Sendbox vs SubmitHub, Groover and LabelRadar, and where promo pools fit

"Demo submission" covers at least four different things, and people argue about them as if they were competing products. They mostly are not. A curator marketplace, a label inbox network, a promo pool and a direct submission link solve different problems for different people, and the right one depends on which side of the inbox you are on. Here is what each one does, and where a Sendbox fits.

Details and prices change often, so treat the descriptions below as the shape of each model and check the services themselves for the current terms.

Curator marketplaces: SubmitHub, Groover

The artist pays, per submission, to put a track in front of curators: blogs, playlist owners, radio shows, some labels and some DJs. The curators are paid to listen and answer within a set time, and they answer in the platform's own interface.

Good for: discovery. If you have a finished track and no contacts, a marketplace is a way to get it heard by strangers who have agreed to listen, with an answer either way.

Not for: reaching a specific person. The DJ you saw last month or the label you actually want is only reachable this way if they happen to be on the platform, and most working DJs are not.

Label inbox networks: LabelRadar

Labels list an inbox; artists browse the labels and submit; the label reviews inside the platform's dashboard. Free or cheap for the artist, with paid options for reach, and the label does its A&R in another company's tool.

Good for: finding labels that publicly take demos, in your genre, with an idea of what they release.

Not for: DJs, who are not labels. And not for labels or A&Rs who would rather review demos where they review everything else, rather than in one more dashboard.

Promo pools: BPM Supreme, DJcity, ZIPDJ and the rest

The other direction entirely. A pool is a subscription for DJs: labels and editors put new releases and edits in, DJs download them. Nobody submits a demo to a pool, but pools are where a large share of a DJ's inbox comes from, which is why they matter here. If you are the DJ, the problem is not sending, it is managing what arrives.

Direct: email, WeTransfer, DMs

The default, and still the majority. A producer finds an address and sends a file. It works, badly: attachments bounce, links expire, the note is either missing or a biography, the same track arrives from three addresses, and the DJ has to download, rename and tag before they can even listen. Replies are rare because replying is work.

A Sendbox is direct submission with the sharp edges taken off. It is not a marketplace and it is not a network. It is your own page, at thecut.music/send/your-handle, where anyone with the link can send you one track.

What a Sendbox does

• Free for producers, no credits. Nobody pays to send. There is no queue to jump and nothing to buy.
• A verified sender. Producers confirm their email with a code before they can send anything. That keeps bots out, and it means every track arrives with an address you can actually reply to.
• The details attached. Artist, title, a short note, and the file (MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, AIFF or FLAC) or a SoundCloud link. Uploads run from the producer's browser, so a big WAV is fine.
• Reviewed where you review everything else. The track lands in your inbox in The Cut, on iPhone, iPad, Mac or in the browser, next to your pool downloads and your email promos. Swipe, rate, decide.
• Replies that reach a person. A reply goes out over your own verified address, with two saved templates for the two messages you actually send.
• Your page, your rules. Turn submissions off when you are on tour, allow files or links or both, and keep the page out of search engines; you share it where you want it seen. Retention depends on your plan; the FAQ has the table.

What a Sendbox is not

There is no curator network, no discovery feed and nobody paid to listen. A Sendbox is for people who already want your demos: DJs and labels who have decided to take them and would like them to arrive in a usable shape. If you are a producer with no contacts, a marketplace is still the right first step. If you are a producer with a DJ's Sendbox link, you have something better than a marketplace: a direct line to someone who asked.

Side by side

	Curator marketplace	Label inbox network	Promo pool	Sendbox
Who pays	The artist, per submission	Mostly free for artists, paid reach	The DJ, by subscription	Nobody to send; the recipient's plan
Who it is for	Artists without contacts	Artists seeking labels	DJs receiving releases	DJs, labels and A&Rs receiving demos
Where the track is reviewed	The platform	The platform's dashboard	The DJ's own library	The recipient's own inbox, in the app or browser
Reach	Every curator on the platform	Every label on the platform	Not applicable	The people you give the link to
Reply	Built in, within a window	Inside the platform	Not applicable	From the recipient's verified address

Which one, then

• Producer, no contacts: a marketplace, one track, and expect to pay for each listen.
• Producer with a specific DJ or label in mind: their Sendbox if they have one, their stated demo address if not. How to send a demo covers what to send and what to write.
• DJ or A&R drowning in emails: a Sendbox, and stop giving out the email address.
• Label with an open demo policy: a label inbox network if you want to be browsed, a Sendbox with a Pro or Label plan if you want demos in your own inbox, with more boxes and longer retention.

A Sendbox is free to start: claim a handle, share the link, and the next demo arrives ready to review.