5
Sure Fire Ways to Get Radio Play
for Your "Independent
Music"
By: Ty Cohen
Can You
get Radio Play for Your
Independent Music?
When you're
learning about something new,
it's easy to feel overwhelmed by
the sheer amount of relevant
information available. This
informative article should help
you focus on the central points.
You have to
find radio airplay time if
you’re going to be heard and
we’re not just talking the
local college campus. The trick
is called promotion. Now that
doesn’t mean you just put
your press kit in an envelope
with a demo and hope they take
pity on you.
Perhaps you
call a station and they give you
the standard pitch of, “Send
it and if we like it we’ll
put you in rotation.” After
a few months of never hearing
your music, you automatically
think you’re not
worthy.
First,
don’t buy that. You’re
one of hundreds, maybe even
thousands depending on your city.
Your disc will probably end up in
the trash or, for more
enterprising DJ's, on Ebay in a
one-cent CD sale.
If you want
to be heard and make potential
sales, you have to stand out from
the crowd, and in this jewel of
an article, I’ll show you
Five(5) Knock ‘em Dead Ways
to Do Just That!:
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#1
- Get your CD into the
right hands
The
intern that’s too
busy to getting coffee
or typing up a report
for the station manager
isn’t going to be
the one making the
airplay decision.
So
find out who the head
honcho is in that
department and touch
base with them. If the
club you’re playing
at charges an admission
or you have a show
coming up offer to send
the stations tickets to
give away to listeners.
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Now keep in
mind you can’t give the
tickets to the staff, since
that’s illegal and called
payola, but you can offer free
giveaway items to your potential
audience.
#2 Blow
your own horn
If
you’ve got one station in
your pocket, then drop names. Let
them know that WABC is playing
your music and it’s getting
a great response.
#3 - Make
genuine friends in the business.
If
you’ve got a disc jockey
that’s got you in rotation
and really likes your sound, get
to know them.
Find out
why they enjoy it and see if
they’ve gotten any responses
from listeners. If they
haven’t, ask if perhaps they
might Q & A their callers
about your music so you get a
feel for your target audience.
It’s
not a bad idea to ask them for a
testimonial or quote if
they’re well known in your
area if you know them personally.
People help people. That’s a
fact so if you treat your area
disc jockeys like a living and
breathing human and not dollar
signs, that’s a foot in the
door.
Another
good source is club owners. If
they play your music and the fans
go nuts ask them to say a few
words about your sound that you
can pass along to prospective
stations, but be sure to sit down
for a drink with them. Ask them
about the picture of him and the
woman and two kids behind the
Magic Kingdom.
Don’t
be fake, but be genuinely
interested.
If you base
what you do on inaccurate
information, you might be
unpleasantly surprised by the
consequences. Make sure you get
the whole radio play story from
informed sources.
#4 -
Network
Find out if
someone you know (or someone they
know) has connections to the
music stations.
Remember
six degrees of separation -
you’re only six people away
from knowing anyone on the planet
and yes that includes station
managers, concert promoters and
record execs.
The trick
is it takes a great deal of work
and time, but if you’re
serious, it’s well worth
it.
#5 - Go
local, state,
national
Don’t
think you’re going to skip
your local and state stations and
be the next Matchbox Twenty. It
doesn’t work that way. Start
small and then get
big.
Making
contacts and getting names can be
tough, that’s why you should
start with a tested and proven
music industry resource like The
Industry Yellow Pages - Music
Industry Contact Directory at
http://www.TheIndustryYellowPages.com
The TIYP is
helpful and loaded with contacts
you can start using immediately
without doing all the legwork
yourself.
About the author:
This
article was written by Ty Cohen,
the music industry's most
recognizable voice!
Ty is the
C.E.O of Platinum Millennium
Publishing, Platinum Millennium
Records as well as owner of
www.MusicContracts101.comand
www.MusicIndustrySuccess.com.
Some of his
work includes: books,
directories, mini-courses and
software programs including the
titles: "How to Make a Fortune in
the Music Industry by Doing it
Yourself" and "How to Make
$500,000.00 "or More" A Year in
the Music Industry by Doing it
Yourself".
For nearly
a decade, Ty Cohen's Get
Amplified! Newsletter and series
of Free Music Industry Success
“Mini Courses” has
helped over 40,000 independent
musicians, singers, rappers,
composers, record label owners,
producers, managers, agents and
others reach their music business
goals. Using a unique combination
of tested and proven music
business success resources, which
includes a series of books,
directories, software programs,
videos, seminars and newsletters,
our goal is to educate and
empower musical individuals just
like you with the tools needed to
succeed!
There's a
lot to understand about getting
radio play. We were able to
provide you with some of the
facts above, but there is still
plenty more to write about in
subsequent articles.
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More
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and Musical
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Read all about music
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About the
Author
To find out more about Ty
Cohen, his services, products and
how he may be able to help you
succeed in the music industry go
to http://www.MusicIndustrySuccess.com
and sign up for his free limited
edition music industry success
10-part “Mini-Course”,
it will work wonders for you and
best of all, it’s FREE, but
EXTREMELY VALUABLE!
This article about getting radio
play for independent musicians
and report section is presented
by Bob Pardue, the owner of
Music
Playground.
Have some fun and learn to read
music FREE by visiting
www.largemart.com/read-music
today...
Disclaimer: Although we
have made every effort to provide
solid and accurate information
about radio play for musicians
and bands on these pages, Bob
Pardue or Music Playground
accepts no responsibility or does
the site insure or imply any
degree of expertise about getting
radio play time. Degrees of
success with these music ideas
varies greatly dependent upon the
talent, attitudes, attributes and
ambition of each individual
musician.
Please
thoroughly check out any
information you find on this site
before assuming the accuracy of
this article about getting radio
play for your independent
music.
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