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| DOC J' S IDIOT-PROOF STEPS TO GETTING YOUR MUSIC PLAYED ON RADIO |
| Written by Administrator | Published Sat, 6 February 2010 |
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DOC J'S STEPS TO IDIOT-PROOFING A COLLEGE RADIO CAMPAIGN |
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Doc J's exclusive interview with AListRadio.net's next big DJ, A-Smooth as he shares tips, experiences & gets personal!
It’s Tuesday, June 8th…This is Doc J, representing Hear My Voice Ent, and I’m in the building with DJ A-Smooth, and we bringing you this audio interview straight from EP WORLDWIDE…Every Playa! Worldw
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Doc J's Music Insider Guide: ADVICE FROM MAJORS TO INDIES! - Part 2
SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS SIDE. Whattup kiddos? During the last segment I covered advice from major label artists speaking on the type of mentality an artist should strive for, when trying to be successful. Once you get your mind right, an artist t
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Doc J's Music Insider Guide: ADVICE FROM MAJORS TO INDIES! - Part 1
A Profound Rationalization of Jesse Gissen’s April 2010 XXL article. This month XXL journalist, Jesse Gissen (who also shares my first name), briefly tou
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Every Playa! Worldwide's Doc J reviews: SLASH - SLASH
4.5 Stars out of 6: Above-Average Album, a good CD that while still containing a few flaws, it surprisingly has a lot of quality material and replay value.
While claiming to be a Hip-Hop collector and aficionado, Rock music is something I enjoy as well. While I’m not an avid Rock lis
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Those of you that know me as Doc J coordinator of the Hear My Voice Service Database, are aware that I like to educate musicians as much as possible. Now I love artists being able to handle their own business and not waste money; but ultimately, I teach people so I don’t have to do everything for them as often. Likewise, I want to do my part in reversing how "unintelligent" some of us independent artists look to record labels. I often get asked, how I get our music on radio stations without all the headache. Many times more, I'm even asked by a prospective new-comer that hasn't worked with me yet: "how did such-and-such artist whose music is wack, get your help to get airplay, while my music that is better can't get any spins?" The answer is usually 1 of 2 things. 1) A combination of you not knowing the proper business processes + not having the correct help to point you in the right direction + having a little too much pride to ask for the correct way to do things. The other of course is, 2) your music might not be as good as you think it is, lol.
With all jokes aside, I was inspired by one of my mentors, T.J Chapman (check out his blog at: http://www.tjchapman.com/) and have organized my own methods on starting a successful college radio campaign. My experience of doing radio campaigns have been effective since the end of 2005, and typically I do not change my steps, as the radio business in all US markets follow the same structure. The ultimate goal obviously is to lock in rotational airplay on commercial radio stations, because once you have performing rights, this is another source of profit for a recording artist. Without the support/buzz of college radio though, you will not get enough demand/requests to get spins. Therefore college radio is a necessity, but surprisingly most artists skip over it. The main push of this editorial is to give artists the formula I use, so hopefully it can work for them. The cost of this system is relatively cheap, and after copyrights, most artists usually see results in about 45-60 days. I do admit it will take persistence & patience, while yet still speaking respectfully and nice enough to not frustrate radio Program Directors – but this plan is as simple as I can lay it out, and truly idiot-proof.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- A physical press kit
- Professionally "Pressed" Demo/Promo CDs of your music
- Spreadsheet software, such as Excel or others
- A Telephone (w/ long-distance)
- A map of your home state
- Lots of patience
My Procedure:
STEP 1: RECORD/MARKET TEST YOUR MUSIC.
Professional radio stations want (and will only play) a professional product. This means music should be in its final mixed down form. Home computer technology has definitely advanced leaps and bounds, but if you are serious about making a run at radio, you may need the mixing-and-mastering services of a professional and/or recording studio. Your song should be free of mistakes, vocals should be clear, all track levels should be EQ'ed, the file name should be understandable, and there shouldn't be a need for anymore post-production. Once you have a select few songs that are professional sounding and you feel have radio potential, you will then need to "market test" them. This is done by releasing your new song to different sources and getting actual feedback. First target your fans and other artists/producers you trust; and this can be done easily via websites, community sites, forums, and email blasts at no cost. Next you need to support your "fan opinion" with stage hype and DJ feedback. Perform your new song at a few gigs and open mics, to get an overall crowd reaction; and contact DJs (mobile, mixtape, and club DJs) to ask them about reviewing your new music. What has worked best for my company is, we have a standardized grading review sheet; where a DJ can listen to a song, fill out the sheet quickly and then fax us back their review.
STEP 2: COPYRIGHT YOUR DEFINITE SINGLES.
