1) A great story. One that makes us jump out of our seats because we really want to tell it. It's often a unique process or back story, a wild concept that would be fun to explore.
2) A great track. One that makes us excited to showcase how it comes together. This can get subjective--there's not way around it--we're following our noses on what will be a great track record and share with our audience to learn from, remix and discuss. Songs that don't have a lot of live elements or that use tons of prerecorded tracks don't grab our attention. If there is something unique about it, we'll be interested.
3) A great team. An artist with experience and a team of people around them (fans, manager, press etc) tells us that they are serious about their careers and willing to stick with it over the longer haul. Being an independent musician requires a lot of grit, and that gets proven out in the world. If we see you gathering people around you creatively and professionally, we'll take a look.