Share In Urban music most new artists want that “Hot” feature on their record.  That is all well and fine, but let’s start with the basics of getting the single ready for the feature.  If you have taken the time to produce and write a hit song on your own, then a feature should only [...]

Share Unless you have worked for the radio department of a label, or else you have worked for an independent promoter or radio magazine, you probably have never heard of an “add date”. But the “add date” is probably the most basic building block of both commercial and college airplay, and it is used in [...]

Share Many people, when planning the date that their radio campaign will start, think that starting the campaign at a certain time of the year will make a huge difference in the outcome of the project. It won’t. There are many other factors which are far more important, and these factors will determine what happens [...]

Share When working with the mass media (radio, TV, papers, magazines), one thing to keep in mind is that they are just that… MASS… and anything you can do to let radio know that you are building a mass story for your artist will help tremendously in your ability to get airplay. A special note [...]

Share A specialty show or a mixshow is a one or two hour show on a commercial station, usually late at night, and many times on the weekends, which plays music that the station normally does not play. A disadvantage of these shows is that you get only one or two spins per week on [...]

Share We now talk about what is needed to promote to these types of stations. MAILING: Although mailing your CD to stations is not considered “promotion” in-and-of itself (promotion requires phone calls), it nevertheless must be done, and when doing it is recommended that you do your own mailing instead of using a mailing service [...]

Share STATION EMPLOYEES DISC JOCKEY: He/she is also known as a DJ, talent, air-staff, or jock. SPECIALTY-SHOW OR MIXSHOW HOST: Does a one or two-hour show, usually on the weekend or late at night, using music that may not be suitable for regular airplay (rotation). MUSIC DIRECTOR: Handles most of the telephone calls from record [...]

Share The Stations No conversation about music marketing would be complete without the word RADIO rearing its ugly head time and time again. Few songs sell well at retail without it. None sell millions without it. You’ve got your CDs manufactured…now what can YOU do about it? Radio is one of the MASS MEDIA that [...]

Share What’s up to all the heavy grinders, hard working, and struggling artists, producers, musicians, managers, and DJs!  Many of you may know me from my production, or my work with the iStandard Producer Showcase / istandardproducers.com; however, I still get a surprising reaction when mentioning my involvement with ASCAP.  Once someone finds out I [...]

Share In the world of music rights and commercial or in-public music use, there are a lot of terms and expressions that may be confusing to non-musicians. In fact, some of these are confusing even to musicians. In this article I will try to explain some of these terms and what they mean. Copyright Free [...]