TIPS FOR A STRONG SUBMISSION

• Presentation matters, but content is key. Ensure that your music is engraved with clarity. Always present your music in the best light possible!

• Our editor will review many submissions. Make sure you grab our editors’ attention in the first 10-15 seconds of listening to your mp3 and reviewing your score.

• Be creative! Strong themes, interesting harmonies, creative orchestration, and a strong narrative arc will get our editors’ attention right away!

• Listen to our our catalog and our published composers/arrangers and study their pieces. That will give you a better sense of what we are looking for our DogSmile Music catalog. Please note if you submit any arrangements they MUST be in the public domain. 

• If your music gets accepted, be a good collaborator. You will be asked to make changes. Maybe a few, maybe a lot. So prepared to be a good collaborator with our editors.

• If your music does not get accepted, don’t fret! Keep studying, keep submitting and, most importantly, keep writing!

Real life people listen to your music, experiencing a wide range of emotions as they engage with your music.

Keep our editors genuinely interested and continually wow them with your creativity and talent.

To celebrate this spirit of good fun and inspiration, we’ve put together a helpful and enjoyable graphic :)

READY TO SUBMIT YOUR MUSIC?

The submission window is November 1st thru March 31st.

Women, LGBQT+, and POC are encouraged to apply!

We are currently accepting submissions for the educational music market in the following categories and grade levels:

Full Orchestra, String Orchestra
Grade 0.5, Grade 1, Grade 1.5, Grade 2, Grade 2.5, Grade 3, Grade 3.5, Grade 4 & above

READ OUR DOGSMILE MUSIC ORCHESTRA GRADE LEVEL GUIDELINES

Follow these instructions carefully to submit your music:

• Create a folder and label it with your First & Last Name.

• Place the following items into this folder:

  • your fully engraved Score PDF. Please include your suggested grade level on the score.

  • MP3 of the music (live recording or a MIDI mockup is fine).

  • Include an INFO PDF with the following info below:

    • Your full name

    • Email address

    • All social media handles (related to composing only!)

    • Title of the piece

    • Marketing blurb (4-5 sentences, brief description of the piece)

    • Educational bullet points about the piece or what concept(s) the piece teaches, and/or any creative concepts you are going for that our editors should be listening for.

• Follow these naming conventions for the PDF & MP3 filenames (see examples below) BEFORE you upload your folder with your submission:

  • FirstNameLastName_Score.pdf

  • FirstNameLastName_Title of Composition.mp3

  • FirstNameLastName_INFO.pdf

• Once you’ve gathered all your materials and placed them in a folder labeled with your first & last name, you can proceed to upload your all your materials HERE.

• If you have any questions about the submission process, please use the contact form to get in touch. Put DogSmile Music Composer Submission as your Message Title.

THANK YOU AND BEST OF LUCK!