Radio Promotion Companies: All You Need to Know

Radio promoters are responsible for pitching new songs to radio programmers (music directors and program directors at radio stations) to get them played on the radio. When you’re signed to major label, they have a built in radio promotions department. When you’re signed to an independent label, depending on the size of the label and where they spend their budgets, they may have a full-time radio promotion person on staff, or they outsource to a 3^rd party radio promotion company. Many radio promotions companies were started by former record label employees. Nonetheless, as an independent manager, you also have access to these independent radio promotions people for a fee.

Role of Radio Promoters

• Developing relationships with music directors
• Reviewing data from daily and weekly radio and sales charts
• Reviewing data from social activity, Shazam charts, digital streams
• Preparing and delivering new song pitches using data to music directors
• Developing relationships with other industry people such as agents, managers and concert promoters

Who Radio Promoters Work With

• Radio Programmers (PD’s and MD’s)
• Promotions Staff
• On Air Jocks
• Press and Media
• Artists
• Managers
• Publicists
• Agents

Radio Promotion Fees

This can vary quite a bit depending on the scope of the project, if you’re hiring them to work on one single, or hiring them on a monthly retainer as your “in-house” radio promoter, or a variety of other scenarios. A couple thousand dollars should get you far enough to push one single out.

How to Work With a Radio Promoter

I interviewed a handful of well-respected music and program directors from across Canada and have summarized their collective opinions and responses to the questions I asked below. Contributors to this section included Mike Rice (RPM Promotion) and others who chose to remain unnamed.

How Radio Promoters Select Their Clients

• Based on current workload, existing client base, and current singles that are already promoting.
• They prefer to keep the singles they are promoting diverse.
• Song quality.
• Strong brand and image surrounding the artist.
• New artist that has some buzz or established artist that has something new.

How Radio Promoters Find Their Clients

• Radio promoters look out for new artists 24/7.
• They get a lot of inquiries.
• Referrals from trusted sources in the business.

I interviewed a handful of well-respected people who own their own successful radio promotion companies to find out how exactly to work with them. If you want to know…

1. How to contact a radio promotion company
2. The difference between an artist or manager reaching out
3. And a list of extra advice directly from the radio promoters

You’ll want to check out The Music Business for Artist Managers & Self-Managed Artists: All You Need To Know To Get Started, Get Noticed, and Get Signed – an E-Book that includes 70 pages of insight from over 30 music business experts to help you move your careers forward.