Promo pool or your own list?
There are two ways to get unreleased music to DJs. You can send it to your own list: people you know, or who asked for your promos. Or you can send it through a pool: a group of DJs a service has gathered, who receive promos from many labels. This guide explains how each works and when each makes sense.
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How a promo pool works
A promo pool is a list of DJs, radio hosts and curators that a service gathers and manages. DJs apply or sign up to receive promos, often by genre, and the service decides who gets in. Labels pay the service to send their release to the pool, or to part of it. Some services only run a pool; others add a pool on top of the label's own list.
The DJs in a pool receive promos from many labels they may not know, and the relationship is with the service. When a label stops using the pool, it keeps no contact with those DJs unless they joined the label's own list.
How your own list works
Your own list is the contacts you have gathered: DJs who play your music, people who asked for your promos on a join page, radio and press you work with. You send promos to them directly, under your label's name, and the list stays yours whichever tool you use. The record of how each person joined is yours too.
Side by side
| Promo pool | Your own list | |
|---|---|---|
| Who receives | DJs gathered by the service, many of whom don't know your label | People who know your label or asked for your promos |
| Reach on day one | Immediate, even for a new label | Only as large as the list you have built |
| Relationship | With the service | With you |
| Consent | Given to the service | Given to you, with your own record |
| If you stop using the tool | The contacts stay with the service | You keep the list and take it elsewhere |
| Feedback | From people who may not play your genre often | From people who chose to follow your releases |
| Cost | Usually by reach or per send | Your time to build the list, plus the sending tool |
When a pool makes sense
- A new label or artist with no list yet, who needs a first set of plays and comments.
- A release in a genre outside your usual circle, where your list has few people who play it.
- A one-off push where reach matters more than who exactly hears it.
Before paying for a pool, ask the service how DJs get in, how often they are checked, how many promos each one gets a week, and whether you see who listened. A pool where every DJ gets hundreds of promos a week gives each one very little attention.
When your own list makes sense
- You release regularly and want the same DJs to hear every release.
- You want feedback you can act on, from people who know your sound.
- You want to report to artists on who supported a release, by name when they agree.
- You want to keep your contacts if you change tools.
Using both
Many labels use a pool early on and move towards their own list. The step that matters is turning pool listeners into contacts of your own: when someone from a pool supports a release, invite them to your list or point them to your join page. Over a few releases the people who keep supporting you end up on your own list, where you can reach them directly.
Keep the two apart in your records. People who joined your list have given you consent; people in a pool have given it to the service. Don't copy pool contacts into your own list without asking them.
Growing your own list
- Put a join page link on your website, your social profiles, your release notes and the end of every promo.
- Invite DJs who play your releases, from tracklists and radio shows.
- Ask your artists to invite the DJs they know.
- Send promos that fit: people stay on lists that send them music they play.
How to build a DJ promo list with consent goes through each step.
Where Dubsend fits
Dubsend sends to your own list only. It has no pool and doesn't provide or sell contacts. It helps you build and keep the list: CSV import with a consent record, a join page with double opt-in, and invitations that show your label's card, so DJs can see what you release before they accept.
DJs who receive promos through Dubsend can keep every promo from every label in one free inbox at dubsend.com/inbox. Labels don't see whether someone uses it, and promos only reach people who are on that label's list. See how DJs get promos from labels.
Questions
What is a DJ promo pool?
A list of DJs, radio hosts and curators gathered by a service. Labels pay the service to send their releases to it, and the DJs receive promos from many labels.
Is a promo pool better than my own list?
It gives more reach at the start. Your own list gives you people who know your label, feedback you can act on and contacts you keep. Many labels use a pool early and move to their own list.
Can I add pool DJs to my own list?
Only if they agree. Invite the ones who supported your release or point them to your join page, so they join with their own consent.
Does Dubsend have a promo pool?
No. Dubsend sends to your own list only and doesn't provide or sell contacts.