When a songwriter wants to promote his or her music, they can try to approach local and international radio stations to have their music included in their programs. There are many big-name stations an artist can aspire to, but when we listen to the radio every week, from the morning to the night, we also listen to our favorite web radios. It allows us to listen to different music, to discover new hosts, and it’s a great opportunity for emerging artists. So how do you pitch your music to radio stations?
The medium of radio is fascinating because of its power. When you turn on your radio, you are far from being alone, it is a powerful form of music listening. The millions of tracks played on the radio are bound to reach at least one listener, so why not have your music? Let’s see how to pitch your music to radio stations.
1. Is your song ready to play on the radio?
⬜️ Is your track between 2 and 4 minutes long?
⬜️ Is your track well composed, produced, mixed, mastered?
⬜️ Is your press kit ready?
⬜️ Have you prepared the metadata of your track: title, performer, author, composer, ISRC code
⬜️ Do you know the style of your song? ⇒ Know your target 🎯
⬜️ Have you prepared a contact list, and know who to reach out to and why?
Have you answered yes to all these questions? Then your song is ready and it’s the right time to contact radio stations!
2. How to find the right radio stations to pitch your music to?
How to pitch your music to radio stations? Before asking, you have to find the right radio station(s) to play your music. For example, if you make techno music and you contact a pop station, your chances are lowered.
Are you a musician who plays electro, folk, reggae, pop-rock or funk? Try to find a web radio and/or terrestrial broadcaster that matches your musical content.
Also look into local radio stations, which are often more accessible but have an interesting impact. They are often thematic radios that can perfectly fit with your musical project and the musical genres you are involved in.
Another question is: will it impact your streaming music? Yes, very clearly. Do you ever listen to the radio and pull out Shazam to identify a track? It’s the same for a lot of people. Listeners will listen to national radio or web radio in the same way, passively or attentively, but if a track catches their attention, they’ll look it up.
| Also read: Why your music needs a radio plugger?
3. The best way to contact radio stations : Groover
As you can imagine, not all radio stations are made for your music. To establish a list of music radio stations or mainstream radio stations. Crating a list of the big-name stations would not take you long, but it is very likely that you will not receive any answer by contacting them directly. Indeed, the most difficult thing is to find the right radios to contact, and especially the right people to pitch and promote your music to.
That’s where Groover comes into play, a music promotion platform that allows artists to get in direct contact with radio programmers, with a guarantee of listening and response in less than 7 days -> discover the list of radios available on Groover here 👀
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Groover allows you to contact the best media and music industry professionals, with a guaranteed response within 7 days.
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Besides using Groover, you can follow radio programmers on social media. Find their personal accounts or Linkedin profiles. But in the game of the music industry online, it’s not easy to get an answer in that sense. You have to be patient, stay polite, and expect to get ghosted.
But after all these efforts, one day you’ll see, you’re there cleaning your house, you’re listening to the radio, and your music suddenly comes in between two tracks you love. That’s it! Your work is no longer only on a streaming platform, it will reach a much larger audience.
4. Set the stage with a press kit
As an artist, getting your music played on radio stations is not easy, unless you have a strong network. So how to pitch your music to radio stations and maximize your chances? Prepare in advance a good press kit. To gain visibility, there is nothing better than radio stations and web radios – since nowadays many people listen to the radio on the Internet. So be sure to prepare your press kit. No matter what radio station you’re targeting, you need to give as much info as possible in a condensed and easy-to-read way, because the reviewer might be happy to give some context around your music. And above all, link to a streaming service so the recipient can easily listen to your music.
Eventually the artists who do this well provide links to their future hits, their albums and use the press kit as a digital business card. These kits can also be sent to labels and record companies. So do it right, it won’t be a waste of time.
On the radio, we hear a lot of mainstream music, and there are not many doors of entry. But digital radio or internet radio offers more chances to land opportunities. Make a list of the radio stations you feel comfortable with and send in the musical efforts you are most proud of.
| Also read: How to get your songs successfully on the air
5. Create your own radio
As a musician, contacting radio stations to promote your music is not easy. So why not create your own web-radio? Any person, whether a radio enthusiast or a radio pro, or even just a music lover, can create their own online radio station, with RadioKing for example. In just a few clicks, you have your radio stream available. Isn’t it a dream? You are the one who makes the program schedule and the musical programming. You choose the genres you will broadcast: pop, rap, hip-hop, blues, soul, whatever you want.
As for podcasts, you can leave the replay available to your listeners. Your commercial-free radio will allow you to broadcast all your available tracks as well as your favorite artists. It allows you to put your creations forward. Listening to live radio allows you to be carried away without thinking too much, and therefore to make discoveries. You make the playlists, so take advantage of it and enjoy them!
Not all radios will play my music? No problem, I create my own. Having my tracks available for free should boost the streams on the music streaming platforms, and to do that I don’t need to acquire frequencies just need an internet connection and a microphone. The instructions are simple and I have my live radio.
– Translated by Betty Gonzalez Gray –
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Need feedback on your music? Get in touch with music industry pros on Groover now!