Commercial Radio vs Non-Commercial Radio
Radio is made up of two realms: commercial and non-commercial. Non-commercial radio includes college, community, or indie stations. These usually have more variety in the styles of music played, with bigger windows of opportunity for submitting tracks. If you’re new to the industry, this could be an ideal market to start in.
Commercial radio stations are privately owned and mainly funded through advertising. Also dependent on ratings, commercial stations are much more selective in terms of picking their weekly lineup of tracks.
Tips for Submitting Music to Radio Stations
- Create solid promotion. Just like running a race, good music needs to be moved. Supporting your releases with campaigns and promotional efforts is a surefire way of exposing your music to radio stations. Consider press releases, posters, emails, or videos. The more you see, the more you hear.
- Do your research. Understand what songs are normally pushed by this station. How well does your music fit? Who is this station’s target audience?
- Be honest about your music. Top stations want to play quality music that is well-mixed and mastered. Analyze your music to ensure it is broadcast-ready.
Sidenote— Make sure your songs are registered!
Click here to learn more about how The Mezzo Agency can register your songs to ensure your plays and streams are reported and tracked.
Making your music available to the market is a major step, so take it with confidence. Take it with ambition.