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Commercial Formats
Commercial radio has a word for what music people call "genre"...it's
"format". A format is like a category of automobiles... trucks, cars,
SUV's, station wagons, etc; each category is made up of different makes
from different manufacturers, but no matter where in the country you go,
everyone understands what you mean when you say "truck"... you simply have
to specify what make and model you are referring to.
Same with radio. A commercial radio format is a collection of types of
music that are similar, from different artists. Most of the broadcast day
will stick to the format, and every station in the country that is of that
particular format will play the same types of artists. The purpose of a
format (on a commercial station) has to do with how a station sells
advertising, but we won't go into that now. Note: Formats do not really
apply to non-commercial radio, and especially not to college radio.
Below are the main new-music formats in the United States; most U.S.
cities will have a station for each one. Canada is similar but smaller,
and with many French stations too. The formats below are sorted (roughly)
by the number of stations in each group. Note, however, that this does not
correspond to the number of LISTENERS there are. The number of listeners
(or "ratings") of a format or station will be covered at a later time.
Also, these formats are broad groups; you most likely would only promote
your music to a portion of a particular group. The formats are...
COUNTRY: 2,300 stations. Country is the real "top 40" of the U.S., because
of its popularity. "Young Country" and "Hot Country" appeal to the younger
listeners, using newer artists, younger DJs, and a more energetic
approach. The whole "new" approach really took hold about the time Garth
started gaining popularity. More traditional country stations (sometimes
known as "Heritage" stations) are sort of the "oldies" of country radio...
but they also are specific in which new artists they play.
One special sub-category of Country is the "Americana" format. It is a
cross between rock and country, and it has about 100 stations, most of
which are small. Americana is an interesting new format, with some really
eclectic artists and new labels.
RELIGIOUS: 1,900 stations. Includes Christian in several music styles,
Gospel in many styles, Praise and Worship, and Ministry. Although a big
format, hundreds of these stations offer less chance for new music because
of the large amounts of talk, satellite programming, and older songs that
they play. There is no absolute number of religious stations which play
new music; instead it is a variable, and a particular station can play
anywhere from one hour to 24 hours of new music.
ADULT CONTEMPORARY: 1,500 stations. Also called "AC". Includes "mainstream
AC", "modern AC", "hot AC" and "soft AC". AC is similar to Religious, in
that hundreds of the stations have limited capacity for new music because
of the talk, satellite or sports programming they carry. Nevertheless, AC
still remains as one of the melding pots for new artists on small labels.
By this I mean that there are enough small AC stations (which play new
music) for a new artist to stand a chance... if promoted correctly.
ROCK: 800 stations. Includes "modern rock", "alternative", and
straight-ahead rock. Most people know of these stations. Problem is, they
are tougher for independent artists to get played on. One thing saves the
day, however... their specialty shows.
SPANISH: 600 stations. All variations included.
TOP 40: 400 stations. Called Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR), it includes
"rhythmic crossover" stations; i.e., Top 40 with a beat. A very difficult
format for indie artists. But again, specialty shows (and mixshows) save
the day.
URBAN: 300 stations. Includes Urban, R&B, Hip Hop, and Urban AC. Also very
difficult for new artists, but thankfully it also offers mixshow support.
CLASSICAL: 150 stations.
JAZZ: 150 stations. Includes "straight" Jazz (i.e., traditional), and
"smooth" Jazz. Straight Jazz is a viable format for an indie artist.
Smooth, however, will take some serious promotion.
KIDS: 50 stations. These mostly are your Radio Disney stations, and they
are all programmed from the Disney home office.
COMMERCIAL STATION EMPLOYEES
DISC JOCKEY: He/she is also known as a DJ, talent, airstaff, or jock.
SPECIALTY-SHOW OR MIXSHOW HOST: Does a one or two-hour show, usually on
the weekend or late at night, using music that may not be suitable for
regular airplay (rotation).
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Handles most of the telephone calls from record companies
and indie promoters; opens most of the mail from record companies.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Decides who and what goes on-air.
PUBLICITY DIRECTOR: Decides what free-mentions will be given, sometimes
within special show-segments designed to highlight local activities.
