S.A. Sebastian: A View From The Bottom

According to a new study which takes the stand against performance royalties, being examined by congress, says that the more radio play a song gets the greater the album sales.

“There is a direct correlation between the number of ’spins’ (plays on free, local radio) and the sales of albums or singles,” the report concluded. “It is this promotion - free advertising - that drives record sales and represents just one of the many ways local radio provides value to artists and contributes to their financial and commercial success.”

The study analysed airplay and sales for “17 artists covering all genres and varying levels of success such as Velvet Revolver, U2, Rascal Flatts, Linkin Park, Green Day, Bruce Springsteen, The White Stripes, Taylor Swift and Josh Groban,” and come up with the conclusion that playing songs on the radio encourages people go out buy the records they are on, increasing album sales. Can you say, “Duh!”? Really? Playing songs on the radio leads to increased album sales? Who would have thought!

This is the latest weapon the National Association of Broadcasters is using against the RIAA, and recording artists, to prevent having to pay out performance royalties, and it makes sense. If people don’t know you exist - hear your music - they won’t know to buy your album. So, in a sense, yes, this is free advertising for the album. Conversely, you could infer that the songs sell the advertising for the radio station.

Radio is in the business of selling advertising. Why would they give away free advertising if they need to sell advertising? Look at the list of bands includied in the study; some pretty big bands in there. Those are some really popular bands that keep people tuned into the radio. And the more people tuned into the radio station, the more a radio station can charge for the advertsing. If they were playing bands like mine, and the bands I work for, they would have less listeners and have to charge less for advertising. This would continue until they were forced to change format or go out of business. So, who needs who in this case?

I think it is time we the artists, the RIAA, and the NAB, start looking at radio as we do television. The movies, sitcoms, game shows, reality show and other programming are various forms of content that networks buy or lease, for broadcast in order to sell advertising. The more successful a program is the more they can charge for advertising. The least successful programming, and failures, are canceled because they cannot charge more for advertising around them.

Technically radio works the same way, except they don’t buy or lease their programming. (Well, with the exception of talk show hosts like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Imus, Rush Limbaugh and others. It’s perfectly OK to pay for them to pay for that content.) But why shouldn’t radio work the same way and pay for the content that is broadcast? If radio were to follow the television model they would be buying or leasing each song for x amount of time with the option to cancel if a certain ratings target, ad revenue target wasn’t reached.

The performance royalty is a cheaper alternative to this. The station pays a blanket royalty fee, at the rate set by the Copyright Royalty Board, for all programming, rather than on an a la carte basis. As content providers, I think if we position the arguement this way we stand a chance getting the performance royalty. Otherwise, we could try something daring and NOT grant radio stations a license to play our music. But, to work this would have to have serious buy-in by the bands cited in that NAB study -  Velvet Revolver, U2, Rascal Flatts, Linkin Park, Green Day, Bruce Springsteen, The White Stripes, Taylor Swift and Josh Groban. Sure, if enough of us independent bands did this we could shut down many college stations and small, local broadcasters, which would encourage change, but it is the conglomerates like Clear Channel and Evergreen that really need to feel the pain before things change. They are leading the charge on behalf of these smaller stations.

Finally the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the final installment of Getting Your Song on The Radio: Getting Your Song On The Radio. The first 5 parts of this series looked at all the preparation needed to execute the things outlined here-from recording and producing to defining your audience and all the boring paperwork that needs to get done.

First thing, since you’ve defined your audience, is to find the radio stations you want to be on, that would play music similar to yours. There are many resources like the Musician’s Guide To Touring and Promotion or the Musician’s Atlas, that list commercial and college radio stations across the country, listing program directors, music directors and addresses and station formats. While these are good tools, even the latest editions are probably going to be out-of-date at the rate today radio stations are changing format and staff. The radio trade magazines are probably the best place to start to find out what stations are playing your genre of music. The trades you should be looking at are Billboard, Radio and Records and FMQB (referenced here frequently). The magazines are updated weekly, and the websites updated daily, and are more reliable than directories that are published quarterly. However, you don’t get the addresses and contact info from the trades.

Once you’ve found the stations that are likely to play your music, you need to verify the information and narrow the list to the stations most likely to play your music. The best way to do that is on the Internet. Look up station websites online. You can usually get the station’s address, Program Director and Music Director on the contact or info page, but most importantly you can verify that the station hasn’t changed its format! If the rock station is now a hip-hop station there’s no longer a point sending a CD if you are rock band. You can sometimes find the station’s submission policy on the site, too. This is very important, it will give you a clue if you are going to waste a CD or not. For example, Clear Channel stations now have an online submission form for unsigned, or independent bands to fill out, while some CBS Radio affiliate stations, like K-Rock in NYC have this disclaimer:

92.3 K-Rock adds new music to the playlist via: listener requests, (email and phone), local audience music research, regional/national building stories, and by the judgments of the music committee consisting of the Program Director, Tracy Cloherty, Music Director/APD Mike Tierney and Music/Programming Coordinator Danni.

