1. Make sure that the title track has the ability to "wow." If that track sucks, it's tough to take the rest of the album seriously.
2. Send a pressed CD that's professionally packaged. CDR's don't cut it. In fact, send two; one for the music vault and one for a possible giveaway. Remember, the liner notes will be read, so take care in crafting them.
3. Make sure the songs are registered with Gracenote and have the proper ID3 tags attached so the info doesn't have to be input manually when transferred to the digital library. No Gracenote information may be enough to keep your songs from getting played.
4. Make sure you send a short press kit. Short is the operative word, keeping it to only a page about who you are and what's on the disc.
5. Address your package to the music director. He will assign it to the appropriate DJ. Do not send to the program director, as he's in charge of scheduling and is too busy to deal with music. If you have the DJ's name that deals with your genre, it's okay to send it to him to directly.
6. A short personal note can go a long way. Something like, "Hey WJSC, thanks for the airplay" can get you extra attention.
7. Call the request line or the DJ and ask them to play your song. It really works and might even land you an on-air interview.
8. Don't take the shrink wrap off the package. If the CD gets smashed in transit by the post office, the disc stands a better chance of being playable, and there's less cleanup involved for the station.
Remember that these tips come directly from someone on the front lines of college radio. They're pretty simple, and can make the difference between getting played or not.
1 comment:
Great tips! Thanks.
But the shrink wrap thing puzzles me. Received wisdom is that shrink wrap deters the CD being played. I'd rather take a chance on the CD case being damaged than my entire effort being for nowt thanks to shrink wrap.
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