How To Get Your Music On The Radio or Podcasts

Posted in Learn | Last Updated on October 4, 2018

So you’ve come to the point where you’re ready to get your songs played on the radio. Well, there are some key things that will help increase your chances of getting the radio station to consider putting your music in rotation. First of all, you should know that radio stations mainly play music from major record labels and well-known indie labels that license their songs to them.

However with some radio stations, there is usually a segment that plays new artists and has the listeners call in and give their opinions on the new artist they play, and their response to your music decides whether the DJ plays your record again or not. This segment is usually called ” Make it or brake it,” “hot or not,” or “smash it or trash it,” and it usually takes place in the late evenings after 8 pm or 9 in most countries. You also have online indie broadcasts that play indie music all day! This can be an amazing opportunity for you to get your music out there to the world.

Your Music Submission To Radio Stations

The first thing you want to do is research and find out when the segment that plays records of new artists is, and when you find that out look up what the music submission process is, and follow it accordingly. Do not make up your own rules to the way you want to submit your music, just follow the radio station’s guidelines. Usually, they will have an address posted on their site to send your music to, but there is also one more thing I want you to do and is looking for information on the Program Director. This is important so listen up…or….read up…well, you know what I mean lol.

The Head Honcho

The person who decides whether your music will get played is called the Program Director, dj’s can influence what gets played to a minimal extent, but the big boss that makes all the decisions in what gets played is the program director. Please note that! On the site after finding the mailing address look up the contact info for the program director and send him an email about your music submission and how you would like him to consider putting you in the rotation for the segment that plays new artists.

How you word this is entirely up to you but you have to be convincing. He might night answer you right away but you have to keep at it and use your discretion to know what casual contacting is and what pestering is. you don’t want to pester. You can call the PD and email him until you get a response, let him/her know you’re serious about your craft and think that it deserves to be played.

Let’s move on…

2) Always make sure you have your contact info on the cd cover, just in case they want to contact you or pass your info on to A&R’s or Record Labels. I have seen many artists submit songs to radio stations and only have their name and the list of the songs on the cd cover. How do you expect them to contact you if they want to inquire more about you and your music?

Basic Contact Info: He’s the contact info you should put along with your submission: Your name, cell number, email address, and the URL of your best performing social media page. The page with the most fans, content, and comments. This shows them the popularity of you as an artist and the popularity of your music. It might even be the deciding factor on whether they will play your songs or not.

3) Make sure that after you have submitted your music do a follow up within that same week! If you get no response try contacting them the following week. If you still don’t get a response wait it out a while before contacting them again. You don’t want to pester them. From my experience, and many other artists I know that have submitted their music to radio stations, they usually respond back to you about your submission within the same week. Some stations policy’s even state that you’re not to contact them after making a submission if you submitted it they’ve received it and if it’s good enough to play they will play it. So if that’s their rules just comply with it. Some stations will allow you to follow up by email, and some won’t.

4) Be patient, remember that radio stations receive hundreds of submissions every month so don’t get upset if they don’t play your music right away. If a couple months pass by and still no word from the radio station, try submitting your music to another radio station within your city or a neighboring city that plays your genre of music and has a segment where they “brake” songs of up and coming musicians.

NOTE: This is a very important thing to keep in mind, radio stations don’t play every submission they get, and the majority of the radio stations that play songs from new artists to take a few things into consideration. These considerations differ from station to station but don’t sweat it, if it’s your time to shine, it’s your time to shine and you will be given the opportunity to do so. Nothing happens before its season.

5) Get your friends and family to call in and request your song to be played during the segment where they play new artists. Support from them is your biggest motivation to keep going and pushing forward towards your dreams. Have them support you not only when it comes to radio, but also come support you when you perform. Seeing them there in the crowd cheering you on is the best feeling in the world.

Online Indie Radio Stations

There is another way to get your music out to hundreds of thousands of people, and that’s through online indie radio stations. These online radio broadcasts play music from up and coming bands and artists throughout the day. These online indie radio stations have a strong following and a pretty huge following of people who love to hear music from up and coming artists. Many up and coming artists get their music played on these online indie radio stations and they become so popular that major radio stations catch wind of it and want to play it at their station. This is what you want, getting your music played at these indie stations are great but if you get picked up by a major station that’s even better!

Note that your music submissions to these radio stations will get easier over time if they play your music often and if you establish a relationship with them. If you submit new songs to them and your name looks familiar, and they have played you a few times before they will most likely take a quick listen to your new material and consider putting you into their rotation over the other new artists that submit their music. This is why it’s important to not only submit your music but try to establish a report with the DJ's playing the music.

Your Submission To Online Radio

The process is pretty much the same as offline radio. Find out on their website when they will be playing new artists and find out what the submission process is. Submit your music according to their procedures, and in this case, your music is going to be submitted to them online so you have to make sure your music is in MP3 format. Also don’t forget to add along with your songs your name, number, email address, and a link to your strongest social media website. Your contact information is one of the most important parts of your submission so don’t forget it!

Make sure to not only limit yourself to submitting your music to only one radio station, your chances of getting radio play increases when you submit your music to a variety of radio station. Start with your city and then expand to the stations within your country. Keep it moving and never stop until you get your songs out to the world. You can submit your music from your country to any other radio station country in the world, just make sure they play your genre of music and that they understand your language 😀

All this is attainable, you can get your music played on indie station and on segments on major radio stations in every country that plays your genre of music and understand the language of the music. All this is going to take is a little research on your part. Also, make sure before submitting your music that you are registered with a Performing Rights Organization so that you can get paid for your radio plays.

Increase Your Chances of Getting Your Music Played

I have found throughout the years that there is a way to increase your chances of getting radio play, and that way is to build a report with the djs and the program directors at the radio station. As I said earlier often play artists they’re familiar with because they trust that their music is of good quality. You can try building report with the radio station by try calling up once in a while to request songs. Or call up once in a while for a contest or to ask a question pertaining to the show. Dj’s are always asking listeners to call in for some reason or another, why not call in and prove that you’re a regular listener. Let them get familiar with your name so they can keep you in mind when you send them your music.

It’s all about getting involved, taking the initiative to get your name out there and be known. you want radio play you're going to have to work for it and prove that you deserve that spin. Remember you are competing against thousands of artist who want the same thing as you, and as I said earlier these stations don’t play every artist that submit their music. So you have to give them a reason to play yours; it’s as simple as that!