Also, listen to the stations for a little while to get the feel for their playlist. If they are only playing hits all day then it’s unlikely that your CD is going to get played. You can also look at what thousands of radio stations are playing on Yes.com. They give you the Top 100 songs plus songs played each hour going back a week This is probably the best way to get a feel for a station.

The next step: making contact. Most radio stations have call days set aside where they accept calls from promoters pitching CDs that they want added. You are now one of those promoters. These hours vary from station to station. College radio stations are notoriously a pain in the ass to a hold of. The MDs and PDs are usually college students that are in class-or should be in class-all day. They usually have office hours 1 or 2 days a week for only 1 or 2 hours each day. Call, find out the hours and call back during those hours. Be polite, courteous and professional, and maybe use your publishing company name instead of your band name when identifying yourself. Some stations may take these call whenever, but if they have these hours set up, don’t be clever and keep calling outside those hours. You’ll just get on someone’s bad side. Once you’ve made contact, you’ll want to verify the mailing address, person to send the CD to, and any special requirements they have. Have a script, or checklist, handy to make sure you say what you want to say about your CD and the information you want to get form them.

After you’ve made contact send over a package. Remember to include the cover letter we discussed last time, re-introducing yourself. Make sure you tell what you are sending and why and how it fits in with their format and why they should play it. If you’re a new artist you’ll want to include a bio, the one-sheet, maybe a sticker. Be creative, but be careful about gimmicks. NoFX made a big noise by including a blow sheep with a copy of their album Heavy Petting Zoo. It got the attention they wanted-on the radio and in print-but the CD in the pizza delivery has been done to death. Remember, you’re not trying to get in the door, you already got permission to send the CD, you just want to get someone to open the CD and listen to it. One band I was in made beer that had labels with our band name and logo and album cover. We sent 2 bottles with each CD to magazines and radio stations. Our CD got played on about 70% of the stations that got that package. Not a bad ratio of success. But remember, the gimmick is not always necessary; we did our research to find out the radio stations most likely to play our music, which was about 80 stations out of over 200 possible stations. Sending to the more than 200 would have been less effective, and cost a lot. And who knows, because we did the research we may have had the same ratio if we didn’t send the beer.

You should also consider specialty shows. These are shows that are only on a special times, like a local band show, hard rock show, new release show… whatever. Because of their limited nature they may not offer the most exposure you want, most songs can only get played once. With these shows, you send your CD directly to the DJ or show producer, not the station PD or MD. But, this can be a good way in to get on the main playlist. But you have to be sure that you’ve already sent your music to the main address, the specialty shows normally don’t share Cd libraries.

Follow-up about 2 weeks after you send the CD to make sure that it was received. Be polite and ask when you can call back to see if it has been reviewed for airplay. It could take a while, consider the K-Rock example above. Unless you are an established major band, you may have to go through the vetting they describe, before getting on air. In the meantime you have to give the radio station reasons to add your music, so add them to your mailing list for events that you are doing in their area, and major national updates. As long as you aren’t calling too frequently you can build a relationship with PD or MD and get some more insight into their particular needs. Find out why they are or aren’t playing your song, maybe suggest an alternate track. Help them to help you!

For college radio stations you can be a little more creative about getting your music on the air. Sometimes the DJs control their playlist and you can bypass the MD or PD. One band I was in lived near a college campus, so we called in to a radio show each week after band practice to talk to the DJ. We developed a relationship with that particular DJ and he asked us to send a CD which he ended up playing weekly. We were invited to become part of the show as regular guests whether or not we had anything to plug, we did on-air banter, read the news and weather and had fun being characters on his show.

This all sounds easy, but you also have to consider today’s political climate surrounding the music business and radio in particular. There are some roadblocks that have been put up in the name of helping us out. The government legislated that commercial radio stations must serve the public by playing several hundred hours per year of local and independent music. This should be helpful, however, the radio stations are driven by ad revenue and are slow to implement this because ad revenue will decrease during those times. Also, the independent promoter/payola scandal revealed by Elliot Spitzer, has caused many radio stations to be very cautious about adding anything new for fear of being accused of taking money in exchange for airplay. Then there’s the new license fees and royalty rates being set by the Copyright Royalty Board that aren’t helping things out. Playlists are tighter than ever, and the odds of getting on commercial radio are still quite low.