After you have collected your feedback and have a better understanding of which of your songs are liked more and is worth the money to promote, you will need to legally "own" this music. Not only will a copyright protect you from another artist/producer stealing your song, but radio stations cannot give you legal airplay without proof of a copyright registration. In the US, copyrights are ONLY permissible in court, if they are filed through the Library of Congress, in Washington DC. For more ease, the copyright office now offers an internet based E-copyright registration process. As long as your music contains no samples, a typical copyright will cost you $35 per song. For more information on copyrights or to start filing your music; go to http://www.copyright.gov/. Now warning...the copyright office takes anywhere between 6-8 months to clear copyrights if your application is filled out correctly, without mistakes. It's going to be a waiting game for you, so I suggest copyrighting stuff early. Fortunately though, if there are no errors or issues with your claim, your song is protected from the post-mark date that the copyright office receives your registration, song, & money.
Example: If I pay for and file a copyright application for my song and the payment clears on March 1st, 2009; while I won't receive the copyright registration back in the mall until around October 2009, my song will be legally protected from March 1st.
STEP 3: RESEARCH & COMPILE A LIST OF TARGET COLLEGE RADIO STATIONS
Get yourself a small map of your home state, and mark off your geographic "local scene" where your music is obviously most known. Next pencil in perimeters of nearby markets that are needed in helping you become more known in your home state - these will be the first towns/cities in which you will research stations in. Likewise, focus on your own high schools & colleges (if you went) is helpful, because college stations really like to support past alumni and can give you the opportunity you need. In my experience, I usually discourage artists from reaching outside of their state or country for promotion, UNTIL they have established a solid core fan base. Reason is, often times, other states' music scenes will want to heavily research your buzz locally before they take the risk to play your music. If you do not have documented proof of your work locally, you could burn your bridges into this new market! Now in those towns/cities that you penciled off, research all college & commercial radio stations in them…Google will help immensely with this. For additional help, some college station contacts can be found here: http://www.indieguide.com/category/view/College_Indie_Radio.
Go to each station's website to familiarize yourself with their show schedule, genre of music, Program Director's name, and contact information. Additionally, ALL professional radio stations have access online to their submission guidelines, so please take note of exactly what they demand, and even bookmark these links.
Note: Artists need to learn the hierarchy of programming a playlist for radio. A radio Program Director is the one person responsible of accepting/rejecting songs for their station's playlist; while the DJs' job is to select songs FROM THIS PLAYLIST to play, and how many times. Numerous artists I meet skip the submission guidelines and waste time in trying to meet/network/befriend on-air radio DJs as a "connect" to get airplay. While knowing the DJ can help alot, if you cannot get a Program Director to "OK" your music, the DJ will never be allowed to play your music in rotation.
STEP 4: PREPARE YOUR DEMO CD.
Radio Program Directors hate opening so many new CDs, so they loathe wasting their time on unprofessional demo disks. Conveniently they often use older-fashioned PA systems to review music submissions, which usually show errors when playing burned CDs. This is a known industry method to weed out some of the lesser professional artists. Here is the first place you will be spending well-worthy money to advance your career - by ordering CDs to be "pressed" from a manufacturer, not burned. Likewise, make sure to NOT have titles written by magic marker on the CD face; which is another unprofessional no-no. Spend a little extra money and get the title/name thermal printed on the CD. As for packaging, stations are more lenient, because they are receiving so many CDs from record pools daily. For best results, send in your CD without shrink wrap on, for opening ease, and store it in a standard-sized jewel case (all stations store rotation airplay music CDs in shelf racks sized for jewel cases). To make the Program Director's job a little easier, add a note to the cover of your CD listing the 2-3 top songs that are "market-tested" & "radio-ready", and that you want them to listen to first. Also, don't put your BEST song near the end of the disk or last, as you don't want the Director dumping your demo after getting tired after the first 2 songs.
STEP 5: PREPARE YOUR PHYSICAL PRESS KITS.
Sorry techies and net musicians, but the music business is in the physical world, and we work with & demand physical products. EPKs are great for internet promotion, facebook, and email blasts; but a majority of companies need an actual physical press kit on their desk to read, and that they can file for later times. Now I have an older article about what goes into making a press kit, and if you are a member of my company's database, you have already made one to get in...so I won't talk on all that here (please contact me for more information if you need it). Conversely though, a radio station is NOT a record label or press media, so they will only request the bare minimum in the press kit. This means the expectations of you will primarily consist of: a cover page, artist biography, profile fact page, a full-page color photo, and demo disk. Don't hesitate to add in any extras though; such as flyers, discographies, future show dates, etc - as any additions will help prove your professionalism.
STEP 6: SET UP A TRACKING SYSTEM FOR YOUR SUBMISSIONS.
The process of doing a radio campaign needs to be as organized as you possibly can. You will be contacting many radio stations, and often times, stations will need to be resent material, and can ask for more information on the previously sent package. This means you will need to keep track of who, how, where, and when you sent your CDs and Press Kits. Because most artists are lazy/busy, this is where promotional companies offer their services to artists at a cost, but if an artist can be organized and motivated enough, money can be saved here. Our company does it simply by an Excel spreadsheet, and as long as you backup all your files, it works effectively.
