Getting your music on the radio can be very exciting, if you've never done it before the first time you hear your song being played on radio is fantastic!
Bands and artists usually want to send their music to the biggest radio stations first, it's fine to do this just don't expect any results.
If you're in a early stage of your career then start sending your music to community radio and local radio stations, I will agree that the royalty rates on these stations are pitiful but that's not what you're goal is here.
The music industry is all based on leverage. What have you got that we want?
Sending your tunes to the biggest station in your country won't get you anywhere fast (unless you totally strike it lucky or your song is the best thing to come out for years, it's totally worth a shot).
If you get your music on community radio, local radio, nearest student radio, whatever, then it's a really good start.
The second that happens (or the second you know it's going to happen) you can then progress up the chain. Aim to get your music on regional station by leveraging the fact that you're being played on 5 different stations non stop locally.
The key with radio is that you don't always have to be totally honest, as long as you don't go over the top.
It's my opinion that giving little white lies or exaggerating the truth is acceptable every so often, after all you're in the entertainment business and if you can make your story more entertaining then go for it.
Sending the music over
For this part I will now assume you are a band that has a decent following and a few songs under your belt.
When you are sending your tracks to radio, make sure you do not neglect the producer of the show. By getting to know the producer and building a relationship with them is the best way to get your band on the radio. They are very important and are very often overlooked.
What do you put in your email?
Try to keep it minimal. Keep the music links close to the top of the page and try to keep the writing to a minimum. You need to give all your key facts but don't over-do it.
If they have to read a huge paragraph before any sign of a link it'll more often than not just get deleted.
Include links to your facebook, twitter, website, blog etc.
Be polite. Don't give your opinion of your own track, let them have one of their own.
To press release or not to press release?
Press releases look very pro if you do them properly. If you are considering doing a press release then research how to do them properly because if you don't then it's just going to look incredibly amateurish and nobody will take you seriously and you might as well have not bothered.
My opinion is that you should only give a press release if you are releasing a big single for your upcoming EP or something along those lines. Bear in mind that if you do go down that path of releasing a single to radio to coincide with a release that you should allow 6 weeks (ish) for it.
Following Up
The worst part of it for me is following up, I always feel like I'm harassing people.
It's easy to get fed up after sending out 200 emails and getting one reply back saying "no", so following up is a key principle but it's also an art form more than a science.
The worst thing to do is call up and email constantly. Trust me, they will get fed up of you so quickly and they won't play your track because of that.
Leave it a few weeks after your initial email before following up. Call up if you can because it's better than email as they can't ignore you and it also gives you a premise to follow up by email later on if you still haven't heard anything "oh hi, I spoke with you on the phone a few days ago, just wondering if you got a chance to have a listen" etc.
You need to be tenacious BUT not annoying. I've spoken with hundreds of people regarding follow ups and I have a great relationship with them and they don't mind taking time during their lunch break now to chat with me about it. The key is to be professional and polite and they will appreciate you calling them.
What nobody tells you!
One thing that I wasn't aware of for ages was that radio love a story. I started out thinking that if the track is good they will play it. After a huge void in airtime coming the bands way I had a lengthy discussion with one of the producers of a national radio station and I leveled with him and told him I was really frustrated that nobody had played the song (it was a really good song too) and he told me that sometimes that is the way it goes, you might have a great song but why are the radio going to play it?
Especially if you are an up and coming band working on your buzz and hype. If you release a track for the sake of it, the radio have no reason to play it other than it's a good song.
They need a story.... a story could be anything, playing a gig in a certain city, releasing a video, doing a session, on TV etc. as long as you have something interesting to say about you, the band or the song then your chances of airplay will be greatly increased! Simple but very effective!
You can also use this information to send tracks to places that wouldn't normally play your tracks in a different county/city for example. Send them your tracks and tell them you're playing there on this date (give them enough notice) and keep following up until the day of the show, maybe even offer to a session for them as well. It all helps.
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