If You’re Thinking of Radio Promotion for Your Music? This Post Will Point You In The Right Direction

It’s a new dawn in the entertainment space. An era where music distribution and promotion has become mostly DIGITAL – where music streaming and downloads are, by miles, the WAY musical content are distributed and promoted. We no longer live in an era where the premium is placed on physical copies, neither is music promotion left in the hands of ‘Alaba Boys’. Our emphasis in this piece is focused on radio promotion, why it should be considered, and how to go about it.

The reach as well as user engagement offered by radio houses is compelling enough to want to stick with this medium for promoting your content, seeing as there is rarely anyone who doesn’t listen to the radio today regardless of what they are listening to. The most important factor when it comes to radio promotion is the REACH and getting your song on the radio helps you grow your fan base and extend your reach within the said geographical location. However, not many are able to approach radio stations in such a way that their content and persona would be found irresistible. 

Here are a few tips to guide your approach. 

First, you must have and KNOW YOUR CONTACT. It is very ideal to know who is in charge of track-listing and song selection or who can influence such decisions. Having a knowledge of this helps you know who you should be approaching and how. Although you could get contact information via the company’s website, social media accounts, and other noble means, you should still make it a point of duty to know and build a relationship with your contact person. 

You should also make inquiries about THE RIGHT FORMAT FOR SENDING YOUR MUSIC. It’s not advisable to just send content anyhow you feel like it. You should be sure of the format the radio station(s) work with; the content type, the song duration, and other relevant information that aids your track placement. Failure to do your own research could hinder your song from being aired.

Also, make it a point of call to PITCH THE RIGHT STATION. Going straight to the big stations, while still building a name for yourself, might not be the right move for you sometimes, their demands and criteria might be far-reaching for you if you’re at the early stage of your career. It would suit you better to target smaller stations but with a large audience reach and engagement, whose demands and criteria won’t be too much for you to handle.

Finally, you should CREATE A BUZZ. This could entail a lot more work than just pitching to the radio stations. You have to create hype for yourself and your music. There are no specific ways to create buzz for your content. Whatever way there is to get the radio stations to notice your content would do and when they do, it’s a roller-coaster ride from then on…

You can also learn more on the impact of Radio on our Freeme Academy Series here: Is Radio Still Relevant To Music Promotion? | Freeme Music Academy