shanmonster | Quick and Dirty Guide to Getting Your Music Noticed at Alt/Community Radio Stations

I just received an email from Pimp Tea wondering what questions he should ask the music director in order to get his music noticed at radio stations. In case you didn't know, I was a specialty radio DJ for well over ten years, and also a music director and specialty music director. Here's what I advised Pimp Tea:

I have no list of questions which will really help you with airplay. However, I do have other suggestions.

I recommend you try to contact the DJs who are spinning your tunes. This may be difficult. A lot of stations don't like their DJs talking directly to the artist, as the DJ may end up with a CD and the station without. If the station already has your music, it might be a bit easier. Check out the radio programmes. Find out the DJ booth phone number, and call the programmers during their shows. Find out the DJs' email addresses, and write to them. Bribery goes a long way toward airplay, when it comes to DJs. Offer them giveaway merchandise (cds, tshirts, etc.) in exchange for airplay. It just might work. Then, if they like your sound, they'll continue playing your tunes. Building up a personal rapport with the programmers will make them want to play your stuff more often. When it comes to getting airplay, DJs are your real target--not music directors. Make friends with them, and your position on the charts is bound to improve. And make sure you find out who the specialty DJs are. They may also be spinning at clubs, and having their own copies of your music can give you more exposure.

When it comes to submitting your music to radio stations, don't bother with printed promotional materials. Save that for when you're sending stuff to print publications. At radio stations, printed propoganda only gets tossed, and that's your money down the shitter. I've chucked out some obviously very expensive promotional information (glossy full colour 8x10s, postcards, slick booklets, etc.). I felt guilty doing it, but that kind of stuff is just plain useless for radio. Stickers and posters, unless they're *really* cool, are also ignored, unless your music has been charting high for a long time. If you're charting high for a long time, it means you're the cat's meow, and posters and stickers can make excellent giveaways on radio shows. I wouldn't bother sending extra CDs unless you're charting high, because they generally just get sold as fundraisers for the station with absolutely no focus on you as an artist, or, worst of all, they get used as coasters or wall art. At CKUM in Moncton, I saw CDs glued to walls. It was a total waste. Extra CDs also get lumped into grab bags, which may get you a listener or two, but won't get you the teensiest bit of extra airplay.

Music directors receive an ungodly amount of music on a regular basis. Over 90% of it is utter shit. Because there's so much music, and because so much of it is so bloody awful, music directors and reviewers are very, very jaded. They're only tempted to listen to music from artists who already have a longstanding fan base. New music by Skinny Puppy or The Misfits will be pounced upon. An unknown or unfamiliar group will be shunted off to the slush pile, aka light rotation. You need to keep your CD out of the slush pile, because that is almost certainly where it will end up.

It's against the law to pay a station to play your music. Payola is bad. Unless it is edible.... Want to hear something silly and true? As music director and reviewer, what always grabbed my attention was candy! I wasn't the only music director guided by my gut, either. All music directors love tasty snacks. I once got a small bottle of Jack Daniels with a cd, and that certainly got my attention. I ended up listening to the CD, even though it was of a genre I normally didn't listen to, and I put it into heavy rotation. If it hadn't been for the booze catching my attention, the music would have been in the slush pile.

I believe it's illegal to send booze through the mail, but I wasn't about to report these guys!

Gadgety toys are fun, too, but they (like booze!) make the parcel bulky and expensive to mail.

Snacks, booze, and toys won't guarantee your music is played, but they will get your stuff noticed.

Do not bother sending CD singles, unless it's by request to the DJs you've befriended. Most singles never even make it to the music library. Sending them is a complete waste of your money.

Music directors are very good at spin, ie. telling you what you want to hear. If you are told something is in medium rotation, it means it *might* be getting occasional airplay. If it's in light rotation, that means no one is playing it. And even if they tell you it's in heavy rotation, unless you're actually charting, it doesn't necessarily mean you're getting played more than once or twice in a week.

Having a CD in playbox does not guarantee you're getting airplay. It just means that your CD is easily accessible to DJs, and can potentially receive more airplay. Anything in playbox is considered as heavy rotation, even if no one plays it even once. Your CD is considered in heavy rotation only because of its accessibility to the DJ.

However, what works in your favour, at least in New Brunswick, is that you are both Canadian and a local artist. Stress to NB stations that you are a NB artist, to Atlantic stations that you are an Atlantic artist, and to Canadian stations that you are a Canadian artist. If it's an American station, good luck. You'll need it.

Demo CDs theoretically receive even more airplay because a certain percentage of music played at alternative stations is supposed to be demo material. The percentage varies from station to station. At CHSR, it's theoretically 10%, although many DJs ignore this part of their requirement. Canadian music, however, makes up at least 30% of the music content in Canadian radio stations. I don't know if your music qualifies as demo (it might in some stations), but if you think it does, stress this aspect, as well.

I hope you've found this information useful. Good luck!