What is Radio Promotion?
Radio Promotion is all about relationships. That Music Director can make or break your song, so you must have a relationship with them. Remember how hard it is to catch them at their desk? The good news for you is that most Music Directors have specific, scheduled times during the week where they sit at their desk and consider new music. This is called tracking time. During their tracking time, Music Directors take phone calls from promoters and consider new songs. Nobody expects you to walk into the station! Let your fingers do the walking. If we call during the Music Director’s specified time, they are ready to consider your song. Good promoters have an ongoing rapport with all of the major Music Directors. They call every week to make sure their song is being considered for airplay. They inform the Music Director about the song’s success on other stations, as well as other details like record sales, chart positions, fan followings, and listener approval. If the Music Director has decided to play the song, the promoter keeps track of how many spins the song is getting and encourages the Music Director to play it more often. The promoter can even offer to send merchandise for giveaways, set up interviews with the artist, and even organize the artist to go visit the station. If the Music Director has decided not to play the song, the promoter can find out why, and use this information to try to have more success with other Music Directors or future songs. These things are what will set you apart from all of the other indie artists who simply give their song to someone at the station.
Picking a single: Setting yourself up for success
You’ve got the look. You’ve played the shows. Your listeners love you. Your album is amazing. All of your fans insist that every song on your CD is a bonafide hit. Well, not to bust your bubble, but that’s most likely not true. There are very few albums, even by the most talented and popular artists, that are full of hits from beginning to end! Only a few singles are selected off of each album, and they are released one at a time. Why push just one song instead of promoting your entire album? If you are promoting one specific song to every station, you have more potential of getting your song on the music charts. The charts are determined by how many times a song is played nationwide. The more stations that are playing your song at once, the better. Think of radio promoters as a salesperson. They need to sell your song to the radio station. If you’re going to make them want it, you need to pick the best material you have to offer. Choosing the right single is vital to your success as an artist.
Finding the right format
What format of music do you best fit? It is imperative that you know this. We talk to different Music Directors depending on the format of your song. If you send your song to the wrong format, you have no chance of getting played. Music Directors will simply pass over your song because it will not fit in on their station.
