How To Submit Music To Radio Stations

In this era of Spotify and YouTube, nobody can think that radio is a big deal. But the truth is radio is the biggest deal still when other digital mediums are in the hype. Radio is the most powerful tool in the United States. According to Statista, radio has a weekly of 82.5% adults approximately. The number of stations in the United States reached 15,445 in 2020.

Number of radio stations in the U.S by Statista

You may be astonished to know that U.S adults spend 41% of their listening time on the radio.

So, as a musician, if you want to reach a good number of listeners, then radio can be the best route to choose. Submitting your music to the radio helps you expand and showcase your talent.

Submitting Music To Radio Stations

For an artist, hearing the songs on the radio is an eventual blessing in the execution of the musical career. Radio is a great source to reach a larger audience. But how can you submit your music to any radio station and get your music on the radio?

First, you must have to know that there is very little space for new music on a radio playlist. So, you must work on your project and give your best to increase the chances of approval.

Before submitting your music to the radio stations, you must take care of a few things.

Sound Quality Of Your Song

It is the most critical stage of the whole process. You must submit a good sound quality to the radio station. This means that you have to go through all the tiring stages of music creation – from choosing a title to composing and arranging it, recording, mixing, and mastering.

High-resolution audio is a new and helpful thing for musicians. The high-resolution audio tends to have a higher sampling frequency and has a bit depth than a CD which is mostly specified at 16-bit/44.1HZ.  A high-res file often is ten of megabytes in size.

There are different file formats such as FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, DSD, and more. ALAC and FLAC are compressible.

Radio Format

You have to take care of the radio format too. Although it is the obvious point but you have to submit to the review the swearing to a minimum. Have a clean edit of your music for these reasons. The ideal song length for a radio station is between 3 to 5 minutes.

You have to ensure that your song is not that much short or lengthy. Of all the hit songs of any era, the majority lie within this time range. The great musician follows this rule. Creating a radio is an art and to master it you have to learn to escalate the creative fetters that surround it.  

An Electronic Press Kit

It is best if you have a sheet or digital press kit on your website for reference with your radio promotion. The information will give a glimpse into your musical life or story. You don’t have to load your EPK with a lot but a few basics will do the work for you, such as;

• Basic information that includes your name, genre, etc.
• Bio
• Promotional images
• Music videos
• And your contact information

EPK example

After the completion of your music send the copy to the radio stations with the EPK. It might take some time and rejection before getting your song played on the radio stations. You have to stay prepare and repeat the process if you get rejected for the first time. The main thing is that don’t lose hope.  

Targeting The Right Stations

Before submitting music to radio stations director, you have to choose the stations. This is the more important step because the audience of one station is likely to be different from the other one. Some people correspond more to your music than others. And some radio stations might have a god space for the new songs than the other ones – it is always based on their playlist quota. There are different radio stations and you should choose wisely.  

Commercial Radio

Commercial radio is owned by a company that is known for featuring primarily pop stars, the top 40 hit makers, and the mainstream powerhouse. The commercial radio stations’ playlist doesn’t have much space for independent music. They usually play hit, trendy and popular songs by global artists. Reaching the commercial radio stations is a bit hard until or unless you have a significant amount of fans or other stations carrying you.

Independent Radio

Independent radio stations include the ones that are created for a noncommercial purpose, community stations, and college or university stations. This type of station usually features independent and new artists. It is a great medium for unsigned and DIY musicians to get their music played on the radio station and reach new fanbase levels and grow the audience. 

These types of radio stations usually look for new talent and passionate artists to contribute to their radio stations. 

Enhance Chances Of Your Music Played On Radio

Choosing the right station and preparing great music is not enough. You have to make sure that your music stands out in the pile of CDs the radio station already has.

• Create your profile on every free music platform and let people know about you.
• Be available on social media. Share posts and stories and connect with your audience.
• Make a Wikipedia page for yourself. It will help you to aware a new audience about yourself and your music. 
• Generate good public relations and take on local events to showcase your talent.

Ways To Submit Music To The Radio Station

You can submit your music to the radio stations in the following ways.

• Submit as an independent artist.
• Submit directly through a music submission platform.
• Take help from a PR company to submit your music.
• Submit via a third-party music distribution.
• You can submit your music to a radio station through an indecent online distribution alliance or IODA.
• Submit through a music plugger or a radio plugger.

 Successful Submission

Dos	Don’ts
Do extensive research	Don’t rush to mainstream radio stations
Follow submission guidelines by the radio stations	Don’t neglect the local or small radio stations
Personalize and customize your package	Don’t be fooled
Follow up with the radio station	Don’t give up so fast
Submit your best music	Don’t pretend you know everything
Create good connection	Don’t compromise on your music
Perform beyond the radio stations	Don’t compare yourself to other artists

Keep The Things Real

You should have known that radio stations have several slots dedicated to different things such as news, music, sports, and others. You have to ensure that you submit your music to the station that primary focus is music.

You have to produce the best music for submission, even after your music gets rejected there is no need to lose hope. Stand up and make the track more powerful and submit it again. You have to keep in mind that in the real world, there is a chance of rejection. But you can get over it with passion and dictation.