Sending Your Music Online
Calls for Applications often require you to include examples of your work and, when submissions need to be sent electronically, it’s not always possible to send larger music or video files simply by attaching them to an email. There are a few different ways to get around this.
One is to use a digital file delivery service. There are several available, but one example is YouSendIt, where you can register for free and have access to their basic, ‘Lite’ service. This allows you to upload and send a file of up to 50MB in size. The recipient will then be sent a notification containing a link they can download your file from. They must do this within 7 days. The process is very easy to follow: you just enter the recipient’s email, an optional message, and select the location to upload your file from (e.g. the ‘My Documents folder, your Desktop, and so on.) You will need to wait a few minutes, depending on the size of your file, for the upload to complete. Once that’s done, your file is ready to send.
Another option is to use a file hosting service, of which Dropbox is one of the most commonly used. Registering for free allows you to store up to 2GB of information. You can share files by creating a ‘Shared Folder’ and inviting other people to access it; however, this will require the invitees to be set up on Dropbox too. Alternatively you can send a ‘public link’ to individual files: just right click on the particular file, choose ‘Copy public link,’ and then paste it into the email or document you’re submitting. When the recipient clicks on the link, it will open the file in their web browser. If they wish to save the file on their computer, they just need to click File>Save Page As in the browser.
Finally, you can set up an account with SoundCloud – a social networking site where you host audio - which has become very popular with artists and musicians. Signing up for a free subscription allows you to upload 120 minutes of audio. Uploading is very simple: you just select ‘Upload & Share’ at the top of the page, then ‘Choose Files’ and select the location to upload from. Again, you need to wait a few minutes for this to complete depending on the size of your file. Once it’s done, you just have to enter some information about your track, and it will be hosted on your personal user page. You can simply send a link to your page as part of your application. It has the added benefit of allowing you to get your work out to a wider audience, present some information about yourself, and network with other artists. Take a look at our SoundCloud page to see how one looks.