Discovering Music - Navigating Submissions – Musosoup

A unique aspect of Musosoup is that curators can discover new music from artists who are actively looking to promote their releases, and then approach those artists directly with an offer to support their promotion. This support can take many forms, including reviews, interviews, features, social content, playlisting, and more.

This model is designed to create a more collaborative and transparent environment, where curators can discover artists they genuinely want to support and artists can build longer-term relationships with the people covering and promoting their music. It also supports a fairer approach to music promotion and PR, allowing artists to directly support the curators who invest time and effort into their work.

For curators who make offers to artists, the Artist Submissions section sits at the heart of the platform. This is where you discover new artists, listen to music, save submissions, and decide whether you want to make an offer and what kind of coverage you’d like to create. While it’s always up to the artist whether they accept an offer (either the paid option or the free alternative), this is your opportunity to engage with artists you like and want to support.

Please note: Musosoup also includes a marketplace, which allows artists to approach curators and service providers directly (e.g. creative, advice, marketing, and more). Some curators use only the marketplace, some use only the offer system, and many use both.

What Is Shown on The Artist Submissions Page

Click on Artist Submissions in the main menu and you’ll be presented with a list of all artist campaigns currently live on the platform. When an artist submits music to Musosoup, their music is reviewed. If it is approved (meaning we have listened to the music and deemed it of sufficient quality for the platform), the artist then adds their release information and launches their campaign. Once launched, their campaign will appear in this section of the site for 21 days (or up to an additional 90 days if it is prior to their release date).

Submission Details

When you click on a submission card, the submission details pop-up will open. This provides you with detailed information about the artist, the release, and the submission. In the pop-up, you will also see a link to open the submission as a full page if you prefer.

ARTIST AND RELEASE INFORMATION

Music player: Artists can embed several different music players (Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, Untitled, and more). Artists may add a video embed alongside a streaming embed, and if it’s an album, they may embed the full album as well as a standout track.

Add to Your Spotify Playlists button: This button allows you to quickly add the artist’s release to one of your Spotify playlists without making an offer. More on supporting artists without making offers later in this article.

Genre tags: These are the genres the artist selected when setting up their campaign.

Submission details: This shows who submitted the release. It’s important to check this, as sometimes a label or agent submits on behalf of the artist. We also show the release date, the artist’s location, and links to their streaming platform profiles and social media.

SUBMISSION STATS

Here you can see useful stats about the submission, which may help you decide whether or not to make an offer.

These include:

Last update: The time at which the stats were last refreshed.

Offers received: The total number of offers the artist has received. This can indicate popularity or that the artist is currently attracting attention, but it may also mean there is more competition and a lower chance of your offer being accepted.

Offers pending artist: The percentage of offers the artist has not yet responded to. A very high percentage may indicate slow responses, although it could also mean the artist is reviewing multiple offers before replying.

Offers expired: The percentage of offers the artist did not respond to. A high percentage may indicate the artist is not very active and may be less likely to respond to new offers.

Avg offer response: The average number of hours it takes the artist to reply to an offer. This helps set expectations around response times but can vary depending on whether the artist is actively reviewing offers.

PITCH

The pitch is where the artist tells you about themselves and their release. This is their opportunity to get you interested. They may include information about past achievements, inspirations, or their journey as an artist. They may also include quotes from previous press or mention influential or well-known people who have worked on or supported the release.

ASSETS

Here you can view the release artwork, press shots, and download the press release. This often indicates how prepared and well-presented the artist is. These assets can be used in your content (although you can request additional assets if needed). The press release often includes additional information to help you decide whether the artist is a good fit for you.

SAVE, DECLINE, AND OFFER BUTTONS

At the bottom of the submission details, you’ll see options to Save, Decline, or Make an Offer, depending on which tab you are viewing.

If you are on the Explore tab and open submission details, you’ll see a countdown timer. You must wait at least 15 seconds before the Save button becomes available. You’ll also see a Decline button, which you should use if you don’t intend to make an offer.

On the Saved tab, you’ll see Decline and Make Offer buttons. Click Make Offer to customise and send an offer to the artist.

On the Declined Tab, you’ll see a single Restore button. This restores the submission to the Explore tab. Use this if you change your mind and decide you want to make an offer.

REPORTING SUBMISSION ISSUES

The final element of the submission details is the Problem with this submission? button. Click this to report any issues with the submission. You’ll be presented with a text box where you can provide as much detail as possible so we can investigate and resolve the issue.

Problems are rare but can include:

Broken or missing assets

Missing audio

Profane content

Missing social links

Incorrect release type

Submission Tabs

The submissions page has three tabs, which you’ll spend most of your time moving between.

