Radio, for me, has been a career for life – ever since landing my first show, aged just 14. Since then, I’ve gone on to present a weekly new music show on the BBC, I help select playlist tracks for Radio 1 & 1Xtra, recommend ‘ones to watch out for’ for Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 Music, The Asian Network and Television. I choose every track you hear broadcast on my local station, select artists for Glastonbury, Reading + Leeds, SXSW, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, T In The Park, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Worcester Music Festival, Nozstock, The Hay Festival, Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park, The Great Escape, Bestival, LakeFest and The Cheltenham Jazz Festival. So it’s fair to say – if it makes a noise, I’m interested…
…and that’s it really. It doesn’t matter what style of music you’re producing, there’s never an opportunity too far away. Radio, like the whole of the music industry, is changing – with more and more audiences online, a greater range of channels and competition in the marketplace. So, while it may not be in your best interest to send your liquid drum ’n’ bass track to a classic rock station (trust me, people spam lots of stations – and achieve nothing), it is worth doing that little bit of homework as to who to send your music to. Google is certainly your friend, there. Some stations, like the aforementioned ‘classic’ rock station, probably won’t be playing anything beyond 1985!
We’ve arrived at a digital age so connected that the technology is moving faster than consumers can keep up with it. Only recently have we seen sites like Apple Music, Spotify & Deezer approaching BBC presenters to act as ‘tastemakers’. Literally, people were arriving on their sites being presented with a lifetime’s worth of music to search for, but not knowing what to type into that box!
Radio is still the fastest way of getting your music out to the widest audience possible. It never ceases to amaze me just how many people tune in – and although the audience may not always be vocal, they’re always there. For that reason, I would say every song you produce must either be – or have a version that is – radio friendly. We’re talking no swearing or overly political lyrics. I once had a track sent to me with the words “my sex life is harder to find than Madeleine McCann” – right at the height of public upset…
Also – bands, I get it, like to rock out. But save that for the album or the live show. The shorter your track is, the better. This seems daft – but remember that song you couldn’t get enough of, as a kid, which you stuck on loop play? That’s because the recording wasn’t long enough and left you wanting more. If you go on too long, then why would an audience ever want to come to a live show, download your track or hear it again?
One of the biggest mistakes bands make is not having an official release date – or sending in a track two days before launch. Radio is a great way of drumming up early support for that big moment in your track’s history – and if you get sent as much music as I do, your release for the day after tomorrow may not get heard for another couple of weeks – in which case, the moment has passed. Particularly if everyone else has supported it; nobody likes to be the last horse in the race.
So, here’s the thing – if you don’t have a release date but you have a killer track, then why should I play it now? Hopefully I, like many of my colleagues, have a long and illustrious life in broadcasting and we’re always in need for an A-list hit. So what’s to stop me from playing this when I’m 64 – when I feel that week’s music is a little weak? Having an impact date not only locks in all media (social or otherwise), but creates excitement among fans. Also – it’s worth looking at significant events in your calendar as to when you’re going to release those tracks. I was speaking to Remi Harris, only last week, who I’ve just booked to headline a stage at the Montreal Jazz Festival. He said: “By the way, did you want a copy of my new album?”. He’d released it only that week and looking on his website, had failed to get the message across – and it was a ‘by the way’ at the end of a conversation. So I said: “Listen, nobody knows about this album yet – so why not hold off two weeks and ‘officially release it in Montreal'”. All he has to do is mention it on stage – the festival will be happy he saved his big moment for them, and he can, forevermore, say he dropped his album at the biggest gig of his life. Otherwise that moment will come and go – and what do you have to show for it – a YouTube video? How great, when approaching new venues, to say: “Here’s my album officially launched at…” – two stories in one product. So my golden advice is to make big moments even bigger.
And that’s the thing: I mentioned, earlier on, that I present a weekly new music show for the BBC. But that’s 166 hours a week I’m not on-air. So although it may appear to the listener there’s tonnes of music I’m not playing, the industry as a whole still counts radio as a trusted guide – leading audiences into new musical discoveries that will make THEM money. Therefore my phone is constantly ringing off-the-hook – not asking, but demanding I recommend new artists for fresh, exciting opportunities. And even when it’s not, I’m constantly bumping into record scouts, festival organisers and promoters who constantly listen in – in the hope that I’ve done their A&R work for them.
It’s a great position to be in and I’d say no opportunity is too small and no music project is insignificant – but you just need a good product to showcase. So if have a killer demo (1st priority), an epic video (2nd priority) and a nailed on social media presence (3rd priority – but pictures speak 1,000 words) then the world is your oyster. As a supporter of new music, I don’t care if you have 300 fans online or 3,000 (you could have bought them). But if you send me a list of 30 dates to prove you can play live, I’d rather see pictures from those shows – because, again, you could have made up a list of past tour dates (it happens). So even if you’re not an active blogger, who cares, because – at the end of the day, it’s the music that does the talking…
Guest post by:
Andrew Marston | Radio Presenter • Music Producer • Club DJ
Andrew Marston is a British based radio presenter, music producer and club DJ, known for his extensive work with musicians under the BBC Introducing scheme. He’s now presented his BBC Introducing show for more than a decade.
Read Full Article Here: http://www.helpforbands.co.uk/the-benefits-of-radio-play/
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