Do you want to get your music played on the radio?

Getting radio airplay is easier than you might think. This blog from Schofield And Company tells you how to do it, and I agree with every word. It’s aimed specifically at online radio stations, but the same applies to all types of radio station. So if you’re an aspiring musician here is what you need to know…

Step 1
Visit an online radio station database website to search for stations compatible with your music. Live 365 offers links to over 6000 stations. You can search by genre and each listing will have contact information as well as a link to the station’s website.

Step 2
Study the websites of those stations that interest you, and read their play lists. If you can see your music sitting comfortably alongside the names on the play lists, then put the station on your submission shortlist.

Step 3
Send emails to the contact persons of the stations on your list, politely asking if you can send them your music for airplay consideration. Be sure to address them by name, and let them know that you’re familiar with their format. This will show that you’ve done a little homework, and aren’t just sending out blanket emails to every station out there.

Step 4
Promptly mail your CD to any station that responds favorably to your query. Mail it in a padded envelope marked “Requested Material” along with a brief bio, photo and one-sheet. The one-sheet should be a basic overview of your CD with track names and their running times, along with a word or two about any standout tracks. Include a brief, personalized cover letter and remind them of your previous correspondence.

Step 5
Keep records of all submissions so you can send follow-up emails and keep track of your airplay. Remember these stations will have multiple submissions to review, so wait a couple of weeks before getting in touch again. When you do, be brief and courteous, and ask if the CD arrived and if there are any plans to add it to the rotation.

Step 6
Monitor the playlists of all stations that you submit your music to. It’s up to you to keep track of any airtime you receive.

Step 7
After airplay, thank the station for their support, and ask if there’s anything you can do to support the station. Whether it’s playing at a benefit show, or sending extra CDs for use as giveaways during fundraisers, anything that furthers the relationship will bode well for future airplay.

From Schofield and Company.

Waste Not Want Not

Knowledge is a funny thing. You never know when you'll want to know seemingly useless information.

I've been making some new promos for the radio station. It involved gathering clips of music from tracks we play, and when I was finished I had a pile left over. So I thought "waste not want not", I'll use them for something else, and that gave me the idea for this blog.

Apparently "waste not want not" has been traced back to 1772, although the idea must have been around as long as we've been having ideas. The 1772 bit of information came from a Google search. I found what I was looking for easily, and was immediately grateful that someone had bothered to research and store that knowledge, but simultaneously amazed that someone could be bothered to research and store that knowledge. Which brings us back to my leftover clips of music.

I've stuck 25 of them together, how many artists & titles can you get? No prizes, just an exercise in retrieving some seemingly useless knowledge/memories you have stored in your head [or your friends' heads].

And if it helps ... there's one track by a made up band, one person appears on two tracks, one track is a live recording, and only one track includes John Lennon on backing vocals [he also co-wrote it].

All the tracks will be played over the weekend, so you can look at the text on your DAB radio or on the WebPlayer if you're stuck. I'll give you the answers on Monday along with the regular AUDIOBLOG.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE CLIPS

So there you go ... a reminder to make the most of resources, a plug for the radio station, a trip down memory lane, exercise for your brain, something fun to do with friends, and a reason to lure you back to the Blog. Waste not want not.

PRS says give us your money

This was an article in Radio Today (www.radiotoday.co.uk) and I think it sums up how PRS just don’t get how to make money for their musicians and why we would all (including musicians) be better off if they thought things through a bit more….


Give us your money or turn your radio off

That's the line PRS says on a regular basis. Maybe not quite as harsh as that but that's what it boils down to.

The whole saga of whether it's right or wrong for PRS to charge work-places a fee to listen to the radio has raged on and on over the years, and this weekend it hit the police force in Hampshire.

Imagine being the person who had to ring up the police and tell them they were breaking the law?

Excuse me officer, do you listen to the radio at work? Well I'm placing you under arrest until you turn it off or hand over a large bag of used notes. How much PC Plod has to pay to listen to the radio depends on, and I quote, "the number of days in the year music is played in the workplace, canteens or staff rooms; the number of half-hour units per day music is played in the workplace, the number of employees in the workplace to whom the music is audible and the number of employees to whom the canteen/room is available."

Simples, then.

But all they need to do is ring up PRS for Music and ask them how much money they would like. And that's not all. A simple browse on the PRS website tells me there is a cost involved in playing the radio in Churches, Cinemas, Clubs, Schools, Hairdressers, Health Centres, Hotels, Gyms, Cafes, Shops and even on the phone. I guess we already knew most of that, but over the past few years PRS have been raising their game and actively visiting and calling these places to make sure they pay up or turn US off.

Commercial Radio, now more than ever, needs people listening. It doesn't matter how many people listen to the BBC, they get their money to operate regardless, but if PRS are going around making people turn OFF their radio sets in places where we enjoy a large audience, it makes PRS yet another obstacle for radio to overcome.

It puts PRS right up there with other potential future radio killers.

As for Hampshire Police, will they pay up and continue to listen to Play Radio, BBC Radio Solent or thisisheart, or will they just switch off, like so many other establishments? Dep Chief Con Cole told the local newspaper: “Hampshire Constabulary does not believe taxpayers would approve of the expenditure of public money for this purpose in police offices. Therefore, the use of radio and television is not allowed within the constabulary, except in those rare cases where access to broadcast material is essential for operational reasons.”

Great. Let’s hope any police staff in Hampshire aren’t currently filling in a RAJAR diary.



Published in Radio Today on 17th August 2009.