I made a 5:24 minute video below (scroll down to the bottom to view), that answers a question I got from Louis. He asks ” where do I take it next (the recorded music) so it can go to the next level..”

What I think he means is that when you’re starting out and you have just finished and polished up your new music, what do you do next?

Well the video below explains what you should do next.

Basically, you need to get your music to a tastemaker so that you can get some feedback and input on what you have produced.

What is a tastemaker? A tastemaker could be one of many influential music industry types. From a well respected A and R, to a DJ.

In this case, I’ll refer to the radio/club DJ as being the person who to target. Why? Because this is the method I used when I was starting out and I have used this approach on may occasions.

DJ’s have their ear to the streets and could let you know if your music is a “hit”, “miss” or a “grower”. They could get to test your music and see what the response is like first hand via radio airplay (if they can choose what gets played) and in the clubs.

I have to apologize if your genre of music doesn’t fit this method. In that case you will want to find someone that has similar influence in your genre.

When trying to get radio airplay, especially when you’re starting out, you should always start with the smaller radio companies first.

The major labels pump a hell of a lot of money into getting their  music aired. So, note that your competition will be fierce!

But, it can be done.

The first thing you want to realize is that commercial radio stations make their money from advertising. Because of this, they  need to attract the biggest advertisers that pay big bucks! So, for the stations to make money, they have to appeal to the biggest market which will inevitably be the popular music fans – or “pop” for short!

If you don’t make “pop” music, how are you going to attack this? Well, this is the “Do-It-Yourself” 6 step guide to getting your music on radio:

1. 1. Before you even contemplate contacting any radio station,  make sure you have your marketing plan In place. What this means is to have your bio, tour dates, release schedules, press coverage, etc, etc. It is no good you saying that “you just seeing how it goes”, or anything like that. You won’t  get any brownie points for that! Have it all on one sheet of paper. Nice and professional looking
2. Choose the right radio station that your music will fit the  criteria with (no point submitting hip hop on a classical music radio station)!
3. Find out who the programming director (who programs the shows) and the music directors (who decides what, listens to the music and recommends what gets heard) are. On smaller stations, they are  usually one and the same (person that is).
4. Either send your single (meaning don’t give them a choice of choosing a song) on CD, your bio, etc, by Fed Ex or hand deliver it to the PD/MD.
5. Whether or not you can pitch in person, make sure you come  across professionally. Show the stations that you know what you’re doing.
6. Have the mentality of ignorance when it come to the larger  commercial radio stations. If you break through and get heavy  rotation, great. If you get light rotation, great, but don’t be down  hearted if you only get spot rotations on the specialist shows. Most indies don’t get any commercial airplay at all.

The good thing about the above plan is that you can use it for all the different types of radio stations. In fact, I will advise you to start with the smaller local, internet,  college stations and build momentum, before moving up the  ladder to the medium and larger size stations.

At the same time keep records of the airplay you receive, as  you can use it when you pitch for the big commercials’.

What do you think of this tactic? Leave your comments below…