How to submit music to Canadian campus and community radio

Start with the station’s public programming and official submission page. MusicList’s music media category displayed 151 listings on October 30, 2026, covering publications, radio and other editorial outlets. That is not a count of campus stations, available submission slots or guaranteed coverage. Use the category to discover candidates, then check the outlet’s actual remit. Our suggested shortlist records the station, a relevant program or musical connection, the official route and the date checked. If you cannot explain the fit, research the programming before adding another address. A city match alone does not establish that a release suits a particular show.

Check eligibility before choosing a file format or writing a pitch. The stations below publish different intake instructions, so a single identical package is not a reliable starting point. Their pages were checked on October 30, 2026; reopen them before sending because policies and upload routes can change. Treat the comparison as an example of variation, not a national rule or an exhaustive list of places accepting your release. If you have only one song, do not disguise alternate mixes as additional original tracks to fit a requirement. Find an explicitly suitable route or wait until you have an eligible project.

CJSR asks for MP3 tags that identify the track title, track number, artist and album. It also asks for track lengths, focus tracks, artist location and warnings for explicit language. These are useful checks when assembling a package, while the recipient’s own requirements still control the final contents. Compare the tags with the release note: inconsistent artist spellings or track names create an avoidable identification problem. Open a downloaded file to confirm that its information survived export. Keep any clean version clearly distinguished from the original, and do not label a track clean unless you have checked that exact recording.

Give the music team enough context to identify the release without burying the listening or download route. CJSR says a one-sheet is sufficient instead of extra press photos and asks artists to identify where they are from. Build your note around the actual release title and date, artist location, a concise musical description and the requested files. Use verifiable details rather than claims that everyone will love the record. Where the station requests a form, place the information in its fields instead of treating a separately emailed biography as a substitute. The following example is an editorial writing model, not a completed submission or an endorsement.

Open the final link from a browser session that is not signed in to your storage account, and try the exact action the recipient needs: listening, downloading or both. That is our suggested access test, not a promise that every station uses the same delivery system. CJSR’s warning about expiring services shows why a link that works only briefly can be a poor handoff. Keep the package available while it is being considered. If the station has supplied an upload form, follow that route and retain any confirmation it gives. Do not publish unreleased audio openly merely to avoid configuring the intended access.

Keep a dated log of the route used, package version, confirmation received and any later response. CJSW explains that adding music to its library leaves programming decisions to its volunteer hosts. CKUT likewise says its DJs choose their own music and cannot guarantee that every digital submission will be reviewed. Those distinctions matter when interpreting results: a delivered file is not evidence of an on-air play. Our suggested log uses separate states for sent, acknowledged, accepted into the library and observed airplay, with a link or message supporting each change. Follow any published tracking instructions instead of repeatedly asking unrelated staff for a decision.