Five Things bands should know when they send a CD to a radio station

Huge thanks to Rick O’Shea for this weeks Five Things. Rick did a fantastic job as hosting the recent Irish Blog Awards. He blogs over here and is a (Meteor Award nominated!) national DJ on 2fm.

Five Things bands should know when they send a CD to a radio station

1. Put your name on it:

You’d be surprised how simple an idea as this is so often neglected. I know bands send press releases and the like but they can get easily lost so your CD should have band name, track listing, contact phone and e-mail and website/Myspace details.

2. Pick your target:

Take the time to check out the station’s website and see who is most likely to play your sort of music. It’s a waste of your cash to send your ambient electronica to the guy who does the mid-morning talk show, the trad music guy or the fully pop music formatted breakfast show. If the website isn’t any help, don’t be afraid to ring reception during office hours and see if they can help. Also don’t just send stuff to the likes of us. Most of the time local and community radio have looser playlists than we do, more specialist shows and greater opportunities for sessions and interviews.

3. Have a proper bio on your web presence:

The comedy one about how you all met herding goats in Namibia is great but it’d be nice to know how long you’ve been together, where you’re from and even simple stuff like how many people are in the band and their names!!! Helps when you’re researching interviews

4. Be realistic:

I know this may sound harsh but you have to think about where you should be sending your stuff based on your level. I’ve had bands send me their first ever demo, badly and cheaply recorded and fully expect me to play it at 3.30 in the afternoon. You need to have something that sounds good enough to play on the radio before presenters will play it on the radio. Remember, you’re in competition with a hundred other Irish bands and hundreds of others from the UK and beyond for limited playlist space. Be honest. Does what you’re sending in sound good enough?

5. Don’t be disappointed, keep trying:

Chances are if you’re a new band with a first, early CD national radio aren’t going to fall at your feet. Don’t let that put you off. Keep sending in stuff as you release it, keep updating the site, keep paying gigs, keep plugging. Don’t be afraid to mail to follow up your CD but remember that the further up the tree, the more CDs someone gets. I get dozens upon dozens every week. I’d love to be able to individually mail everyone back but it would take up half the working day. That doesn’t mean that I don’t listen to ALMOST everything. And remember – radio play is by no means essential in making sure a band becomes successful. A good live following, good reputation and strong online presence are far more important these days.

Some great tips for bands there. Hard to believe that some bands (after taking the effort to record their stuff and send it in) would forget to put their names on it. The bio point makes great sense also, it’s all well and good to be funny, but the facts are nice too I’d imagine. Thanks again Rick and best of luck with the Meteor award nomination.

A page dedicated to people that help me with the weekly Five Things is here.