SALESPERSON: Also known as an AE (account executive) or rep
(representative); works with local and national companies, attempting to
get them to advertise on the station.
GENERAL MANAGER: Oversees programming, talent, sales, news and
engineering. Very often, the GM comes from a sales background.
WHO DECIDES ON AIRPLAY
On commercial stations, the program director (PD) is the person who
decides which artists gets played and how much (i.e., the amount of
"rotation" or number of "spins".) If someone other than the PD tells you
your CD is playing, then you may not be getting accurate information. The
music director (MD) does provide input to the PD, but the DJs generally do
not. Thus, calling and talking to a DJ on-the-air is of no use. As for
specialty shows and mixshows, the individual hosts do pick their own
music, but just for their one or two-hour show that airs usually late at
night. (These shows are sometimes called "new music" or "cage match"
shows.)
P1, P2, P3
These are the sizes of the audiences of a station. For example, a "P1"
station might be a top rated station in Austin, while a "P3" station might
be the bottom rated station in Austin. However, a middle-rated station in
New York would still be a P1, since it has so many listeners, while the
top-rated station in a very small town would be a P3, since it has very
few listeners.
MULTIPLE-STATION OFFICES
One of the first things your promoter will have to adjust to when calling
commercial stations is that several differently-formated stations will
have the same office, phone/fax, and employees. When you are calling a
Country station and you hear Alternative music on hold, this is why.
STATION REVENUE
Stations make money with one thing...advertising. Advertising is when a
company pays the station to create and air a commercial which advertises
the company's product. This is why the station was built, why it operates,
and why the station employees get up and go to work each day. A commercial
station is in the advertising business...it is NOT in the music business.
Its job is to accumulate listeners, and then sell these listeners to
advertisers. It makes no money when you sell your CD, and it makes no
money when it plays your CD. As a matter of fact, they actually PAY money
to play your CD, through BMI etc. (albeit, very little.) So it all boils
down to advertising...the more listeners (ratings) a station has, the more
each advertiser pays to advertise. Note: 80% of a station's advertisers
are in the same city that the station is in.
THE WEB
Still a troublesome novelty to stations, the web is certainly gaining in
importance. Commercial stations use their sites to get listeners to stick
around longer.
What is needed to promote to these types of stations?
MAILING
Although mailing your CD to stations is not considered "promotion"
in-and-of itself (promotion requires phone calls), it nevertheless must be
done, and when doing it is recommended that you do your own mailing
instead of using a mailing service (or worse, a compilation CD service.)
CDs from mailing services, which are sometimes sent with a magazine, tend
to get lost. Also, they are sometimes delivered with many other CDs, which
can dilute your project. If you do use these services, do so in addition
to doing your own mailing, i.e., consider it as an advertisement.
SPECIALTY SHOW VS. ROTATION
On commercial radio stations, specialty spins (also known as tests,
spikes, new music shows, local music shows, or dayparting) is what many
bands mistake for regular rotation. As a matter of fact, one of the uses
of a specialty show is for a station to put songs that it can't really
play (but doesn't want to tell the artist/label this.) The average new
artist/label will be very happy to hear that they are "being played",
because the artist/label doesn't realize that this means only one or two
spins.
Only regular rotation can sell large quantities of records (IF you have a
full-time salesperson calling the stores)...but it is also (by far) the
most difficult to get. Specialty shows (and mixshows) however, while not
nearly as powerful as regular rotation, do still have uses...for example,
building the buzz, introducing a song to a station, or providing airplay
practice for a new label or artist. And many times, the person at the
station who does the specialty/mixshow also sits in on the same music
meetings with the music director and program director.
PROMOTERS
Also called radio promoters, airplay promoters, radio teams, promotion
departments, etc., promoters are the people who call the stations and give
them the information they need to play your song. (Faxes are also used.)
You will find promoters who work at labels who only promote the artists on
their label, and also promoters who work independently (these are called "indies")
and are for hire by labels and artists.
The main thing that a promoter does is try to make it appear that a big
picture is developing: Adds are happening, spins are increasing,
interviews are occurring, great comments are being made, and if
pertinent... sales are occurring, shows are selling, and press is
printing! All of this is updated and repeated every week to every station
(50 to 1500 stations, depending on the promotion level...most often it is
50 to 500.)
