How do you get published for radio play?

Hmmm

I would think you need to be with a "real" music company; you would have to be on the "A-list" meaning your band was guaranteed by contract to be publicized, not merely a 20-grand a year "we get all your songs you write" house band...

i cant picture one song, you would need at least a demo where the songwriting ability was obvious...

your up gainst the "pay to play" in the major markets. Unless you could convince a local DJ to play a hit of yours... many bigger stations ONLY play stuff on their approved rotation list... and to get there takes "juice", i think.

then again... you got all these bands where a group of "cool" lookign youngsters is assembled, put under a producer, and they play cover tunes... the cookie cutter acts.

*shrugs* if anyone can TELL you, it would beg to reason, why wouldnt THEY have hits out there they can point at?

I am basing my guesses and hunches on stuiff I have read...
 
Hmmm...

In the end, when you read about how "band X" MADE IT... there's always 'that moment'... which is usually when "so and so" discovered them...

it could be the manager that needed a new band, and happened to like them at a show. It could be a talent scout came thru and noticed them, recommended them to his label. Or, they were recommended/discovered by some producer who had a name at some big music label...

its always different for each band. Bruce Hornsby languished for years, BUT, he had been friends with, and was mondo respected by, numerous famous musicians. The one article said that the joke was "okay, whos goin to reccomend this hornsby guy THIS week?"

yet another tack, is to be a studio misician. An excellent musician, with a professional attitude... hangs out with a recording place of some note, and gets "gigs" playing guitar, drums, whatever with various bands recording who "need a drummer" or "need a good lead guitar player" THEN if the album happens to go somewhere, they have been "noticed"

In big area, like NYC or LA... fampous producers would happen to notice "hey, this guy plays guitar for several bands... whast HIS BAND sound like? I gotta hear them..."
 
Yeah, I can understand that. But I am in no way interested in "making it" in the music business.
I was referring to just having a great song that could do well on certain radio stations. If part of that is "making it" in the business..then forgattabout it:mad:
 
Hmmm...

Oh, okay... I know the drill...

"You disdain, and actively avoid, commercial success. Because in so doing, it would destroy your *insert thing here*..."

thing destroyed by *gasp* success = (integrity/art/real-ness/whatever)



Look, i can DIG some of that, but... the reality is that you want people to wake up in the morning and hear YOUR song while shaving, and driving to work in the morning. If its "good" whatever that is... they might find your melody or lyrical hook popping into their head, unbidden... infectious, even...

sadly, theres no way to DO that, without a degree of "success".




did this stuff start with "punk" and the post-punk music? Because i remember the WhiteStripes had everyone convinced, that 2 or 3 people can just "jam" in the basement, raw, to a affordable 4 track recorder... and then its raw and "real", and thats a real album...

...because thats just their ad-copy. Why did the music company spend hundreds of thousands of dollars putting that one album out? In reality, they spent a LOT of time, money, and manpower and technology trying to make a polished professional product, that didnt "sound" polished. Kind of ironic, really.

ONE music writer busted them. Pointed out that the "are they husband and wife, are they brother and sister, are they lovers or family... or both?" was just their "schtick", and NewYork was USED to this stuff, it was just a novelty to the national market, LMAO.

They spent a LOT of time working on their songwriting skills, and money was spent polishing their product, so that it didnt sound polished, packaged to the kids as some kind of "raw" thing.


Me? I'd love to score a classical string track, and be listed as the composer and get it put into a real CD with a real band. I'd feel pretty cool. if i made a few bux, I'd buy a cabin in the middle of the woods with the extra coin.

NOW? I just GOTTA go back and listen to the song... I'll post something on it too. *shrugs* I'm no expert, I just know what I like...
 
H*ly sh!t...

Jesus H Christ on a freakin' popsicle stick.... you werent whistling dixie.

That WAS good. i aint kidding. Its a seamless blend of pop, country, a little folk and even that hint of hillbilly in there. Good god... that IS a radio-ready song. i cant judge the technical quality of the recording and mixing, as I heard it on tiny, tinny laptop speakers... so I'll just address the songwriting itself.

You are GOOD. You, your band, whatever. I dont even really LIKE country, but... my shooting and hunting buddy plays it constantly to me... and I still think this is G-O-O-D... really good.

For someone that "hates success" you sure have put in a lot of time and effort honing your craft, LMAO... (wink!) the kids will likely eat up your "I dont wanna be successful *sniff*.." thing, hee hee.

too bad you hate success, because you shop this one around to enough producers or whatever, its gionna end up on the radio, either with you and your band... or it can be sold to a major act.

this sounds like a solid product to me... and i dont even LIKE this type of music... good show!


I'm seriously impressed....
 
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My personal experience was you first have to have your song registered with BMI or ASCAP. These outfits shake down royalty payments from Venues and Radio Stations and then theoretically distribute these to songwriters on a prorated basis. Registering your song means you agree to let it be played any time & anywhere.

Radio stations look on the back of every CD case to see if the song is registered. If it's not a radio station could get sued for play copyrighted material.

When I tried to pitch a song that I wrote to a local station the response I got was "Sure, if it's registered with BMI, will give it a listen."

Racherik
 
The reality of radio today is that you will not be played unless you are a "somebody". This is definitely the case with Clear Channel being the major player in radio. Their programming is defined by corporate and disseminated to the stations and they won't take solicited material.

Whoever says payola doesn't exist anymore is dead wrong.

You may have luck if there are independent stations in your area that match the demographic your tune caters to. However, in my experience they will only champion music / bands that are big in the local scene.

You can target satellite radio. I know of a few other musicians who submitted their songs to some of the stations that accept solicitations... but who listens to satellite radio?