Getting on the radio is a big gamble, and like in gambling, if you hedge your bet, betting with the most likely winning hands, and folding with the less likely winning hands, you are likely to win more often. You may not get on every radio station that you try, but can increase your odds of winning-getting on the radio-by following these tips. It takes courage not to send your CD to every radio station. It might be more important and effective to get played on 15 out of 20 stations rather than 15 out of 100.

Got any questions or comments? Success or failure stories you want to share? Please drop me a line and let me know. Best of luck!

The first few parts or this series each looked at something that was a bit interesting, writing songs and recording them, finding your audience and creating artwork and packaging. In this chapter we’re going to look at the boring side of things-paper work.There is quite a bit of paperwork to do if you want to release your album “the right way,” but all that is for another article. Only a subset of those are required, or recommended for getting your song on the radio. You should have your songs registered with your performing right association (definition) and have ISRCs (definition) assigned, a one-sheet, your press kit and a cover letter.

Before you release your music you should register your recordings with your performing rights association (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Sound Exchange) and with the RIAA to get an ISRC - International Standard Recording Code - for each of your songs.

Registering with your PRO gives you the opportunity to get paid royalties if your song get played on the radio-or in the case of Sound Exchange, the internet or other digital media. It’s their job to collect licensing fees, perfomance data and distribute those fees as royalties. If you aren’t already a member of a PRO you should do some research and see which one is best for you and sign up. Registering songs has gotten much easier with registration forms made available online, and in some cases electronic submission forms made available online.

The ISRC is a unique identifying code for sound recordings. The IRSC should be assigned before you master your CD and basically, every song on your album gets an ISRC. If you have different versions, or remixes of a song they each get an ISRC. Even music videos get an ISRC. There are a bunch of rules to follow that are outlined in the IRSC registration packet. It helps in identifying your songs for royalty collection and administration. Some broadcasters will ask that you provide them with the ISRC codes for the songs on your album.

The most popular form of one-sheet that we are all familiar with is the movie poster. In the music industry it’s not as cool looking, but provides much more information. A one-sheet is exactly as it’s name implies, one sheet of paper detailing your release. It can be a powerful marketing and promotional tool if done correctly. In its basic form your one-sheet will have your logo, album cover art, the track listing, a brief bio, the name of the tracks that you want to have played and your contact information. Be creative with the layout, but make sure you have this basic information. You can also include the ISRC codes, a list of similar artists, a list of songs that might be in violation of FCC rules. This is your one-page opportunity to sell the program director or music director on your music. You should include this in your press kit. In the eyes of some PDs and MDs, this is a requirement. Once again, it’s all part of giving the illusion that you are in the game, not just trying to get in. Kind of like you know the club’s secret handshake.

Every band or artist should have a press kit, and it should be sent along with your release. There are a million ways to do a press kit, and I’m not going to go into that here, but you do need have these basic elements; a bio, photo, articles and review tear sheets, etc. We all know how much DJs love to talk. Your press kit gives the DJs something to talk about before or after they play your song. Instead of just, “here’s the new one by Atomic Brother,” it’s, “here’s the new song from Atomic Brother. These guys from NYC went all the way to over to Switzerland to record their new album. Boy it musta been cold! Here’s See Me Comin’.”

Finally you need to have a cover letter. Consider your one-sheet a resume you are sending to an employer. You wouldn’t send a resume without a cover letter introducing yourself to a prospective employer, and you shouldn’t send your CD, press kit, or anything else for that matter, to anyone without it. Just as in a resume cover letter, introduce yourself, tell what you are sending and why. Since this is your music, let them know how it fits in with their format and why they should play it.

Well, that’s pretty much all you need to get started. Did I say “pretty much?” It’s quite a bit actually. In the next, and final installment, we’ll look at actually getting your song on the radio; whom to send your CD, whom to talk to about getting it played and more.

XM and Sirius have found an unexpected ally in their merger battle against the NAB, the Parents Television Council (PTC). In an August 25 article on the Radio and Records website, the PTC is challenging the NAB’s claims that the proposed ala carte pricing is a “sham” (see my article here) and calling them out on noc aticing in the best interests of the public. From the article:

‘The PTC believes the a la carte pricing plans “will offer more affordable packages, including an option for families to block adult-themed channels and receive a price credit for the unwanted programming.” The group decries what it calls the NAB’s “self-serving, anti-competitive practices.”’

