College Radio
While commercial radio will not accept unsolicited music, especially if it's not accompanied by a fat wad of cash, college radio is still generally pure. They play music that they like and they don't ask for bribes to play it. They love getting music from independent bands, and if they really like it, they will put it in their rotation list. If you want to get played on the radio, you want to focus on college radio.
There is a nice directory of college radio stations on Yahoo.com by region found here.
We learned how college radio works both because some of the BT band members used to be College radio DJs, and also from talking to some college music directors. Based on these, there are a few things that you should do when you submit your CD to a college station:
- Submit your music on a standard CD in a standard-sized jewel case. Almost all college music libraries are based around the standard jewel case, not the narrow ones or any other type.
- Take your CD out of the shrink wrap if there is any. Then put a rectangular sticker on the front of your CD case and list the best one or two radio tracks on it. There are two reasons for this. First, don't make them waste their time looking for your best tracks. You don't want them to toss the CD away if your best tracks are number 9 and 10 and the music director got bored before hearing them. Second, they will do this anyway when the music director listens to the album so the DJ's know what tracks to play. You are making life easier for them.
- If there are different shows on the radio station, submit your music to the person who runs the shows that have styles most like your own music. Music directors will forward it to the person covering the music style that matches your music anyway. Save them time.
- Follow up whenever you send music to the stations. We can't emphasize this enough. Follow up is the most difficult thing to do as an independent band because of the time it takes, but it is the most important thing you can do to make sure that your music gets played. Sometimes that follow up phone call will move your album from a cluttered desk in a college radio office to the rotation library.
College stations also have local music shows where they'll feature bands and have them play in their studio. You should see if the stations in your area have these shows and try to get on one.
If you do have some money to spend to help you get played on the radio, there are promoters that will both pitch your music to college music directors and follow up to make sure that you get played. The most reputable ones of these will be picky in order to keep their reputation for having good music. College radio music directors that we have talked to said that over 80% of all music they receive is pitched by promoters. These promoters work, it's just a question if it's worth the money for your band to use them. So, if you do it yourself, understand that you're up against them and they typically have more time and better connections than you do.
If you do use a promoter, we suggest timing it with a tour through the college towns to get a boost for your shows.