For all of my musicians, songwriters, producers, and artists out there…
Most of you probably share a goal.
Maybe this goal is more important to some of you than to others, but most of you, at the very least, would think that this is really cool:
Getting your song on the radio.
To actually have a major radio station play your song… it’s kind of like seeing a book you wrote in a major book store or seeing a movie you worked on in a major movie theater.
In the same way, radio, at the very least, makes your song feel like a “big deal.”
Not to mention, if a song lands on radio, it is going to make you way more money than the rest of the tracks on your record!
How A Song Gets On The Radio
There are 4 parties that are important to know about when it comes to a song getting on a major radio station.
Program Directors: the people “in power” at radio stations who officially decide what gets played.
Radio Promoters: the people at labels (or who work independently) whose job it is to communicate with program directors about new singles and releases.
Listeners: the people who listen to the radio stations.
Record Labels, Artists, Songwriters & Producers: those who actually create the music.
Now, here’s the great cycle of radio.
Record labels, artists, songwriters, and producers try to make music that they think that radio promoters will be able to work with.
Then, radio promoters try to promote songs to program directors that they think the program directors will want.
Then program directors put songs on their radio station that they think their listeners will want because without loyal listeners, radio stations can’t survive.
But how do program directors know what their listeners want: Radio testing.
Radio Testing
Radio testing is when volunteers come together and listen to clips of songs where they rate which songs they would be more interested in listening to and which ones they would skip.
They are rarely judging a song by its quality the whole way through. Normally, it’s just a short clip that the radio testers are judging things by.
So that is the great cycle, and that’s how it all trickles back to YOU: the artists, musicians, songwriters, and producers.
Is Anyone Wrong In This Situation?
No one is wrong in this situation.
No one is an “unfair gatekeeper.” At the end of the day, everyone is just trying to please someone else. That’s pretty much how our economy works in every aspect of it.
And if you don’t like how it works, then you don’t need to play the game 😉
But if you understand all of these roles and what motivates each person in each role, then that will be able to inform your decisions about what music you choose to create.
Because the whole process ultimately starts with YOU: the music creator.
I love this information here Seth!!!
This have always been the way new music gets airplay. Most importantly the promoter, the music and listening team. It’s been so long since we had a good chart record “The Masqueraders, “I Ain’t Got To Love Nobody Else” We were doing great going up Billboard’s Hot 100 because we had two promoters pushing our Bell Records single and then our Producer wanted to put us on his local record label on the next release,and Larry Uttal ……
Thanks Logan! So good.
Interesting article, just wondering how they pick the volunteers that listen to the music.
Hello Seth its good to read how Christmas songs make the radio. I’m sure many a song while really darn good never make the waves. Even a star top a Christmas tree would love to hear another. One they they brought life to working hard bringing Christmas cheer. As a writer it gives me pleasure to hear a Christmas demo. Someone top of their craft in the middle or on their way. While it is loved while the snow comes down it still feels pretty special. Writer can hear it any time one chooses to play. (Friend of mine use to say – sometimes you lose and sometimes the other person wins) Personally I’m happy for the winners and for those who tried. I’m happy for the artists who contributed and who contribute to music. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Oh success is fine to. ok honestly I wish you all great success a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Maybe some day we work on something.
This have always been the way new music gets airplay. Most importantly the promoter, the music and listening team. It’s been so long since we had a good chart record “The Masqueraders, “I Ain’t Got To Love Nobody Else” We were doing great going up Billboard’s Hot 100 because we had two promoters pushing our Bell Records single and then our Producer wanted to put us on his local record label on the next release,and Larry Uttal ……
As a radio and artist promoter, I have talked to many Program Directors. I just wish they would actually do what they say. Most don’t even return your call, have an excuse for not playing the song, and the one I hate to hear is that the artist have to be on certain charts before they will play their song. My question to them is, “How do they get on any charts if the radio stations won’t play them for the listeners to hear or to get to hear their name or sound?”. Hence the Indie Artists, who are not well known, but are more talented than the ones you hear on the radio all the time.
I believe Logan nailed it. Thanks for the information.
That’s the way things work in today’s world. Program Directors weren’t needed when radio stations had a real live Disk Jocky and he or she could respond to call-in type requests from real listeners and play what their listeners wanted to hear. With radio automation, airplay is subject to a less personal scope except for a few people.
So true , O:)
Thanks Logan