STEP 7: CALL STATIONS TO ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROGRAM DIRECTORS.
When your station list from above is finalized, and you have all contact information, you will then need to begin calling each station and introducing yourself. This works 2-fold, because you will be double-checking all of the contacts you obtained in Step 3; and get any alternate numbers and names if needed. Now, like in Step 6, a promotional company can offer this service, but again at a fee – but any artist that can speak clearly and friendly, can do it themselves and save money. Try to actually talk to the station's Program Director (and/or their assistant) directly, and not just a show DJ or intern. Keep the conversation pretty short, but during it, talk up your music and group, define that you are a local artist, your interest in future airplay, and notify them of any local show you have coming up. Depending on the Director and how busy they are, I've lucked out a few times and was able to setup a future appointment at the station for an interview. Remember baby steps though - don't expect them to give you an opportunity on this first call. Your main goal here is to make them aware of whom you are, your motivation, and to build a personal relationship with the station's staff. Be sure to end the conversation with asking permission to send in a demo disk, who exactly to send it to, and a heartfelt "thank you".
STEP 8: START MAILING OUT YOUR PACKAGES.
Now that you have both your Press Kits & Demo CDs prepared properly it's time for them to show & prove. If you have contacted the stations (which you should have talked to all of them by now) and they gave you permission to send in your CD, then write "SOLICITED MATERIAL" big on the outside of the package envelope so they know it was requested by the Program Director. Typically, almost all radio stations shy away from opening unsolicited packages. Make sure you spell the Director's name correctly on the package too, as I've seen in person, one get frustrated and throw the package away without opening it. If you’re doing a gig or tour in the station's area, write the date of show on the side of the envelope, because this gives them added reason to consider your CD sooner rather than later. It also tells them when & where you'll be in their area so they can announce your show, and possibly schedule an interview.
STEP 9: CALL AND VERIFY DELIVERY.
After a few days, call your station contact to verify that they have received your package. If your contact is someone other than the Program Director, it's worth calling the director as well, and telling them that you spoke to your rep there (give their name) and they did indeed receive your package. Also take this opportunity to talk more about your music, upcoming shows, and future releases briefly; and mention how great an opportunity to possibly work with their station. Ask if they will need any other materials, and then politely ask when they think they'll get to listen to it and consider your music for rotation. Note this date in your spreadsheet, and again say "thank you".
STEP 10: HAVE YOUR FANBASE HELP YOU.
Through your various communication outlets talk to your core fanbase, and announce to them that you are in the process of airplay consideration at your local station, and get them excited with you. Setup up free parties, network meetings, or meet-and-greets to get the word out about which singles need support, and even give your fans the phone number to the radio station to request your new music. Often, if a DJ or on-air personality is hounded by calls & requests, they talk to the Program Director about the possibility of adding the song, and it could speed up the process.
STEP 11: LISTEN TO THE STATION/FOLLOW UP TO VERIFY UPDATES.
Call your contact again a few days after the noted consideration date, and find out what's the status – paying close attention to the radio daily, and their online website when you can. Realize that radio stations do not sign airplay contracts, so there is never "guaranteed" play. Likewise, even if your song is added to the rotation list, it does not necessarily mean all or any of the DJs at that station will decide to play it. This is where knowing the DJs will finally come into the equation and help you out. Additionally, Program Directors are busy and turn in reported playlists every 2 weeks, so they may not even know if your song was played yet. Usually, you won't know if your music is played unless you heard it yourself, have checked the play log on most stations' websites, or if one of your fans told you it was played.
STEP 12: KEEP CALLING OCCASIONALLY FOR ROTATION VERIFICATION/ UPDATES.
If after 3-4 weeks, you still haven't seen proof of airplay, the Program Director would know about the playlist data by then. Remember, airplay is not guaranteed, so don't get frustrated. Polite persistence works. Ask what's the status now; and if they can give you advice about which DJs they feel would most likely give it a chance. I've even ran into the experience where, a Director had requested the need for another demo disk because it was lost, and NOW they were getting a load of requests (4 weeks later, after they forgot about the song). If the Director admits to you that the song probably won't get played; be content with that, but be sure to notify them of your next single you are getting ready to push.
Well friends, I hope I was able to help some of you or at least point you in the right direction. I want to reaffirm that this business is built on a process and a number of steps. The more you follow those steps, the easier your ride will be – so don’t be an idiot! If you are someone that I care for, have worked with, and I trust enough to call my friend, I don't want to see you skipping steps and hustling backwards. College radio is the easiest place to start to get airplay; and you can do it just like we have. Once you get it, update your press kit with your college airplay support, and it can lead to so many other profitable opportunities. Good Luck & God Bless!
Yours Truly!
DOC J |
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