Submit Your Music to 313 LIVE: What We Look For

Every record on 313 LIVE got there because someone sent it, signed it, or dug it out. If you make techno, house or electro and want it heard on a Detroit station that plays this music around the clock, the door is open. This guide walks through the submission form, what the station’s sound is built on, and how to send a submission that’s easy to say yes to.

Who can submit

The form is open to artists, labels and producers, wherever you’re based. You don’t need to be from Detroit. You do need to understand what Detroit means to this music, because that’s the ear your record will be heard with.

There’s one hard rule: you must own or control the master of what you send. If you’re an artist on a label, check with the label first, or have the label submit. The form asks you to confirm the rights before it will send.

What the station plays

313 LIVE’s lane is Detroit-rooted electronic music, broadly. The station’s About page puts it this way: if it moves the floor and respects the culture, it belongs on the signal. In practice that covers:

• Detroit techno and electro, from Belleville roots to futurist machine funk
• Deep, jacking and soulful house, groove first
• Minimal and atmospheric edges, built for long late-night arcs

The station also programs by time of day, so a record doesn’t have to be a peak-time weapon to find a home. A warm deep-house cut might suit the mornings; a hypnotic minimal track might belong after midnight. The daypart guide describes each block. Knowing where your track would sit is a good sign that it fits.

If you want to understand the tradition you’re pitching to, The Signal has you covered: start with our map of Detroit techno, house and electro and What “Underground” Really Means on a 24/7 Stream.

What to send

The form asks for more than an audio file, and that’s deliberate: good metadata is what puts your name on the now-playing display and in the station’s tracklist.

Audio

• Formats: MP3, WAV, FLAC, AIFF or M4A.
• Size: up to 25 MB per file. MP3 is recommended, since a high-bitrate MP3 keeps a full-length track under the limit.
• Quality: send a finished, mastered file, not a work-in-progress bounce.

Cover art (optional)

JPG, PNG or WebP, square, ideally 1400×1400 pixels or larger. It’s optional, but artwork makes a submission easier to identify and remember.

Artist details

Your artist or project name and email are required. The form also has space for your city and country, website, and links to Instagram, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, X, Spotify or anywhere else people can find you. Fill in the ones you actually use.

Release information

Release title is required. You can add the track and album titles, label, release type (single, EP, album, promo or DJ tool, remix, mix, or other), genre, BPM, key, catalog number and release date. A DJ tool or promo is welcome. Say so, so it’s heard in the right context.

About the music

There’s room for an artist bio, press or pitch notes, and rights or clearance notes. You can tick whether the station may use the music for on-air and promo use if accepted, and whether you’re asking for an exclusive or a premiere.

How to send a strong submission

None of this is a secret formula. These are simply the habits that make any submission easier to review.

1. Send your best track, not your whole folder. One strong record makes a clearer first impression than five average ones.
2. Get the metadata right. Spell your artist name and track title exactly as you want them to appear. They’re what listeners see on the player and in the recently played list, and what they’ll search for on Bandcamp.
3. Write a short, honest pitch. Two or three sentences: what the track is, who made it, where it’s from, and when it comes out. Skip the superlatives; the music speaks.
4. Be clear about the rights. If there are samples, say whether they’re cleared. If a label is involved, name it.
5. Include your links. If listeners love it, they’ll want to find you. A Bandcamp link is especially useful, because the station’s tracklist points listeners there.
6. Know the lane. A record that clearly belongs to techno, house or electro, or to the edges between them, fits the station. Off-format music is a harder sell no matter how good it is.

What happens next

The station’s team listens to submissions. Music that fits may be added to the library, and approved promotional use can include on-air play, blog features and social posts. If the team wants to follow up, they’ll contact you at the email address you provided, so use one you check.

There’s no guaranteed response time, and not every submission will be added. That’s true of every station worth being played on. Keep making records, keep submitting your best ones, and keep listening. The more you hear what the station plays, the better you’ll know what fits.

Already on air? Help listeners find you

If your music is in the library, listeners can request it on the requests page. Tell your audience, and point them to our guide on requesting tracks the right way. Supporting the station that plays you also helps; the support page lists the ways. And if you’re a label or promoter with a release or event to push, the advertise page covers sponsorship and takeovers.

New to the station? The complete 313 LIVE guide covers everything from the stream to Studio 13. When you’re ready, submit your music.