Ok had a few discussions recently about how to get us radio types, and reviewers etc to notice your band and give them some coverage... so cooked up these guidelines that may be of use. These are from my perspective, so may not hold true for everyone in the music business, but should give you a few tips at least. 1) KNOW WHO TO CONTACT..... If you send a general message / mail / package to a radio station / magazine it will probably vanish into the internal mail never to be seen again. So do some research, find out who on the station / mag is most likely to be interested in your brand of post hardcore thrash reggae house jazz fusion, and approach them directly wherever possible, at the very least mark your email or letter for the attention of... 2) SEND MUSIC.... May seam like a no brainer, but a basic message with a link to your soundcloud / facebook / youtube / whatever page, with the note check us out dont work. Even for my little show on a small local station I get up to a hundred submissions a week, and there just isnt enough time in the day to click on every link and watch every video, attaching an MP3 or two to your message gives the person your contacting music on hand and it is more likely to get listened to. At the very least send a link to where your music can be downloaded. 3) SEND IT FOR FREE... I know your a skint muso who works hard to make your music and you do want some payback for your effort, but be aware that even us radio types and reviewers are as skint as you. Many of us who do specialist shows on smaller stations do not get paid for their work so cant afford to buy all the music we are sent, even if we do love it to bits, same holds for many reviewers, even those who freelance for fairly well known mags. But remember this if you get a bit of airplay, or a good write up, it will boost your music sales, so the cost of sending out a few freebies will soon be recovered. 4) PHYSICAL COPY vs MP3... This is down to the personal preference of the dj / reviewer. Im an old git who prefers something to handle, so a CD (or even Vinyl) with me wins over MP3 (although in this day and age even I have had to use the disposable digital formats) - so when you make contact send some MP3s but always ask if they would like a CD if you have one available. 5) PLEASE BE PATIENT... So you sent your stuff in and its not in the next issue or on the next show... doesnt mean its never gonna get used, as I mentioned above we get hundreds of submissions arriving and it may take time to get to the top of the pile. Leave it a few weeks then follow up with a polite did you get my CD / MP3? just wanna check that it arrived, if not Ill send another (yup things do get lost in the mail, even email systems from time to time) 6) BRIBERY SOMETIMES HELPS... No not the old payola system much loved by some old American rock and roll stations. But putting something in the package with your CD can help make you stand out from the crowd and fix you in the mind of the person your dealing with. For example a Japanese band once sent me an album with a selection of Japanese chochie bars enclosed. I even had a stoner band send me a sample of something herbal!! (But please don;t do that, its highly illegal and could end up with your band and the Dj / reviewer up on very serious charges) Its dont have to be anything expensive, if you have button badges or stickers, chuck a couple in with yer CD. 7) LABEL EVERYTHING... If your sending CDs make sure you include a full track listing and the band name is on the CD, if your sending in a digital format, make sure all tracks are labeled with the track title and band name, after all we cant play it or review it if we dont know who you are or what the songs are. I still get a few mystery CDs a month, many of which I still know bugger all about. 8) INFORMATION, WE NEED INFORMATION... (maybe this one should be number 6). Send a biog, a list of your upcoming gigs, links to all your on line stuff, and make sure all your online sites are updated regularly. if the dj / reviewer likes you, then he will want to know more, and tell his readers / listeners about you. I get a bit pissed off playing good music by great bands then having to say, sorry cant give you more info It doesnt need to be volumes of stuff, just a page or so with the basic details. 9) Finally.. BE NICE... Another no-brainer, but contacting someone saying you reviewed / played Eddie and The Morons last week, and they are shit, we are far better than them, will only get you a reputation as a bunch of egocentric wankers. A far better approach is last week you reviewed / played Eddie and The Morons and we are mates of theirs / big fans of theirs / gigged with them the other week will cut far more ice. And the same goes for slagging Djs and reviewers to other Djs and reviewers, we do talk to each other you know, we do recommend acts to each other, so a friendly approach to everyone will do your reputation more good than a bad attitude. As I said these points are mainly from my own perspective, but I think they hold true for most, feel free to comment and debate.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:30:42 +0000
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