How do I get reviewed? Do you review everything you get? Will you buy our CD because we can't afford to send out ones?
It's simple. Just go to our contact section and mail it in. DO NOT SEND VIA REGISTERED MAIL AND/OR ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES A SIGNATURE. Not only is it annoying it'll save you money. The more time I spend signing for your precious CD the less likely I will be attuned to enjoying it.
Also it'll save you some money so you can work on making more music instead. And speaking of money, be sure when you send your materials to us that you actually put the correct postage on it--we won't be bothering to pay the 3 cents you skimped out on because you were too lazy to take it to the post office.
Yes we review everything we receive every two weeks. Be sure you include at the minimum contact information, although its also a good idea to include a press sheet or kit if you have one. We send out automatic e-mails when we enter new reviews in the database so you'll be informed of when the review is done.
No we won't buy your CD, I find that question insulting. I'm providing a free service to your band as well as our entire readership. If you can't afford to do your own publicity and promotion than you should re-think what direction you want your band and music is taking.
Do you accept MP3s? Will you download my electronic press kit?
No we do not do online reviews. Mostly because of the sheer volume of online music but also due to the fact that those artists that choose to work hard and put out a physical release should get higher preference in the first place.
No I don't have time to download a bio or an electronic press kit. While it may be convenient for some, it's added work on my part. If you don't feel that your bio or press kit adds anything more to your mailing and release, then don't send it.
After I finish reviewing a band, I throw away/recycle all of the press materials with the exception of all 8x10s and/or glossy pictures that are included. That goes into my scrapbook so that later down the road I can look up your band when I see you on MTV or in the mainstream press.
Yes, I still have the glossy 8x10's of such luminaries as System of a Down and Incubus as well as Swamp Boogie Queen.
How long will it take for my review to be up on the site?
I try to get everything sent to me up every two weeks. If you've sent your release to one of the other two slackers that occasionally write for Smother.Net, it most likely will take a whole lot longer. So your best bet is to send your music
my way if you're looking for a quick turnaround.
What is Smother.Net and who runs it?
Smother.Net is an online socio-political music publication that caters to "relatively" unknown and underground acts from across the globe.
I, J-Sin (yes a nickname I've had since high school), started Smother.Net formerly known as Smother E-zine way back in '96 when I was a High School senior as a way to help
expose other bands out there. I was frustrated with how long it took my bands to get press so I figured I'd put my money where my mouth was and start a community for musicians that want
free and honest press. It's morphed into a much bigger beast over the years and now boasts a whole lot more content than ever was imagined.
What's the "politics" section all about? My frustration with socially and politically inept young people whose cries of angst never see any sort of follow-through led me to start a section that links to articles that I've found important in saving us from the grips of Christian conservatives and Republican hacks who have been stripping my country of its rights and its culture for far too long. Yes I'm liberal and progressive and proud of it. If you don't like that, too bad, I'm not going to allow the word 'liberal' to have some sort of eerily evil connotation that too many Democrats fear. Being liberal isn't a bad thing. And being very opinionated (whether right or wrong) and liberal is a great thing! Check out the section for daily updates to the news that the free press is too scared to print.
Can you link to my site? Can I have my banner posted on the site?
I link to sites that either support Smother.Net, are likeminded, or I enjoy for whatever reason. If you feel that might apply to your site, feel free to contact us and you just may be put into our link section.
We post banners somewhat in the same circumstances although we rotate them and will remove a banner when its no longer relevant--for example if it's a banner promoting an album that's been out for months, most likely it will be pulled for a new
campaign. We now charge for advertising though in some circumstances we'll hook you up for free.
Will you interview my band?
I'll try but I don't do phone interviews anymore except in very, very rare occurrences. That's why we have the invention of e-mail. It makes everyone's life easier, plus you could spell-check your answers!
Hi, I'm a record label and would like to add you to our promotional mailing list.
Go for it. We'll review everything you send our way. This goes for publicity firms as well.
What are your ad rates?
After strong consideration, we're now asking for a mere $10 (that's ten big one dollar bills) instead of our previous free advertising offer. This will help us with our enormous bandwidth bills and keep us afloat for another ten years. You can paypal us the money with the ad and the link and we'll post it immediately. Thing is, we'll run your ad for at least a full month throughout the entire site. Sounds good right? Well we'll probably run it for EVEN longer than a month, but a month is what we'll guarantee up front. We get approximately 20,000 unique hits a month and have a monthly newsletter. You do the math. Posting our banner too would be nice but is certainly not required.
Click below to pay for banner advertising through Paypal:
Can I put you on our band's e-mail list? I'd like you to post news about our band.
Please don't. I get approximately 500 e-mails a day that aren't spam-related. As you can imagine, wading through all of that is horrific at times. If you have something you'd like us to post, just e-mail us then.
Why aren't there more feature articles or interviews?
I get 100 to 120 albums a month. I review all of them. I have a day job where I work typically 50 to 60 hours a week. I have a wife and kid. I have tomato plants. I have three cats.
I try to play music and have a life. But yes, I feel guilty and have a bunch of ideas on the plate. If you'd like to contribute something, write it up and send it our way and we'll see what happens.
You gave us a bad review! Please remove it!
No. It is our strict policy that we post what our opinions are and if you don't like them that's your issue. Over the course of our tenure on the web we've had multiple requests to remove a review from folks who don't like the fact that we pointed out their flaws. Don't threaten us with slander and say some nonsense about contacting a lawyer. If you don't like our opinions you need to grow thicker skin and possibly consider changing industries. We guarantee that our one opinion will not change the course of your budding career, however sometimes we sure will help. The opinions expressed herein are solely the authors' and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Smother Magazine. In essence, we don't change the site because you don't like something we said. Get used to it. Remember you're sending US material, we don't go out and find bands to review and slam at all.
Ask yourself, would you ask Rolling Stone or the Washington Post to remove a review that they gave you? Of course not. If you harass us to remove or change any comments that we've posted, you will be served with a cease-and-desist letter. Basically, shrug it off and move on--we know we will. And just because our review shows up high in Google results doesn't mean we maninpulated a search engine--it's probably because Smother's more popular than your site.
You printed our e-mail or our communicaton in your mailbag! Please remove it.
No. If it's good enough for us to read, it's good enough for our readers to read. We get harassed often by folks who complain exactly about question #12 above. People, this industry is ruthless and if you get tweaked because of something we said, well we can only imagine what'll happen when it someone you care says something you don't like. So, again, no we won't remove anything from our site. This isn't fifth grade, there are sticks and stones but they're hardly lethal. If you don't want us to post something you've written to us, then don't e-mail us. Otherwise, contact us and let us know what's up!