Electronic music has never been easier to create.

Getting it heard is another matter entirely.

Thousands of producers release new music every day across Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud and other platforms. For emerging artists, the challenge is no longer simply making a great track. It is finding an audience that will actually discover it.

That is where Outertone comes in.

Outertone is an independent electronic music label built around discovering new producers, releasing exciting electronic music and helping those tracks reach listeners and creators around the world.

From house and progressive house to dubstep, drum and bass, trap, chill electronic music and everything in between, Outertone has developed a catalogue spanning a wide range of electronic genres.

And importantly for new artists: Outertone is actively interested in discovering new music.

What is Outertone?

Outertone is a UK-based electronic music label and part of the wider RouteNote label family. It has been releasing electronic music for more than a decade, with a particular focus on emerging producers and independent artists.

Today, the Outertone catalogue contains more than 2,000 tracks, while its YouTube channel alone contains more than 2,000 videos and attracts electronic music listeners looking for new artists and releases.

Rather than concentrating exclusively on already-established names, Outertone has traditionally looked for interesting music from producers at different stages of their careers.

That makes the label particularly interesting for independent electronic artists trying to make the jump from uploading music themselves to building a genuine audience around their releases.

Outertone is built around music discovery

One of the biggest problems facing emerging artists is discovery.

You can make an incredible record and still struggle to get more than a handful of streams if nobody knows it exists.

Outertone’s approach has always centred heavily around discovery.

Its channels introduce listeners to new electronic artists alongside established members of the Outertone catalogue, helping create an ecosystem where people aren’t necessarily arriving because they already know the artist.

They’re arriving because they want to discover music.

That distinction matters.

A label audience that actively looks for new music gives emerging artists the opportunity to get their tracks in front of people beyond their existing followers.

Outertone’s current YouTube positioning describes the label as bringing listeners new EDM multiple times each week, with recent releases spanning speed garage, dubstep, liquid drum and bass, trap and progressive house.

A label for the creator economy as well as streaming

There is another interesting part of the Outertone model.

Its music isn’t only designed to be discovered through traditional streaming services.

Outertone has built a significant catalogue of music designed to be usable by video creators and streamers, giving releases another route to reach listeners.

The label’s catalogue has been promoted for use across livestreams, videos and social media content, and Outertone has previously worked with Twitch to make its catalogue available to creators.

For an artist, that creates an interesting dynamic.

A track doesn’t necessarily have to be discovered for the first time through Spotify.

Someone might hear it:

• during a Twitch stream
• behind a YouTube video
• in gaming content
• through an Outertone playlist
• on SoundCloud
• through social media
• through another creator using the music

They can then go and find the artist.

For independent producers trying to build an audience, those additional discovery points can be valuable.

What kind of music does Outertone release?

Outertone primarily focuses on electronic music, but that covers a very broad spectrum.

Recent and historical releases have included genres such as:

• EDM
• house
• progressive house
• deep house
• future house
• dubstep
• drum and bass
• liquid drum and bass
• trap
• dance pop
• chillout
• ambient
• lo-fi
• electronic pop

Outertone Chill also operates within the Outertone family, focusing specifically on downtempo, electronic, chillhop and ambient music.

The important thing isn’t necessarily fitting perfectly into a narrow genre.

It’s making electronic music people want to hear.

Artists who have released music with Outertone

Over the years, Outertone has worked with a large number of independent electronic producers.

Previous RouteNote and Outertone material has highlighted artists including Tobu, Axero and Uplink, while the label continues to release music from a new generation of producers.

Recent Outertone releases include artists such as KRLYK, Sølus, PrettyDirty, Gasp!, noShift, Bugsy, Freund, Noxious, Vourem and Never After.

That mixture of artists is an important part of what makes independent labels interesting.

Every major electronic artist started somewhere.

Before the festival stages, millions of Spotify listeners and huge collaborations, there was normally one track that caused people to pay attention.

Labels like Outertone are constantly looking for those tracks.

Why release music through an electronic record label?

Artists no longer need a record label simply to put music onto Spotify.

Independent distribution has changed that permanently.

So the value of a modern independent label needs to be something different.

It is about having another team and another audience behind a release.

For the right artist, releasing through an established electronic label can potentially provide additional discovery, branding, promotion and connections to an existing community of listeners.

There’s also something more subtle.

Social proof matters in music.

A producer releasing track after track completely independently may find it difficult to convince new listeners to pay attention.

Being selected by a respected label gives someone another reason to click.

The label becomes a filter.

It says: someone else heard this track and thought it deserved to be released.

Do you need a huge following to submit music to Outertone?

No.

And emerging producers shouldn’t wait until they think they are “big enough” before approaching labels.

A great track can come from somebody with 100 followers just as easily as somebody with 100,000.

What matters most is the music.

Before submitting, however, it is worth asking yourself a few questions.

Does the track sound finished?

Would you genuinely listen to it next to professional releases in the same genre?

Does something about the production, melody, vocal, drop or atmosphere make it memorable?

And most importantly:

Would somebody want to hear it again?

Follower numbers can grow.

Great music has to come first.

What Outertone is looking for in new artists

There isn’t a magic formula for getting signed to a record label.

Trying to reverse-engineer exactly what an A&R team wants usually produces less interesting music, not better music.

A better approach is to create something unmistakably yours.

The strongest demos normally have an identity.

Maybe that’s an incredible melody.

Maybe it’s an unusual vocal.

Maybe it’s a ridiculous bass drop.

Maybe it’s a beautifully simple chill track.

Maybe it’s production that sounds completely unlike everything else landing in an A&R inbox.

Technical quality matters, but personality matters too.

Outertone isn’t looking for another version of an artist who already exists.

The most exciting possibility is discovering someone new.

How to submit music to Outertone

If you’re an electronic music producer and think your music would suit Outertone, you can submit a demo.

Outertone currently directs artists towards its LabelRadar demo portal or its Discord community for submissions.

Before submitting your track:

1. Send your strongest music

Don’t send five average demos hoping one will connect.

Send the track you genuinely believe represents you best.

2. Finish the track properly

Unless a label specifically requests works in progress, submit something that demonstrates what the finished record can sound like.

3. Keep your introduction simple

You don’t need your entire life story.

Introduce yourself, explain what you’ve submitted and provide the relevant links.

4. Make your music easy to hear

Private streaming links are generally much easier for A&R teams than complicated downloads.

5. Don’t obsess over your existing numbers

If you’re early in your career, that’s fine.

The point of discovering artists is discovering them before everybody else does.

Your next release could be the one

Every electronic producer knows the feeling.

You finish a track at 2am.

You play it again.

Then again.

And suddenly you realise:

This one might actually be good.

Don’t leave it sitting on your hard drive for six months.

Music needs listeners.

Whether you independently release it, send it to Outertone or approach another electronic record label, finishing music and putting it into the world is how careers start.

And if you’re making house, EDM, drum and bass, dubstep, chill electronic music or something that doesn’t quite fit neatly into any genre at all, Outertone wants to hear what the next generation of electronic producers is creating.

You don’t need to already be famous.

You need a great record.

Submit your music to Outertone

Think your latest track belongs on Outertone?

Send it in.

Outertone is continually discovering electronic music from artists and producers around the world.

Your track might be the next one we discover.