How to share unreleased music privately

What can go wrong

• The link travels. A link sent in a message can be forwarded to a group chat, and nothing tells you.
• The file has no owner. An MP3 sent as an attachment looks the same in everyone's hands. If it appears on a forum or a streaming site, you can't tell whose copy it was.
• It never ends. A shared folder or a streaming link stays open long after the person needed it.
• You hear nothing back. You don't know whether they listened, how far, or what they thought.

Five rules for sharing privately

1. One link per person. Each person gets their own link, so anything that happens on it is tied to them, and you can turn off one link without touching the others.
2. Name the files. Put the person's name in the downloaded files' tags, so every copy says whose it is.
3. Give it an end. Set an end date that matches what they need: a week for a quick opinion, a month for a DJ who will play it out.
4. Stream when a file isn't needed. If someone only needs to hear the track, let them listen without a download.
5. Add a password for sensitive releases. Send the password separately, so a forwarded link alone doesn't open the music.

The usual ways, and their limits

Who you might share with

• Key DJs who should hear a release before the main promo goes out.
• Radio hosts who need time to plan a premiere.
• Journalists and curators writing about the release.
• Remixers, who need the track, and sometimes the stems, to work on.
• Labels or managers you are pitching a release to, often in a listen-only form.
• People who missed the promo, or who asked for it in a message after it went out.

The message that goes with it

Keep it short and say what the link is, what you would like back and when it ends:

If the link has a password, send it in a separate message, or tell them in person.

After you have shared it

• Check whether they opened it and how long they listened before you follow up.
• Turn the link off when it is no longer needed, for example once the release is out.
• If a copy appears where it shouldn't, the name in the file's tags tells you whose copy it was. Turn that person's link off and talk to them. How to protect promos from leaks covers the rest.
• Add people who gave useful feedback to your promo list, if they want your promos.

Private links in Dubsend

In any campaign, a draft or one that went out, open Private links and add the person's name. Dubsend makes a link only for them: copy it, or share it by WhatsApp or a direct message from your phone. Dubsend doesn't email it. The link opens the same promo page as an emailed promo, with their name on it, and they listen, give feedback (following the promo's feedback setting) and download files tagged with the name you gave, and their email if you added it.

Each link can end after 7, 30 or 90 days, or no end date, can have a password (the right password opens the page for 24 hours in that browser), can be listen only, and can be turned off at any time. Shared in a chat, the link's preview shows the release and your label; with a password, it shows only your label. A campaign can have up to 200 private links.

Each person shows in the campaign's stats with a Private link label, with their listening time, downloads and feedback, and they appear in the artist report. Each link counts as one of the month's recipients, once, even if the same person also gets the email that month. More in the FAQ.

Questions