THE PACKAGE
Most radio stations make it pretty easy regarding the
type of package they expect to receive. All of the stations contacted,
except one, will only play CDs. Elizabeth Ohanesian, program director at
KXLU. explains, "Today, most stations are only set up to play CDs.
we are one of the few who all accept and play a tape. But it will only
be on our specialty show called Demolition, which is on once a week. So,
if you’re looking for more play than that, we need a CD."
In addition to the CD, most artist packages contain
basic information, but not as much as you would generally put into other
submissions. Nic Harcout pleads with bands and artists, "Don’t
give me too much information. Some of the packages I see are works of
beauty, but they have way too much in them, All I want is a CD and a one
sheet with a bio and the basic facts on it. And sometimes a photo is
nice, too."
But the most important thing, according to Bill
Hartew, is the quality of the recording. Hartew says, "The
production value has to be clean enough to play over the radio. It
really doesn’t matter how good your music is if you put it on an old
crummy cassette and send that to us. And even if it’s on new CD, play
it before you send it, and make sure there aren’t any defects."
MAKING CONTACT
So, you’ve picked your target stations, put together
a few simple packages, and now you’d like to contact the station to
see if they accept submissions, or later, to check to see if they got
it. Well, you’re likely to be frustrated. Almost half the stations,
both commercial and college, who were contacted for this article failed
to return repeated phone calls. And you’ll learn very quickly that
they keep strange hours in radio.
Larry Weir warns, "It's very difficult to do it
all yourself. You have to know the call times that people are available.
They don’t keep regular hours like other jobs. And you have to find
out who really makes the decisions to play or not to play.
"Additionally," Weir continues, "most
of the people you want to contact are on the phones with labels and
promoters and you call is just one more in a long list. Those are some
of the reasons why a lot of artists usually end up hiring an independent
promoter, at least temporarily. It’s our job to get through to the
right people and pitch the music."
Steve Gibson, Vice President of Entertainment
Promotions, maintains, "You can do it yourself, but you have to be
creative. Go to the events that radio people attend and introduce
yourself to them. Be persistent, have patience, and always be polite,
and eventually you’ll get through to somebody. Then your music just
has to sell itself."
GETTING IN ROTATION
Once you’ve gotten through this crazy maze and
actually had your song accepted and played, you probably will want to
hear it again. But the fact is not every station will put it on their
regular playlist, or as Meredith Day explains, "Sometimes if a
certain Dj really likes the song, they might play it several times.
However, the norm is to just play one cut, one time."
This is especially true if a song is played on a
specialty program, Bill Hartew says, "With programs like local
Likes it’s a showcase situation and all you get is one play, unless it’s
exceptional. There have been a few artists like Corey Stevens and the
Buddha Heads, who were added to our playlist, but that’s not the
norm."
That could be a problem, because, according to Barry
Smolin, a song doesn’t really become familiar to a listener until it’s
played more than once. Smolin observes, "I’ve noticed that it
usually takes about three airings before people start responding to it.
I think it’s because most people don’t listen that carefully to
radio-it’s more of a background sound. But if they’ve heard a song a
few times, they’ll start to recognize it and request it."
In fact, most radio stations do react to phone
request. But even with requests, at some stations the play time is still
limited. Elizabeth Ohanesian explains, "Most college stations don’t
have a rotation system, but we do have guidelines. Our Djs are permitted
to play whatever they want as much as two times-a-day."
If you have your sights set higher, you’ll probably
need a promoter, or have to go to a different market. Paul Loggins, CEO
of Loggins Promotion, maintains, "If you submit your song to a
current playlist, instead of a specialty program, you could receive a
minimum of light rotation, which is about once a day. If response is
phenomenal, it could go up to 50 or 60 times-a-week."
And according to Brent Harvey, "If you target the
smaller markets in the satellite towns, You’re likely to get more
radio play more often. Get out of
the big city, that’s where you’ll get the most airplay."
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