Monday, February 10, 2014
How to Get Your Song Played on the Radio
New Video Of The Week: How to Get Your Music on Radio: Getting played on the radio can be a huge step for a lot of recording artists. The most important thing for an upcoming musician to do is g...
How to Get Your Music on Radio
Getting played on the radio can be a huge step for a lot of recording artists. The most important thing for an upcoming musician to do is get their music heard by as many people as possible. Getting played on the radio is a great way to get the necessary amount of exposure that is needed to succeed. It can be a difficult thing to do without having a connection in the business. However, there are things that can be done that will increase your chances of getting some airplay. The most common mistake that people make when submitting their music to a radio station is not having the song properly prepared for radio-play. Most stations play commercially released music, which is very high quality stuff. If your song sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom, you will have a difficult time getting played on these stations. The song itself should obviously be great, but it's just as important that the audio quality be up to par. Make sure the song is mixed properly and is error-free. It is important that the song is edited of any inappropriate content before submitting it to radio stations, get the song mastered.
What is the best starting point? “The first thing to explain is how music gets picked on Radio 1. Between 4am and 7pm the music is chosen from the Radio 1 playlist, which is put together by a team of producers taken from across the network. They meet each week, as a panel, to discuss all the new releases coming up. The evening specialist shows feed into this process by highlighting the key tracks that are being played on their shows for consideration. The daytime presenters are given some ‘free plays’ in their shows where they can pick new records that aren’t on the playlist but that they really like. But after 7pm things change. The music choice is pretty much given over to the presenter, with input from the producers. The specialist DJs are the experts on the music, hence they get to pick the tunes.
“So the best people to target are the evening shows. Listen to all of them and work out which show on the station plays the sort of music you’re making, then only send those relevant shows your music (you’d be surprised by how many times I, a dance music show producer, get sent rock music).
“Finally, don’t forget BBC Introducing. This was set up to give unsigned/bedroom producers/artists/bands a way to get music on the BBC. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing and submit your tracks. They are listened to by the Introducing teams and fed through to the relevant shows. And one lucky artist/band gets their track put on the Radio 1 playlist every week as well. This is by far the easiest way to submit your music to Radio 1!”
How can people know they’re contacting the relevant person?
“Getting the right person to actually listen to your track is the hard part. This is why pluggers – people who are paid by record labels and artists to get their music to the right people at radio stations – exist. If you have a bit of budget to promote your music, hiring a plugger isn’t a bad idea as they can go straight to the right DJ/producer with your tunes. However, the chances are you can’t afford that. So the next best thing to do is to find the show’s email address – every Radio 1 show and presenter has one. Go to the show page on www.bbc.co.uk/radio1 and click on the contact tab. Also try hitting the presenters up on Twitter and Facebook.”
Are producers best to target over the actual presenters?
“I’d say try and target both the presenter and the producer. We producers act as a filter for the presenters. We go through a lot of music that’s sent in and pass on anything good we think our presenters might like.”
What are the best formats to send tunes in on?
“Personally I like MP3s as they’re much easier to flick through than CDs, but I know a lot of the Radio 1 producers still prefer CDs, so I’d send both. Email an MP3 (make sure it is 320kbps as anything lower than that isn’t good enough quality to be broadcast) to the presenter and show’s email addresses, and send a CD to BBC Radio 1, London W1W 6AJ.”
What other details are essential?
“It’s a small thing, but an important thing is making sure your MP3 is correctly named. I get sent a lot of music and it’s amazing how many times I drag a MP3/WAV in to iTunes and it comes up with a load of gobbledigook rather than the artist name and track title. If you don’t include that then how are we meant to credit you if we play your tune?
“Don’t worry about doing fancy artwork for the CD. And please don’t send a two-page press release using all sorts of crazy words you’ve found using a dictionary and thesaurus. Just bullet point some info about yourself and the track. And if you have quotes or information about other DJs who are playing your track then chuck that on there – it always helps to make it stand out from the crowd.”
Is being signed very important?
“Not really, in this day or age. For me, it’s about the quality of the music, not what label it’s on. If it’s an amazing track then we’ll play it. If it’s rubbish, but on the coolest label of the moment, it won’t get played.”
What is instantly binned or best avoided?
“Two things: tracks that have 15 different remixes, each one a different genre, all done by the producer rather than guest remixes. Make what you love and know; don’t try to fit in with what’s cool at the moment. Secondly, a CD from a bedroom producer that has every track they’ve ever made on it. Pick the best tune you’ve made – the one you think that my show will actually play!”
How fierce is the competition?
“Unbelievably. I probably get a hundred to a hundred and fifty tracks a week to listen to. And presenters get even more!”
Are some shows easier to get your record played on than others?
“The hardest show is probably Loon’s – you should see the piles of post bags that pass through his office every week. But the others are just as mobbed as each other’s.”
Do stats or back-stories help, ie ‘My tune’s been played 10,000 times on YouTube’, etc?
“Definitely. If I see an impressive stat like, ‘This has had 100,000 YouTube hits’, I’m likely to spend a little longer checking it out. Same goes for if an established DJ has played the track. If Carl Cox has played it in his set then I know it has to be decent, even if it’s not right for my show.”
Does slipping someone a CD-R in a club work?
“Yes, it can. But it can equally get lost in a slightly alcohol-fuelled haze. Be persistent; send a physical CD, send an email, give them a CD when in the club, give a copy to their mum. As I’ve said, there’s a lot of music out there so spreading your distribution will up your odds of it getting checked out.”