You start in Explore, where you listen to new and relevant submissions. If you like a submission, you can save it, which moves it to the Saved tab. You can only make offers to submissions that are saved. If you’re not interested, you can decline a submission, which moves it to the Declined tab.

EXPLORE

Explore is the main tab where you discover and listen to new releases. When you open a submission in Explore, you are prompted to listen to the music. This stage is designed for quick, focused listening so you can move through multiple artists efficiently.

Think of Explore as discovery mode. You cannot make offers at this stage. Your goal is simply to listen and decide whether an artist is worth saving for further consideration.

If you like what you hear, save the submission. Please note: you must wait a minimum of 15 seconds before you can save a submission to ensure you are taking time to listen.

If you save a submission, it is moved from the Explore tab to the Saved tab. This ensures that Explore only shows submissions you have not yet saved or declined.

If the music is not right for you, decline the submission. Declined submissions are moved to the Declined tab.

SAVED

The Saved tab shows all submissions you have saved. This is your shortlist of artists you are considering making an offer to. This tab contains music you’re genuinely interested in and gives you time to explore the artist’s links, read their pitch, and listen again.

You can only make an offer to submissions in the Saved tab. To do so, click the submission to open the submission details pop-up, then click Make an Offer. You’ll select the bundle you want to offer and customise details such as the free alternative and the introductory message.

Once an offer is made, the submission is removed from the Saved tab. You can then view and manage it in the Offers & Requests section, where you’ll see the offer status and whether the artist has accepted it.

If you decide not to make an offer, the only other option is to decline the artist. This moves the submission from the Saved tab to the Declined tab.

DECLINED

The Declined tab is an essential part of the Musosoup listening process.

Do not be afraid to use the Decline button. Artists want to know whether their music is being listened to, who is listening, and who is or isn’t interested.

Declining a submission confirms that you listened and made a decision that the release isn’t right for you. This isn’t negative - it’s simply part of deciding which artists are a good fit. Declining feeds directly into artist reporting, helping artists understand which curators are engaging with their music and helping maintain trust in the platform.

Declining also helps keep your Explore and Saved tabs clean, ensuring you are always shown music you haven’t yet listened to or decided on. Honest decisions - both positive and negative - are what make Musosoup credible for artists and sustainable for curators.

Filtering and Sorting

To help you find music that’s relevant to you and your publication, you can use sorting and filtering options and create custom filter presets.

SORTING OPTIONS

Submissions on each tab are sorted by Time left by default. This shows campaigns with the least time remaining first, helping give visibility to artists nearing the end of their campaign.

You can also sort by Most recent, Release date, or Last login.

The Last login sort helps you engage more active artists, while Release date helps with planning coverage around specific dates.

FILTERING OPTIONS

Click Filter, then Open Filters to open the filter sidebar. This allows you to refine submissions to a very specific list.

Genres: Select genres relevant to your publication to remove most unrelated submissions while still allowing for occasional crossover.

Regions: Filter by region or country, useful if you focus on supporting artists from specific locations.

Helpful Tags: Tags such as Cinematic, Edgy, Female Focus, AI, LGBTQ+, or Political help surface music with specific traits or themes.

Moods: Filter by moods such as workout, meditation, or study, particularly useful for playlist curators.

Release Type: Filter by Singles, EPs, Albums, or Video, depending on what you prefer to cover.

Release Date Range: Filter by release date range to plan coverage around availability.

PERSONALISE

You can choose to view only artists you’ve liked across the platform (note: liking an artist is different from saving a submission).

You can also filter to view artists you have referred via your referral link. We recommend using this regularly, as referred artists are often more interested in working with you.

CREATING SAVED FILTERS

After selecting filters, click Show Results. A pop-up will appear asking if you’d like to save the filter preset. Enter a name and click Save, or click Dismiss if you don’t want to save it.

Saved filters appear under My Filters, allowing you to quickly switch between listening modes.

For example, you may want presets for:

Folk or acoustic

Female vocals

You can load these presets at any time without rebuilding your filters.

Last word on using Artist Submissions

The Artist Submissions section is the core discovery tool on Musosoup, giving you a structured way to find new music, listen efficiently, and decide which artists you’d like to support.

By using Explore, Saved, and Declined thoughtfully, along with sorting, filtering, and saved presets, you can focus your time on the artists and releases most relevant to you and your publication.

If you have any questions or need help using the submissions area, please get in touch with us at curators@musosoup.com.

We also recommend reading our article on Offers and Requests to better understand how to engage with artists once you’ve found music you’d like to support.