As for indie promoters, they vary in the reports that they give you (some
don't do them at all,) the stations they call (some do only one genre,
others do more,) the promotions or advertising they handle (some don't do
this,) and the accessibility that they give you (some are easy for you to
reach, others never answer the phone and hardly ever call back.)
TRADE ADS
Buying printed advertisements in the radio airplay magazines would be the
first step that a serious label/band would consider as their next step
beyond simply hiring a promoter. These printed advertisements (1) show
stations that you have a serious project, (2) get critical info to the
stations in a high-profile and timely (weekly) manner, and (3) greatly
increase your chances of an editorial review in the magazines you
advertise in.
STATION ADVERTISING
High-level airplay promotion, which consists of buying time on broadcast
stations (and which understandably may be beyond the indie label) is
nevertheless a staple of medium and large labels. Advertising on stations
does several things:
1) Lets the public hear samples of several of your songs.
2) Tells the public where to buy the CD.
3) Tells the public about your gigs.
4) Gets the attention of the station management, who pays more attention
to the ads than they do the music.
5) Greatly increases your chances for airplay, because the station is now
making money from you.
...And with a little extra work on the part of the promoter:
6) Gets your CD onto the shelves of large chain stores.
7) Gets you gigs in larger venues which you could not get otherwise.
MIXSHOW
A specialty show or a mixshow is a one or two hour show on a commercial
station, usually late at night, and many times on the weekends, which
plays music that the station normally does not play. A disadvantage of
these shows is that you get only one or two spins per week on any
particular station (which is even less than some college stations give
you.) The advantage of these shows, however, is:
(1) The number of listeners to these commercial stations is much higher
than with college stations, since commercial stations have promotional
budgets which they use to attract listeners (billboards, vans, bus
benches, TV ads, etc.)
(2) Commercial stations have a steady listenership level year round
(compared to college,) although, listenership does peak somewhat in the
spring and summer because of increased outdoor activities. Interestingly,
with many more people tuning into radio via the web, commercial radio may
just get increased listening during other parts of the year too.
(3) A song's prominence on commercial stations is higher, due to most
commercial stations' higher visibility.
(4) One more often-overlooked asset of specialty/mixshows on commercial
radio is the fact that the folks who host these shows, many times, also
sit in on the music meetings with the station's music director and program
director. So if your long term goal is to be in regular rotation on these
stations, the specialty/mixshow route is a great preliminary step.
Speaking of long term goals on commercial radio, if you envision any type
of radio advertising/promotion for your band, then starting out with the
specialty/mixshow circuit (on these same stations) might be a good idea.
The specialty and mixshow circuit is about as far as you can expect to get
without getting into some heavy commercial promotions. With college radio,
heavy promotion is not required, but since specialty and mixshow shows are
on commercial stations, you should start looking into this area.
Specialty/mixshows are generally alternative, rock, techno, dance, urban,
jazz or blues, and there are separate charts for each of these. Relative
to college radio, specialty/mixshows are fewer in number (usually less
than 100,) but are more difficult to obtain. Relative to regular rotation
on commercial stations, specialty/mixshows are far less costly to work.
Regarding your CD type, specialty/mixshows require fully-manufactured CDs
(with lithographed graphics)...not the computer-printed CDRs. Fortunately,
however, CDRs can still be used for college radio.
How do you choose between promoting to specialty/mixshow and college
radio? Well first of all, larger labels would do both, and possibly
commercial regular rotation on top of this. But most of you will need to
choose between specialty and college. Here's how (genre permitting)...
Have limited CDs? Go with specialty...the most you'll need will be 100 for
a charting campaign.
Have only CDRs? Go with college...they'll take almost anything.
Hate commercialism? Go with college.
Wanna sign with a label? Go with college...you'll generate more "paper"
chart results to put in your press kit. For the same number of dollars,
you won't get far in commercial.
Wanna build your label, sell records in stores, and add other artists
long-term? Go specialty...it will prepare you for commercial regular
rotation...which is what sells the most records.
Wanna do some regional appearances? Do college, because there are many
more stations to pick from in any particular region. But if you are going
to eventually try commercial regular rotation, then go ahead and choose
specialty now.
