According to a recent survey, independent musicians have no more access to major market radio now than they did before major networks agreed to settle over charges of payola.
What I can’t figure out is why, in the year 2008, when radio is a declining force in the way Americans learn about new music, do we actually care?
Even friends of mine who work in the radio promotion business understand that MAJOR label acts can’t get airplay under these conditions. Radio has circled the wagon around good old chestnuts. Speaking of which, how many Christmas-music-only stations has your town spawned at this point?
I agree with Ann Chaitovitz that radio is still an untapped medium, especially here in the United States. As an audience, we have failed our broadcasters. Listeners will tell you time and again that radio is at its best when it’s live and local. Broadcasters around the world do this really well.
But we have forced ourselves down a rabbit hole by making broadcasters accountable only to ratings. There’s zero incentive for radio stations to play independent music because there’s no way they can earn money on it. Even public radio stations are abandoning music, since they can’t fundraise around it.
That’s why I have been telling musicians for years not to worry about spending too much money on radio promotion unless you’ve got something that fits rock solid into a speciality niche. You can get far more traction by investing in a strong audience-building campaign than you can by trying to get your record on the air.
3 responses
We are Lizards From Afar. We are a virtual band with all the members living in different cities and sharing files online.
We’d like to be included in your podcast.
In return we’ll give you some shout-outs on our blog and myspace and all the mockery you can stomach.
Our music is Free to all here:
http://reverbnation.com/lizardsfromafar
Find out all about us at these sites:
http://www.lizardsfromafar.com
http://myspace.com/lizardsfromafar
Email us at:
lizardsfromafar@comcast.net
Sincerely,
Sir Pent
Drummer of Lizards From Afar
It's a good point about radio, it's kind of dieing, so why waste money on that medium?
It's like newspapers, they are dying out in their current form, I'm sure they will evolve into something else and keep living in that form, but don't waste time or money on them until they change.
Internet radio is getting more popular by the day with unsigned musicians and listeners…which is why it's probably going to become the better medium for advertisers and unsigned musicians.
It's a good point about radio, it's kind of dieing, so why waste money on that medium?
It's like newspapers, they are dying out in their current form, I'm sure they will evolve into something else and keep living in that form, but don't waste time or money on them until they change.
Internet radio is getting more popular by the day with unsigned musicians and listeners…which is why it's probably going to become the better medium for advertisers and unsigned musicians.