If you would like to see your music featured in a future installment of Other People’s Music, this page will tell you how. First, let me be clear: this series is 100% user submitted – everything I have covered was sent to me by one of its creators. DON’T WAIT TO BE ASKED because I don’t really do that! Just read these guidelines and send me your best!

Who can submit

Anyone who is willing to participate in the community can submit. What does that mean? There are only two requirements to be considered. The first is to read this entire post, and follow the directions/guidelines within. The second is to do one or more of the following: follow me on social media (Bluesky and/or Mastodon), subscribe to the blog as a newsletter, or follow it via RSS (and LMK you do). If you do both of those things, you can submit. 

I do ask that everyone who submits engages with and supports the blog to some extent, too, tho I don’t police it. First and foremost, it means being familiar with the blog and format before you submit. Ideally you’ve read at least a couple weeks worth of entries – it’s a five-minute-per-week reading time, but you’re asking me to spend many times that on your music! 

This also means reposting/boosting it via social media, reading and engaging with it yourself (both the installment you are in, and others, past and future), letting your colleagues know if you connect with their music, sharing the blog on other sites/forums/etc. The point is to build a community of music fans and music makers, so do community stuff!

If you’ve submitted before, and had that submission appear, you CAN submit again. Please mention that you are a repeat submitter. I keep a separate list of y’all and seed it in at a slightly lower rate than the new stuff. 

THERE IS NO COST TO SUBMIT. I won’t ever ask you for money to cover your music, nor have anyone else ask you on my behalf! I do take donations via Ko-Fi, but that’s completely voluntary and does not affect coverage at all; as a matter of fact, maybe don’t donate until AFTER your review appears if you want to submit your music and want to donate.

What you can submit

Music of any genre, type or style (even genres that challenge the boundaries and definitions of musicality, like noise, soundscapes/sound art, audio collage, etc); that you, the person submitting it to me, had a hand in creating (and thus the presumed authority to speak for); that is hosted on an acceptable platform available to the public without upfront cost or membership requirement (i.e. first listen at least has to be free, and not require signing up for anything).

All submissions must be contained within a single “release” – an album, a playlist, etc – that exists at a linkable, static URL. Ideally it should be embeddable, but I can work with you even if it isn’t (if your work appears on multiple platforms, let’s lean toward the one that embeds easiest/best, tho).

What you can NOT submit

Anything that was made with generative AI (LLM driven software trained unethically on stolen work and deployed in a way that devalues that work) in any capacity that makes it into the final product, even in a small way. No AI lyrics, no AI-generated beats that you rap or sing over, no full AI productions, nothing. This includes secondary products like AI artwork album covers, AI-written liner notes, etc. I refuse to engage with that stuff any more. If you do, stick with the folks who find it interesting and we’ll both/all be better off.

Acceptable and Unacceptable Platforms

I’m not here to support the vampires exsanguinating the creative industry, so all streaming only/streaming first services are out, with a few edge cases. No Spotify, no Deezer, Tidal, Apple Music, YouTube Music, etc. It has to be a site where people can either pay you money directly for your work, or that allows payment links, or at least message you directly, and that you can upload your work to without having to pay a middle man. 

Explicitly allowed:

  • Bandcamp, Ampwall, Mirlo, and similar sites that allow and emphasize buying music directly from artists (even if your music is free)
  • Any self hosted site that generally fulfills the other requirements
  • Soundcloud (questionable but people who use it have convinced me to allow it…for now)
  • Actual YouTube (absolute edge case but does allow you to embed payment links in the descriptions, upload directly, etc; also is rarely the primary outlet for either musicians or music listeners, and it’s basically a social media platform too). Please note YouTube Music is NOT allowed.

If you aren’t sure about a particular platform, LMK and we’ll figure it out.

Where to submit

You can submit to me via DMs on Bluesky or Mastodon if you follow me/we are mutuals there. You can email me from an address that subscribes to the blog (please mention you are a subscriber in the email) or another email with proof you subscribe/follow via RSS. My email is iametherdiver@gmail.com. If you submit any other way – comments section here, in my mentions on some social media site, skywriting, whatever – it won’t get on my list with any certainty.

What you can do with it

First and foremost, I hope you read and enjoy what I wrote. Then, you can use it to promote your music, ideally! Send it to your fans, excerpt it on your album packaging, headline your newsletter with the best line and then link to the review in the body! Please use it as widely as you like. Share it everywhere. Print it out and hand it out at your birthday party! I do insist that you leave my name/credit on it in all cases, and ask that where feasible, a URL, even if it is a partial one (i.e. etherdiver.com) is there as well; online a link back to the post, prominently displayed if possible.