How do you get a radio station to accept an album?
How would you go about convincing a radio station to play a certain album? I don’t mean casually recommending it to them, I mean persuading them to play the album you show them, instead of just putting it in a pile where all the other suggested albums go.
Anybody?
It practically never works that way. Most music stations do not program their own music, anyway. They contract that out to a satellite-based service or by other means. Still, they do get a lot of CDs and even still some tapes sent to them, all unsolicited. Nearly all of it goes in the trash.
This is not the best analogy, but it’s the best one that I can think of right now. Suppose someone you didn’t know approached you with a t-shirt and told you that you could have it for free as long as you wore it right then? For one t-shirt, you might say "Cool!" But suppose 100 strangers approached you this week, each with one t-shirt, making you the same offer? Then, the same thing happened next week. And, the week after that, and . . . it wouldn’t take long for that to get old, now would it? Add to that having your phone ring constantly with these same strangers asking, "How did you like it? How did your family like it? How did your bf or gf like it? When will you wear it again?" And, add to that hearing from all of those t-shirt makers’ family members, friends, neighbors, even from others hired by t-shirt makers to make calls for them. Do I hear a "No, thanks!"?
That is just how it is at radio stations when it comes to unsolicited material. Only it’s worse, because people are very emotionally attached to their music. Persuading, pleading, begging, cajoling, even threatening a radio station in order to get them to play a CD is counterproductive. Enjoy your own music yourself, and invest your talents locally in clubs, special events, churches, etc. depending on what style of music yours is. Start locally and go from there.
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
It’s all based on bucks.
References :
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:10 pm
It practically never works that way. Most music stations do not program their own music, anyway. They contract that out to a satellite-based service or by other means. Still, they do get a lot of CDs and even still some tapes sent to them, all unsolicited. Nearly all of it goes in the trash.
This is not the best analogy, but it’s the best one that I can think of right now. Suppose someone you didn’t know approached you with a t-shirt and told you that you could have it for free as long as you wore it right then? For one t-shirt, you might say "Cool!" But suppose 100 strangers approached you this week, each with one t-shirt, making you the same offer? Then, the same thing happened next week. And, the week after that, and . . . it wouldn’t take long for that to get old, now would it? Add to that having your phone ring constantly with these same strangers asking, "How did you like it? How did your family like it? How did your bf or gf like it? When will you wear it again?" And, add to that hearing from all of those t-shirt makers’ family members, friends, neighbors, even from others hired by t-shirt makers to make calls for them. Do I hear a "No, thanks!"?
That is just how it is at radio stations when it comes to unsolicited material. Only it’s worse, because people are very emotionally attached to their music. Persuading, pleading, begging, cajoling, even threatening a radio station in order to get them to play a CD is counterproductive. Enjoy your own music yourself, and invest your talents locally in clubs, special events, churches, etc. depending on what style of music yours is. Start locally and go from there.
References :
20+ years in radio
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
You really can’t, especially if it’s an unknown artist.
References :