These are, of course, just rough guidelines, but the most important aspect
to any radio campaign is that, whatever you choose, stick with it and see
it through to the end. Stopping a 10 week campaign at 5 weeks (or a 6 week
campaign at 3 weeks) will guarantee that you will get almost zero results.
Creating
a Story
When working with the mass media (radio, TV, papers, magazines), one thing
to keep in mind is that they are just that... MASS... and anything you can
do to let radio know that you are building a mass story for your artist
will help tremendously in your ability to get airplay. A special note
here: This info is not intended for an individual artist (or one-person
label) to go and try themselves; it is beyond what an individual can do.
Even if you had the time (40 to 120 hours per week), you would not enjoy
the process.
Commercial radio wants to build a "star", and the first step of doing this
is by building a story. A "star" is an artist who's one particular song is
being played all across the country at the same time. Radio wants to be
part of the other media building this star. Commercial radio (especially)
does not want to be the only media doing it, or much less, be the only
radio station doing it. As a matter of fact, by definition, a single
station (or two or three stations) cannot "build a star", no matter how
much they play an artist. It takes a group of stations, across the
country, doing the same thing at the same time with the same artist.
Let's start with radio itself. In a promoter's daily phone calls with the
program directors and music directors, one of the most important things to
inform a station about is what other stations have just added the artist.
"Add" information is SO important that it is often the ONLY thing that is
talked about, especially in the early stages of a campaign. Nothing in
commercial radio happens without the add. It might start out like this:
"We have adds last week in Tacoma, Austin, Orlando, Fresno, Wichita Falls
and Dearborn, and commitments from Miami, Seattle, Dallas and Chicago."
Next up on the airplay menu are spins. Starting with the P1s and then the
P2s and P3s, and starting with the highest (or most exciting) spins, the
whole list is gone over with the station, describing (and thus somewhat
proving) to the station that action is developing. This information is
applied to each station in a way that is designed to make them want to
jump on the bandwagon.
As things develop, the promoter goes for quotes from the stations...like
"Mary's record is getting great calls!" or "The XYZ song is moving into
power...it's strong females for us!" The quotes are then fed to every
station that is talked to; it might take two weeks to get the message to
everyone, even with full-time phone calls.
Finally, as the campaign progresses, the promoter might move into telling
the stations which stations are doing what type of give-aways, which ones
are doing visits, or which ones are doing any number of other things which
help the "story" look like it is building.
Moving on from radio, other pieces of information are also fed to
stations, thus helping the stations to decide if a particular artist is
worthy of adding...
What performances is the artist making? What are the attendances? Is the
artist being invited back? Did the artist get a letter of reference from
the venue? And most important, did/will the artist perform in the
station's particular city? (And, is the venue an advertiser on the
station?)
How about retail? If CDs are only available at the gigs, how many are
moving at each gig? If the CD is distributed, who is the distributor(s)?
Have there been any past sales of this artist? Most importantly, what
stores is the CD on the shelf at (and what are the sales at those stores)
in the city where the STATION is located? Are any of those stores
advertising on the station? This process is repeated with each and every
station every week.
Finally, the process is applied to press information (newspapers,
magazines, TV, web). Stations are shown a building of interest, especially
when the press are in the same city as the station, and when the press
mention the station by name.
Why You
Have To Promote To Radio
One of the most misunderstood facts of marketing a record is that you must
promote it to radio. Notice I did not say SEND it to radio, I said promote
it. Sending your release to radio, and getting them to play it, are two
separate things. The biggest misunderstanding of everyone releasing music
is this: They think that you mail it to radio, and if everyone starts
playing it, then it's a hit, and if they don't start playing it, then it's
no good. This is NOT how radio works. Even the RIAA (Recording Industry
Association of America) says on its own website, "When you hear a song on
the radio -- this didn't just happen! Labels make investments in artists
by paying for both the production and the promotion of the album, and
promotion is very expensive." Direct quote.
