How To Really Get Your Music On College Radio
By Michael Corcoran, the CEO of MusicSUBMIT.com.
We’ve written a handful of articles on college radio and how hard it is for an indie artist to get considered for airplay.. And so when we read Patrick Hertz’s piece “How to Get Your Music Played on College Radio”, we felt there’s still some room to expound on the topic.
»Yes, absolutely, college radio airplay still does matter, maybe even more than ever.
»Yes, it’s a challenge maintaining an updated database of college DJ and Music Director contacts.
»And yes, college stations still primarily deal in CDs, even as the rest of the world goes mainly digital EPK, especially for screening purposes.
Now, as a music promoter that submits musicians and bands in all genres, and can atest to the number of bands out there who would love to be considered at a college station, let alone receive substantial airplay, we have to disagree with a few points in Patrick’s article. Here is where we part ways on basic philosophy of college radio promotion.
The New Gatekeeper
It is mentioned early in the article that musicians frequently choose to outsource college radio promo to companies like Tinderbox, Team Clermont, and others. But what if you don’t have $3000 to pay these companies, or you’re not signed to a major-indie record label that could possibly come up with these funds for you? This dilemma would apply to around 99% of all indie bands.
But let’s say you DO have a $2k-$3K budget for Top 200 college radio promotion. You will still need to get your music “approved” by one of these companies – basically, you’ll need to get your music past a gatekeeper before it gets to the college radio MD’s ears.
In small defense here, the policy that a radio promoter charging you a few thousand dollars would screen your music first is only fair to you, the band. For that kind of money, you want a promoter who actually believes in your music. Still – your music is being judged not by the radio people – but by the promoter. Now, is it us, or is there already something inherently annoying about this process?
Somebody forgot about Global Warming
Assuming you’re one of the 99%, Mr. Hertz advises to start blindly mailing one-sheets and CD press kits. Really? In 2014, are we are still doing this? Is there any good reason college kids cannot screen digital music online, then ask for CDs from bands they like? The fact that CDs are the preferred vehicle for music at college radio is more of an indictment on College Radio than Mr. Hertz or a company like Tinderbox. Leaving aside the extra $1,000 in plastic, packing & postage costs, you are mailing an unheard CD with the knowledge that it will most likely wind up on a pile somewhere. Even if it gets listened to, the law of numbers says less than 1 in 100 artists will get played, which of course means that most physical press kits wind up in a giant, non-composting garbage heap. University campuses should be leading the way on eco-friendly practices, especially where technology exists for alternatives. It’s long overdue for college radio to get with the whole “EPK” thing, dontcha think?
Hey, what about us?
The top 200 CMJ-reporting college stations are not the be-all, end-all of U.S. college radio. There are literally over 1,000 U.S. college stations in Rock, Pop, and Alternative genres besides the top CMJ-reporting stations. If your genre is more niche, you’ll still can find hundreds of stations, or DJs with free-form specialty shows on college radio. And as an indie artist just starting out and perhaps a little broke, you’ll have an easier time both practically and financially in reaching out to and getting on the non-reporting stations. Sure, you probably won’t chart nationally, and that’s OK. You want small victories and baby steps before you worry about the college radio charts.
And, for God’s sake, use your digital press kit to at least have your music screened by a Music Director or DJ„ before mailing a physical press kit. You’ll save yourself 5 bucks a pop, and you’ll save the environment…well, not quite but you know what we mean.
Michael Corcoran is the CEO of MusicSUBMIT.com, a promotion and publicity firm for musicians. The Company submits indie artists' music to radio stations, blogs, podcasts, and webzines, specializing in regional publicity for touring bands. Michael began his career at MusicSUBMIT in 2005 as Marketing Director before taking over as CEO in 2008.
I like how promters are always trying to sell their business by constantly stating how much hard work it is and very time consuming. They are right of course, but if this was easy, everyone would be doing it. Right? I think for someone just starting out, or someone who really doesn’t have the time, a promoter is the way to go. But after I ditched my promoter and started doing it myself, I not only saved a lot of money, but now consistantly chart higher and have developed a good relationship with stations, PM’s and DJ’s. Imagine that, the artist having a direct relationship with the DJ with no middleman. Sure, it took a while to develop this and made some mistakes a long the way, but I find it more rewarding doing it myself. But again, not everyone is going to want to do that. I guess it all depends on how much time you are willing to dedicate to your career.
To stop what you’re doing and just start promoting your music to radio (or press) is a very difficult thing to do… the correct way at least. The companies that are already involved have a set system in play that they know works and they’ve already built up the relationships with staff at these stations making it far easier and more successful for them to so. Trying to write, record, and perform music while ALSO handling a 9-5 job is very difficult and you think musicians should take on the extra responsibility of handling press and radio? Why not learn engineering and mastering or how about just learn every instrument so you can do EVERYTHING yourself? The reality is that there isn’t enough time and money in the day and even if there was that doesn’t mean you’d be great or even good at all of them. Everyone needs to work with others because it opens up our view of the world. You can learn more this way and you don’t spread yourself too thin. Yes, it would be nice if everything were a lot easier, but it’s not and for good reason because there are so many varying opinions and experiences that think differently which affects how things are handled and done. If 99% of musicians aren’t doing something or can’t do something then you better make it a priority that YOU do it because it’s the only way you’re going to get an edge over the competition that vying for the same attention and piece of the money pot you are. Maybe in the end that’s why stations still want CDs and press and radio promo companies still exist… because there are still some musicians willing to do whatever it takes to succeed while most make excuses to not try hard enough.
That doesn’t mean you should educate yourself, either, it just means that you should always be pushing yourself and what your working towards to the next level. Anything worth gaining is always met with hard work and determination, but you still have to go above and beyond the next guy.
you want a radio promoter who believes in your music, but not one who judges whether or not radio will play it? why the heck would you want that? i’d rather have a promoter who is selective than someone who takes anything he’s hired to take on and throws it at college radio like wet spaghetti on a wall, whether it fits or not. and sorry if college and community radio wanting cds over digital is inconvenient, but that’s the way it is. this isn’t so complicated. you shop around until you find a promoter whom you trust and who likes your music and has a solid plan about what to do with it. and then you send college and community radio cds and have the pro do the followup.