How to protect promos from leaks

How promos leak

• Shared folders and attachments. One link or one file for everyone gets forwarded, and nobody can tell whose copy it was.
• Forwarded emails. A promo email sent on to a group chat, a friend or a forum.
• Uploads. A DJ uploads a set or a radio show with the full track before release, or a downloaded file ends up on a file sharing or streaming site.
• Too many recipients. The more people who get the file, the more chances one of them shares it, often people who don't know the label.
• Old links. A promo that stays open for months after release, or forever, keeps working for anyone who has the link.

Send to fewer, better people

The best protection is who gets the music. A list of DJs, radio and press you know, who asked for your promos or work with you, leaks far less than a large list of strangers. Bought or scraped lists are the riskiest of all, as well as being against most tools' rules.

For an important release, send to your closest DJs first and wait before sending to everyone else. The first round tells you how the track is received, and the music stays with fewer people for longer. How to build a DJ promo list with consent covers building a list you can trust.

One link per person

Give each person their own link to the promo instead of one link for the whole list. Then everything that happens on a link is tied to one person: when they opened it, what they played and what they downloaded. If a link is forwarded, the activity still shows under that person's name, which tells you where it went.

Put the recipient's name in the files

Write each person's name into the tags of the files they download. A copy that turns up on a forum or a download site then says whose it was. Most people who share a promo don't think about the tags, so this traces the common leaks: a file passed to a friend, or uploaded straight from the download folder.

Be realistic about what tags do. They are text inside the file, and someone who knows how can remove them. They help you find out where most leaks come from; they don't make a file impossible to share.

Ask for feedback before the download

When the download unlocks only after a rating and a comment, people stream first and download only what they will play. Fewer files leave the promo page, and every download comes with a record of who took it and what they said. How to get feedback from DJs covers what to ask.

Listen only for the most sensitive releases

Some people only need to hear a track: a label you are pitching, a journalist writing a preview, a manager. Give them a link that streams without a download, so no full quality file leaves your hands. Add a password and send it separately when a forwarded link alone shouldn't open the music. How to share unreleased music privately goes through this.

End promos you no longer need

• Give every promo an end date, for example a few weeks after release.
• End a promo straight away if plans change: a release date moves, a remix is cancelled, a track leaks.
• Turn off single links when a person no longer needs them.

An ended promo stops the links from working. It can't take back files already downloaded, which is why the steps above matter.

Say what is allowed

Many leaks are not malicious: a DJ uploads last weekend's set without thinking about the unreleased track in it. Say in the promo notes what you allow, for example "Play it out freely; please don't upload it in sets or share the file before release on 14 November." People respect a clear request more than a vague one.

When a track leaks

1. Find the copy and check its tags. The name in the file usually tells you whose download it was.
2. Check that person's activity on the promo: when they downloaded, and in which format.
3. Stop further access. End the promo or turn off that person's private link, depending on how widely it has spread.
4. Ask for removal. Most file sharing and streaming sites have a copyright takedown form; the artist's distributor or the label can file it.
5. Talk to the person. Often it was a mistake. Decide whether they stay on the list.
6. Tell the artist what happened and what you did.

Protecting promos in Dubsend

Each person gets a personal link to the promo page, and Dubsend records their visits, the seconds they played of each track, their downloads and their feedback under their name. Every download (MP3, WAV and AIFF) carries the recipient's name and email in its tags, with your brand and the release details, so you know whose copy it is. Feedback before download is the default; you can make it optional or turn it off per promo.

A promo can have an end date, and you can withdraw it at any time: its links stop working straight away. Private links for one person can end after 7, 30 or 90 days, or no end date, can have a password, can be listen only (no downloads) and can be turned off at any time. DJs who save promos to Dropbox from their inbox get them only when they could download them on the promo page, never for a listen-only link or a promo that ended or was withdrawn. Reports for the artist never show email addresses. More in the FAQ.

Questions