To echo what others are saying, you need to be pushed out there by big labels.

The other option that may suit you better since you've expressed a desire to NOT join that rat race is to look at shopping your song to bigger talent. I think that is much more attainable. If the song great and you are able to get it into the hands of a bigger named artist who feels the same way, eventually you may have a hit on your hands - if you're cool with only having song writing credits.
 
THANKS SEDSTAR!!! I would not have posted that if I didn't think it was a great song. I have many others, but they are not THAT good.
personally, I HATE country. I didn't think it sounded like that, but if you did, cool because a lot of people like country music.

I guess I was asking HOW to get published through BMI or ASCAP. I have no idea. Any specifics?

As far as me not wanting to "make it" I have kids and a business to run. I have no gumption to quit it all, have one year of success and end up pumping gas for the rest of my days. Not only that, but I HATE long distance travelling and especially I hate getting ripped off:D

BTW SEDSTAR, you like it a little heavier? http://www.ourstage.com/tracks/YRCXIJYUGOTG-pushin-the-junk
 
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You could look for a publisher or a songplugger. Maybe you won't be the vehicle to get the song on the radio, but there's a lot of satisfaction in hearing your song on the radio played by a performing artist. (While you stay home with the family collecting royalty checks!!)

You can also look to getting your song on tv or in the movies. Try Taxi.com. You can sign up and submit to opportunities posted by A/R, labels, publishers, music supervisors, etc. If you dont' like it after a year, you can ask for a refund.

There's a book called The Songwriter's Market. It's published every year and lists a lot of record companies, publishers, etc and how to submit. If you want to submit to the big boys, you would probably need an entertainment lawyer or someone like that to present your song for you. I'm not sure how that works.

You can become involved in a local songwriting group and network with industry people. You can enter your song in songwriting contests and maybe get recognition that way.

It's my understanding that to get yourself on the radio, you have to be a name, which means you're out there touring and gigging and people are coming to see you. Then a label has to sign you and you tour for them. Mainstream radio isn't going to play a no-name regardless of how good the song is.

All my own opinion.... :)

oh btw, I haven't heard your song yet as I'm rebuilding my main computer, but I will when I can.
 
The hows of the publishing business are way to complex to describe in a single post.

I suggest reading the book Songwriting for Dummies the last half of that book explains how the song market works. Included is how song writers get paid, copyrights, and the biggest how "publishing" works. I've slept a few nights so I probably not 100% on this, but congress never got around to making any kind of sensible laws for the music business. So after several law suits a hundred years back, we ended up with judges who setup the Copyright Royalty Board. So the business evolved into a big game of everybody counting pennies and then figuring out how to scam a larger share for their vig. This is what you want to read up on. This book was written by a guy who makes his living writing songs that most everyone has heard.

http://www.amazon.com/Songwriting-D...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282950475&sr=8-1

Also The book "How to Start and Run Your Own Record Label" isn't too bad, it gives you perspective from the Publisher's/Label's shoes. Be warned though if you Google for the author "Daylle Deanna Schwartz" you'll learn that anyone who would let this girl sing into a microphone should be charged with crimes against humanity.

http://www.amazon.com/Start-Run-You...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282950519&sr=1-1

After reading the above books you can use the Listing in the book titled Songwriters Market that Chili described above.

P.S. I really liked the song too. I think it's better than most of the top 40 pop I hear on our local Station. If you had an album of 12-15 songs of that caliber, it would probably be something I'd spring $15 for. Best of Luck.
 
Hmmm...

I really like the first two I have heard. You guys are probably good enough to try to get somewhere as an act, but... if your not willing to give up the day job, I like the idea of just aggressively pursuing songwriting.

Reasons...

1) both songs have that commercial pop sound. They "work", and dont require anything on my part to just listen. If I heard those two on the radio, I wouldn't think anything was amiss. There seems to be commercial quality there. Shame to waste that.

2) those 2 songs are in vastly different genres. One very country sounding, the other is a bluesy, funky style of rock... would have fit in on any of a number of late 80's early 90's rock albums as original material in support of the "main video hit".

With the ability to write and record commercial quality pop across multiple genres... I think songWRITING and songSELLING is the way to go here. Many labels will "sign" a small band, with a contract that pays comparatively low, and the label gets rights to ANY and ALL songs your band pumps out. Its kinda the "farm team" for a major leage ball club, so to speak.

Once several songs performed decent, you would be in a good position to up the pay, or to let a contract expire, and have the bragging rights for them to bid "per song" depending on how much they liked each song.

If you or your band does not have "the look", or one or mroe of you arent willing to tour/quit day jobs/ etc...

1) you would still be a "band", you could still perform local gigs
2) the members who wrote the lyrics and music would get credentialed
3) it would be a very nice way to get an extra 30k a year for "studio toys" and instruments
4) it paves the way for the possibility of a much more lucrative singwriting career.

Remember... Diane Warren makes more money than most famous performers, LMAO.

you and your band get some money, keep your jobs and lives, obviously enjoy the hobby for free anyways, AND you have the potential to start hearing your songs on the radio, and be listed as the writers of the music and lyrics. PLUS, the chance that after some time, if a few songs chart... you guys are the goose that actually lays the golden eggs; the producers that assemble "good looking young kid" bands... they have to BUY songs for those bands.

Even if nothing much came of it.. your band could put the 30k a year aside being a "farm band" for a label in an account... and after a few years have the money to build a real studio. Recording and producing other bands might even turn into a new day job.
 
Try radiosubmit.com, if your song is good, some program directors will download it; they go to this website to check out the songs available.
 
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