The PTC point out that the NAB “has thrown up a red herring by claiming that prices would rise under an a la carte model,” as I also reported earlier. In fact the PTC points to a July 2007 FCC report about cable television pricing (PDF) which took the position against the suggestion that prices would rise under an a la carte model. The report states that, “in addition to providing television viewers with greater control over the type of content for which they are paying, a la carte could also help reduce soaring cable bills.” The report goes on to say:

“When cable companies point to the increased number of channels being offered as an explanation for the increase in prices, they ignore the fact that most of these channels are not actually being watched. According to a Nielsen Media Research report, the average cable subscriber is paying for more than 85 channels that she doesn’t watch in order to obtain the approximately 16 channels that she does.”

This only gives further support to the proposed XM-Sirius ala carte pricing model. It will be interesting to see what move the NAB make next, now that it seems that the FCC and the PTC have shot down one of their biggest talking points.

So far I’ve said that in order to get on the radio you need to have 1) a song that people want to hear - don’t want to turn off, 2) that you need to define your audience, define who your listeners are and 3) you need to produce tracks that are broadcast ready, that sound professional. The next step in getting your song on the radio is duplication and packaging. What’s the big deal? A great song is a great song, right? Yes, true, but this is something that has people divided. Some people really care about the total package, others don’t. Many stations, especially commercial ones, won’t play anything that isn’t professionally packaged - artwork, booklet, UPC and replicated. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each, and why this varies.

Lets take a look at the artwork first. No matter what anybody says about anything else, everyone agrees that the most important thing is that your name - whether you are a band, solo artist or singer/songwriter- must be on the artwork and clearly readable. It’s your brand, it’s how people know you. Make sure people can see it.

Your name should be on the booklet, the tray card, the spine and the disc itself. You can have the coolest, slickest graphic design, or artwork, but if the person who picks up your disc has no idea who it’s by, it will be discarded. Make sure you or your designer incorporates your name into the design. Sounds silly, but I have seen this happen. In the 90s I was guilty of releasing a CD without the band’s name on the disc, just cool artwork. It was a popular thing to do, but cool or not, it’s definitely not cool when you have to play the disc to find out what band it is.

Now why does anyone care if you have artwork at all? To some people, having artwork shows that you are ready to play with the big boys, or you are in fact one of the big boys. If you care enough about the presentation, then you care about the music. You aren’t just an artist with Garageband and a color printer, you are serious. Some people won’t even look at a CD that has a plain white label with the band name and song listing. But, that’s not true for everyone. Think about point 2, define your audience. For example, if you are in the DIY punk scene or in the dance music scene you can probably get away with a white label. Record companies still distribute “white labels” and they still get played on the radio. For those of you who never heard of one, a “white label” used to be a 12-inch single that had a plain white label with the song title and artist name stamped on it. They were sent out to radio stations and DJs as part of an album’s promotion, before the commercial single was released. It may be considered cool to do a white label for your genre. So, either way, if you have the choice between artwork or white label, I’d say go with the complete package.

Getting a UPC for your disc is also something that can take your CD from demo to album. Again, this shows you are serious, you are committed to selling your product. This is also kind of silly considering you can get one for free from virtually every place that makes your CD. Having the UPC says to the PD that this is a commercial release, if they play it, people can buy it.

Here’s something unusual that I never thought mattered-case selection. If you have a choice between slimline or jewel box, which do you choose? The answer is go with the jewel box. I have heard so many complaints about the slimline from PDs, editors, reviewer and other industry people saying they never want to see another slimline case again, and will ignore them. The problem is that if your slimline CD is in a stack of 50 other CDs it won’t be easily found. There is no spine to display the artist and album names! Seems like such a tiny thing, but they want convenience. If your CD is in the rack with hundreds or thousands of others, or in a stack on a desk, it won’t easily be found. This has become a deal breaker.

The last consideration, do you replicate or duplicate? What’s the difference between replication and duplication? With replication your music is stamped into the disc, with duplication you music is burned onto the disc. Deciding which to go with can be tough, and is often made depending on your budget and quantity of CDs you need. If you are short on funds you might want to go with duplication. But, if you have the cash you you should go with replication. You must also consider this: replicated discs are perceived to be better quality than duplicated discs. It’s for this reason that many radio stations won’t play a CD that is burned, or duplicated. The real deal here is not really the quality, it’s about whether or not the CD will play on the CD player. Depending on how a CD was burned-if it was burned to Red Book standards (standards set for music CDs for consistent playback), the bit rate, and the speed it which it was burned-it may not play on all CD players. And you want to make sure your CD plays on every CD player.

These all may seem like silly things, but are all very important. Remember, you are competing for the same radio time as thousands of releases by major labels. There are only so many programming hours and you need to make sure your CD gets at least half the chance a major label release gets.
Now that you’ve got your songs, a great recording, your audience defined and your package, the next step… the paper work. Yup, you’re not ready yet, still a few more things to do! Stayed tuned for part 5.