How to send beats to artists, step by step
You've got finished beats sitting in a folder, and sending them to an artist feels like guesswork. Here's how to do a first send properly, from picking the beats to the follow-up.
Pick three to five beats for one artist
Before you send anything, listen to the artist's last few songs. Note the tempo, the mood, and the kind of beats they rap or sing on. Then pick the beats from your folder that could sit next to those songs.
Three to five is plenty for a first send. It shows a bit of range, and they can play all of it in a few minutes. Thirty beats in a folder leaves the choosing to them.
Put the one closest to their sound first. If they only press play once, that's the one they hear.
- Three to five beats, not thirty
- The closest to their sound goes first
- One link for all of them
MP3, WAV or stems: what to send, and when
For a first listen, an MP3 is enough. The bigger files come later, when an artist wants to record on a beat.
| File | When to send it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 (320 kbps), with your tag | The first listen | Light enough to open fast on a phone, and good enough to judge the beat. Your tag says who made it. |
| WAV, untagged | When they want to record on it, often as part of a licence | Full quality, to record and mix the song. |
| Stems (trackouts) | When they or their engineer mix the song, often with a bigger licence or an exclusive | Every sound on its own file, so each one can be mixed. |
One common way to split it. What comes with each file is up to you, in your own terms.
Get your beats ready before you send
Do this once for every beat you finish, and each one is ready the day you want to send it.
Name every file clearly
Title, BPM, key and your name: “Night Drive 140bpm Cmin YourName.mp3” tells an artist what it is and who made it, weeks after they saved it. “final_v3_MASTER.mp3” tells them nothing.
Tag it, lightly
Put your producer tag at the start, and maybe once more later in the beat. It says who made it if the file gets passed around. Every four bars, it gets in the way of hearing the beat.
Export a 320 kbps MP3
That's the file for a first listen. Keep the WAV and the stems in their own folder, untagged, for the day an artist wants to record.
Check the link like an artist would
Open it in a private window, signed out. Does it play without an account? Is it the right version, with the right beats? Then send.
What to write
Short enough to read in one go on a phone: who you are in one line, why you thought of them, the link, a simple close.
The “why them” line is the one that counts. Name a song of theirs and what you liked in it. “I love your music” could go to anyone, and it reads that way.
A DM you can adapt: “Hey [name], I'm [your name], I make beats in [city]. I've had [song] on repeat, so I picked three beats that could fit that sound: [link]. No pressure. If one works for you, tell me.”
- One link, no attachments
- No life story, no asking for a follow
- By email, say what it is in the subject: “3 beats for [name]”
What works against you
Every one of these makes your message easier to skip, whatever the beats sound like.
Files attached to the message
Heavy to download and awkward to play on a phone. A link plays in one tap.
The same message to everyone
A message pasted to two hundred artists reads like one. Fewer messages that each name a song are time better spent.
Your link in their comments
A link under their post gets lost among the other comments, in front of everyone. Send it to them directly.
A follow-up every day
Once or twice, a week or more apart, is enough. After that, your name becomes something they scroll past.
One link for the beats you picked
On vvault, every beat and every pack has its own link. Put the beats you picked in a pack, copy its link and paste it in your DM or your email. A DM works fine: 79% of the plays recorded on vvault come from a link or a page opened outside vvault's own emails, like a link pasted in a DM.
The artist presses play without making an account. Every upload starts private, and you decide who the link opens for: anyone who has it, or only the people you invite, who sign in to listen.
Then, on every plan, vvault tells you when someone plays, downloads or saves one of your beats, by name when they're signed in to vvault or you emailed it to them from vvault. That's how you know who to follow up with. The details: see who played your beats.
- A link for every beat and every pack
- Artists listen without an account
- A notification for every play, on every plan
After you send: follow up once or twice
Artists get a lot of messages, and a link can slip down the list. If nothing comes back, wait about a week, then send one short follow-up with something new: another beat, or the one that fits them best, on its own.
If there's still nothing a week or two later, stop there. Come back in a month or so with new beats, in a new message. And if they say no, thank them and leave it.
Whether they listen, and whether they use a beat, is their call. Your part is sending good beats to the right people, properly. Next: how to follow up after sending beats.
Questions
Should I send MP3 or WAV when I reach out to artists?
An MP3 for the first listen. A 320 kbps MP3 is light, opens fast on a phone and is good enough to judge a beat. Keep untagged WAVs and stems for when an artist wants to record on it and you've agreed on terms.
How many beats should I put in a pack?
Three to five for a first send, picked for that artist, with the closest to their sound first. If you made one beat with them in mind, sending just that one is fine too.
How often should I follow up?
Once or twice, spaced out. Wait about a week, send one short follow-up with something new, and if there's still no answer, stop. Try again in a month or so with new beats. If they say no, that's the answer.
What is the best day and time to send beats?
There isn't one that works for everyone. Send at a normal hour where they live, not in the middle of their night. If you email from vvault on Pro, it shows the day and hour your emails get opened, so you can see what works for the people you send to.
How do I find an artist's email address?
Use the one they post for business: in their Instagram or TikTok bio, on their YouTube channel or on their website. If there isn't one, a DM is fine. Don't guess addresses, and don't buy lists.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.
- vvault's own records: every play since 30 December 2025, by where it came from, counted again every hour
Read next
How to follow up after sending beats
One or two short follow-ups, spaced out, each with something new. Here's when, and what to write.
Read
See who played the beats you send
What a play tells you, what it doesn't, and how to follow up with the people who pressed play.
Read
How to keep unreleased music private
Send links instead of files, choose who can open each beat, and close access when you're done.
ReadNever wonder who listened again.
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Photos: cottonbro studio, cottonbro studio, Jaroslav Maléř, Lum3n, Harvey Tan Villarino and Raul Ling on Pexels