"I’m a promoter, label and/or artist and would like to send Americana UK CD(s) for review - how do I go about it?"

Please send all promotional material to the following mailing address:

Americana UK
Reviews Department
29 Avonmore Avenue
Liverpool
L18 8AL
United Kingdom

Mail from the United States and Canada usually takes around a fortnight to arrive (airmail). Please do not mark your album for the attention of any one writer unless it's been previously agreed, in which case put a note on the CD/press release itself, not the envelope you send it in.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CD:

• is an album or EP - we don't review singles unfortunately
• is an actual physical CD - we don't accept digital submissions 
• is a new release or has been released in at least one territory within the last six months maximum
• falls under our covered genres which are pretty broad but do NOT include blues, jazz, mainstream Nashville, etc.
• is NOT a demo
• is NOT provided on CDR - if it looks like it's been cheaply knocked up with an inkjet printer sleeve, we probably won't listen sorry

Apologies for all those big NOTs!  We're sorry that we're not able to review CDs which do not meet all of the above, partly because we're a non commercial operation and we don't have the time or staff.

Important! Please note that in submitting your album to us for review, you acknowledge that we may include a track from your album on our monthly compilation sent to “Friends of Americana UK” - our small group of supporters who donate by standing order each month towards the running costs of the site.  The compilations have no resale value and are provided free of charge to visitors making a recurring donation to the site. The tracks are included to introduce visitors to new music and should hopefully generate some more interest in your record. If you are a label and have particular copyright issues, please let us know either by e-mail or by written correspondence with your album.

"Do you guarantee to review all material sent?"

No, we get far more stuff sent to us than we could ever review and so while we will listen to everything, we can not guarantee an album will be reviewed and in fact normally only manage to review about half of what we get sent. We’re very grateful for all the time and effort people put into sending material over, regardless of the outcome.

"What if the review’s shite?"

That’s the risk you take with putting your music forward for judgement - we genuinely do try to be as supportive as possible where we think a record on balance deserves that support, but please don't email us complaining about a 1/10 review if it happens (as it sometimes does) - you submit your recording to us on the basis that it might get that mark, but then it might get a 10 too. We will not retrospectively change any content of a review unless it contains factual inaccuracies. Please remember too that the review is the view of the author only, not the whole site, so please don’t let one bad review, should it happen, discourage you from sending us albums in the future!

"What’s an average time for an album to be reviewed in?"

If you’re sending them from within the UK, we will aim to review albums within a month although this can take up to eight weeks when we’re busy or lazy. If you’re sending stuff from the U.S. or other places, please also take into account the added time it takes your CD to get here - please don’t forget to tick the “promotional” box on customs labels or they can take weeks - Liverpool obviously has a customs officer who really likes alt-country.

"Can I have my CD back?"

We don’t have the resources to return CDs submitted to us for review unfortunately.

"Can you let us know when you’ve received an album / put a review up?"

No - given the volume of material we receive, we’re unable to do this on a day to day basis but please feel free to check with us by e-mail if a suitable amount of time has passed with no sign - occasionally CDs do get lost in transit. Also, we’re sometimes just hopelessly inadequate and consequently at times have the willpower of a dead sheep.