Indie of 2009
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Songs/MP3s
New Releases
Best Indie of 2008
Best Indie of 2007

Labels: About IRC