This misunderstanding stems from a few different sources: (1) Radio itself
will tell you to "send it, and if it's good we'll play it"; (2) People see
a song "start out" on one station, then "spread" to others, and assume it
just "grew" because it was good. Then, when these people "send out" their
own music to lots of stations, and it does not catch on, they assume it
must have been bad. Not true. There is a giant promotional vehicle in
place behind every successful song. And this promotional vehicle is
something you can have with your songs too. Let's compare this whole
situation to something which you can understand: Soda pop.
Suppose you like to invent new drinks, and you came up with a great soda
pop that everyone liked. All your friends liked it better than Coke and
the rest. You did a blind test with people you did not even know, and they
liked it better than Coke and the rest. So, you decide to market it.
You manufacture a thousand cases, with 24 bottles per case, and discover
you can sell it to retailers for only $10 per case, undercutting the $12
they normally pay for Coke and the rest. Thus, your product tastes better,
and costs less, than every other soda available to all retailers.
So here is what is going to happen: The mom-and-pop stores in your city
are going to call you and order several cases each. Next, stores like them
in other states will do the same. Next, Ralphs, Delchamps, Costco, Walmart
and all the other large chains are going to call you and order several
HUNDRED cases each (you see, it's "growing"). Next all the Coke and Pepsi
machine vendors are going to put your soda in all their machines (because
your soda tastes best and cost less). Next, airlines, stadiums, and all
the restaurant chains will place their orders. Eventually, the newspapers,
TV, and yes even radio are going to report on these events, because
finally everyone is starting to realize that it is the QUALITY of the
product (taste) that counts, and not the marketing. Now, if your product
would have tasted BAD, it would not have spread like this. But since it
tasted GOOD, even to people who didn't know you (and also, since it is
priced right), it spread rapidly and became a hit.
OF COURSE this is how it works. After all, since your product is now
available nationwide, and you have PROVEN that it tastes best, all those
companies surely would not make the mistake of continuing to order Coke
and all the other sodas, when everyone now agrees that your soda is best.
They could not conceivably continue to offer the other sodas, which THEY
now even agree tastes worse than yours.
Now, since hopefully you realize that this is not going to happen to you
and your soda, NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT IS, maybe you can start to understand
that radio is not going to play your music NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT IS unless
you MARKET IT TO THEM, giving them business reasons why they should play
it. And we are not talking about one or two small college stations, we are
instead talking about hundreds of stations (the bigger the better) all
over the country, playing the same music from the same artist (you) at the
same time, thus CREATING THE HIT.
Airplay
vs. Sales
"Sales" is one of the most common goals that people have when they promote
their music to radio (second only to "awareness".) And now is a good time
for sales, since 2000 was the top year in history for both the number of
CDs sold, and the amount of money spent on them (it was also the top year
in history for the amount of money spent on radio advertising, and
advertising in general.)
Yes, airplay is the most important force in selling large quantities of
CDs, especially in areas where you cannot play live. But I need to
emphasize that the term "selling CDs" does not mean that your phone will
start ringing with orders from websites and stores. To cause large sales
to happen, you need to contact store buyers. You may get a few web orders,
but most of your sales will be retail (97 percent of all CD sales in 2000
were in-person at retail stores.) Your final sales will be a result of (1)
your airplay, (2) your distribution (consignment, self, indie or major),
and (3) how well you sell when you call the stores. With this in mind,
here are some rough airplay-to-sales guidelines...
College radio is the starting point. If your music is playing several
times a week on a particular medium or large college station, you can
probably sell one CD per week in EACH store that is in the same town that
the station is. This is a realistic goal for an artist/label that has not
done this before. Labels that HAVE done it before (and do ONLY college
radio) top out at around 30,000 units of their best title, and maybe 2000
for their worst, after one full year. But these labels know what they are
doing. Your sales will not be this high.
Commercial specialty/mixshow radio, if done by itself, would probably have
about the same sales ceiling as college radio by itself. But most labels
that are going for "sales" (and not just awareness) do specialty/mixshow
and college radio together. Thus, their best titles top out around 20,000
to 40,000, and bottom out around 3,000, after one full year. But remember,
they are doing two separate radio campaigns together, and they probably
have 3 people doing just the retail sales (full time).
Commercial regular rotation is where the real sales occur. But to do it
properly (meaning, to do the radio and the sales together) is extremely
difficult. It is possible, of course, to do commercial regular rotation
for just the awareness value alone (i.e., not attempting sales,) but in
this article, we are incorporating sales into the concept.
