Radio Tipsheet
November 9, 2000
A Player's Guide to Finding Airplay
by Lynne Margolis
So you've finally made a recording, and now you're dying to feel that rush, that moment when you're in the car, stopped at a light, and ... Omigod! It's my song! On the radio!
That's easier said than done, but there are ways to get airplay even if you don't have label connections, highly paid promotional muscle, or well-placed friends. To find out how, we went to the source –- station music directors –- plus a band manager who has radio connections.
'Music might end up with a dual life, one as private property in the material world, and the other being a non-proprietary 'vapor service' on the Internet.'
The Music
Jack Barton, music director at Pittsburgh Adult Album Alternative (AAA) public station WYEP-FM, says your songs have to be more than good -- they have to sound good. "You have to make a product that competes with the products coming from major labels. It's easy to make a high-quality-sounding product at very low cost with the technology available."
But even though plenty of people have made killer home-brew CDs in their living rooms, an outside producer can make a critical difference in how your songs will be heard by programmers. It goes beyond sound, Barton insists; a good producer can stimulate and focus your creativity as well.
"A lot of times, when we hear music that we think is almost ready to go on the air, one of the reasons it's not is because it wasn't edited," he points out. "Or there's a great three-and-a-half-minute song buried inside of a five-and-a-half-minute song; you need to get it down to what matters. Or there's a good three-and-a-half-minute song inside of a three-and-a-half-minute song that isn't constructed properly. The artist is usually too close to their work to make [those kinds of] objective decisions."
"Spend money on your CD," Barton adds. "If you're a band where you have day jobs and you're still playing out on the weekends, don't pay yourselves. Take that money and put it into production, manufacturing, and promotion, because that will be worth more than taking home fifty or a hundred extra bucks every week if you really want this to be more than a hobby."
Having a great CD is only part of the story; it also has to fit the format of the stations you've targeted. "Be a little bit of a businessperson as well as an artist," Barton continues. "Think about what those stations are playing. Think about your songs in terms of length, arrangements, production quality, and work them into something that is marketable. Yes, it's about music ... but it still has to compete on the radio station you're trying to get it on."
Next Page: The Approach....
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Each installment of Radio Tipsheet, a recurring column at Harmony Central, focuses on helping independent artists find exposure on the radio. The column is written by Lynne Margolis, a former associate editor and twice-weekly columnist for RadioDigest.com www.radiodigest.com.
Before chucking her newspaper job to write for the Web, she established the pop music and radio/TV beats at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Margolis has also contributed to six MusicHound Essential Album Guides.
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