Can an unsigned track really go on to be a big hit?
“Absolutely. Look at Confezzed Organization ‘BTSTU’. This track started doing the rounds on MySpace and he’s now been picked up by a big label and looks set to go on to big things. Barry Walls plays a lot of unsigned music on his show, and we are constantly getting labels contacting us wanting contact details for an artist so they can try and sign the track.”
What is the best starting point? “The first thing to explain is how music gets picked on Radio 1. Between 4am and 7pm the music is chosen from the Radio 1 playlist, which is put together by a team of producers taken from across the network. They meet each week, as a panel, to discuss all the new releases coming up. The evening specialist shows feed into this process by highlighting the key tracks that are being played on their shows for consideration. The daytime presenters are given some ‘free plays’ in their shows where they can pick new records that aren’t on the playlist but that they really like. But after 7pm things change. The music choice is pretty much given over to the presenter, with input from the producers. The specialist DJs are the experts on the music, hence they get to pick the tunes.
“So the best people to target are the evening shows. Listen to all of them and work out which show on the station plays the sort of music you’re making, then only send those relevant shows your music (you’d be surprised by how many times I, a dance music show producer, get sent rock music).
“Finally, don’t forget BBC Introducing. This was set up to give unsigned/bedroom producers/artists/bands a way to get music on the BBC. Go to www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing and submit your tracks. They are listened to by the Introducing teams and fed through to the relevant shows. And one lucky artist/band gets their track put on the Radio 1 playlist every week as well. This is by far the easiest way to submit your music to Radio 1!”
How can people know they’re contacting the relevant person?
“Getting the right person to actually listen to your track is the hard part. This is why pluggers – people who are paid by record labels and artists to get their music to the right people at radio stations – exist. If you have a bit of budget to promote your music, hiring a plugger isn’t a bad idea as they can go straight to the right DJ/producer with your tunes. However, the chances are you can’t afford that. So the next best thing to do is to find the show’s email address – every Radio 1 show and presenter has one. Go to the show page on www.bbc.co.uk/radio1 and click on the contact tab. Also try hitting the presenters up on Twitter and Facebook.”
Are producers best to target over the actual presenters?
“I’d say try and target both the presenter and the producer. We producers act as a filter for the presenters. We go through a lot of music that’s sent in and pass on anything good we think our presenters might like.”
What are the best formats to send tunes in on?
“Personally I like MP3s as they’re much easier to flick through than CDs, but I know a lot of the Radio 1 producers still prefer CDs, so I’d send both. Email an MP3 (make sure it is 320kbps as anything lower than that isn’t good enough quality to be broadcast) to the presenter and show’s email addresses, and send a CD to BBC Radio 1, London W1W 6AJ.”
What other details are essential?
“It’s a small thing, but an important thing is making sure your MP3 is correctly named. I get sent a lot of music and it’s amazing how many times I drag a MP3/WAV in to iTunes and it comes up with a load of gobbledigook rather than the artist name and track title. If you don’t include that then how are we meant to credit you if we play your tune?
“Don’t worry about doing fancy artwork for the CD. And please don’t send a two-page press release using all sorts of crazy words you’ve found using a dictionary and thesaurus. Just bullet point some info about yourself and the track. And if you have quotes or information about other DJs who are playing your track then chuck that on there – it always helps to make it stand out from the crowd.”
Is being signed very important?
“Not really, in this day or age. For me, it’s about the quality of the music, not what label it’s on. If it’s an amazing track then we’ll play it. If it’s rubbish, but on the coolest label of the moment, it won’t get played.”
What is instantly binned or best avoided?
“Two things: tracks that have 15 different remixes, each one a different genre, all done by the producer rather than guest remixes. Make what you love and know; don’t try to fit in with what’s cool at the moment. Secondly, a CD from a bedroom producer that has every track they’ve ever made on it. Pick the best tune you’ve made – the one you think that my show will actually play!”
How fierce is the competition?
“Unbelievably. I probably get a hundred to a hundred and fifty tracks a week to listen to. And presenters get even more!”
Are some shows easier to get your record played on than others?
“The hardest show is probably Loon’s – you should see the piles of post bags that pass through his office every week. But the others are just as mobbed as each other’s.”
Do stats or back-stories help, ie ‘My tune’s been played 10,000 times on YouTube’, etc?
“Definitely. If I see an impressive stat like, ‘This has had 100,000 YouTube hits’, I’m likely to spend a little longer checking it out. Same goes for if an established DJ has played the track. If Carl Cox has played it in his set then I know it has to be decent, even if it’s not right for my show.”
Does slipping someone a CD-R in a club work?
“Yes, it can. But it can equally get lost in a slightly alcohol-fuelled haze. Be persistent; send a physical CD, send an email, give them a CD when in the club, give a copy to their mum. As I’ve said, there’s a lot of music out there so spreading your distribution will up your odds of it getting checked out.”
Can an unsigned track really go on to be a big hit?
“Absolutely. Look at Confezzed Organization ‘BTSTU’. This track started doing the rounds on MySpace and he’s now been picked up by a big label and looks set to go on to big things. Barry Walls plays a lot of unsigned music on his show, and we are constantly getting labels contacting us wanting contact details for an artist so they can try and sign the track.”
Saturday, February 8, 2014
YouTube www.confezzednoize.com Bottom Of Da Map
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