Rock, pop and urban releases on indie labels have the capacity to top
100,000 if distributed by a major, 50,000 if distributed by an indie,
10,000 if self distributed, or 5000 on consignment, after one full year.
But these are expensive radio campaigns, ranging from $10,000 to $150,000,
and they require a strong effort at retail (3 to 5 full-time people to
sell 100,000 units). PR and touring would be nice, too. Other genres, like
AAA or smooth jazz, are much more limited in sales, because there are
fewer stations and because their listeners buy fewer CDs.
Considering all the above, here are some of the big variables which will
determine your final sales (assuming that both the artist and the label
are new, and assuming that this is all separate from your web efforts)...
1. Your airplay
2. How much listeners like the music.
3. Radio advertising (an additional cost).
4. How often you call the stores to make a sale.
5. Press
6. Touring
7. The amount of time you spend on the campaign.
Final point: If you don't have someone calling the stores to get them to
place an order, your sales will basically be zero no matter WHAT radio you
do.
Happy selling!
The Add
Date
Unless you have worked for the radio department of a label, or else you
have worked for an independent promoter or radio magazine, you probably
have never heard of an "add date". But the "add date" is probably the most
basic building block of both commercial and college airplay, and it is
used in every successful airplay charting campaign there is, so we better
cover how it works.
The closest analogy there is to an add date is the "street date". A street
date is when a CD is "available" to the public. It is supposed to tell
retailers when to "make available" the release to customers. That is where
the similarity ends, however; radio goes on to be far more complicated.
A radio "add date" is supposed to tell stations when to add a record to
its playlist. It is completely separate from, and has little else to do
with, the street date. The add date can be before, the same as, or after
the street date. Regardless, an add date simply MUST be used with any
serious airplay attempt. A negative side effect, however, surfaces: You
have one chance... and one chance ONLY... to make a particular song or
album go at radio. After all, the date is printed right there on the
package. You cannot come back next year and ask a station to reconsider it
(and, we are talking here about new artists/labels.)
Everything a radio promoter does when talking to stations centers on the
add date...
Four weeks before the add date, the promoter is describing the package to
the stations (and for commercial stations... the consultants are handled
too,) giving the stations a rough idea of what to expect musically. Also,
a fax goes out, showing the release.
Three weeks before the add date, the promoter is describing the artist and
the music in more detail, describing the spine of the CD, and scheduling
resends for stations with changed personnel/addresses.
Two weeks before the date, the promoter solicits PDs/MDs for their initial
interest/non-interest, and continues resends. Also, the details of any
pertinent tour dates, press articles, or retail events/carriage are
presented. It is also at this time that the first trade ads
(advertisements, not "adds") will run... scheduled and worded by the
promoter.
Finally, one week before the add date, the promoter fishes for commitments
from the most-interested stations; re-words the next trade ads; sends a
second round of faxes; re-affirms to each station that they know the
correct add date; does a final round of re-sending; scans for possible
early adds; and finally, makes one last contact/message with each PD/MD in
hopes that the station can be swayed at the last minute... while they are
deciding on which record to add. This is done with 50 to 800 stations
every week, depending on the campaign.
That's the easy part. Now the real work starts... getting spins to occur
after the add date; being "added" does not necessarily mean you are being
"played". Being added simply is the step you have to go through,
"officially", before spins occur. That's why the "add charts" are separate
from the "spin charts" in radio magazines. Your goal for the first
charting week of every radio campaign is to get on the "most added" chart
first, and you have only one week to do it. Thereafter, your focus becomes
the main spin chart. And one by one, every week, the promoter
contacts/messages each PD/MD, and attempts to get more and more of them on
the bandwagon. Artists with bad music, or with no support, will struggle
to get new stations, and probably won't be "most added". Releases with
great music and good support will easily make the most added chart, and
will then jump onto the main chart, with several new stations coming on
each week (again, assuming we are working a new artist/label.)
The promoter's work then continues: A non-commercial campaign may go 5-10
more weeks; A commercial campaign (for a single song) may go 3 to 12 more
MONTHS, depending on results.
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