We saw in our last post that people who want to discover new music use radio so getting your music to radio should be an important part of your music marketing strategy.

I’m based in the UK so this is a guide to help UK bands, artists and musicians get their music out there.   Some of these strategies are universal so you should be able to get something out of this no matter where you live.

Radio. It’s still a way that people discover lots of  new music.

You might think that radio stations are out of your reach for unsigned/independent acts but there are LOTS of stations and shows who you should be sending your music to.  This is a basic guide and you’ll need to follow it up with extra research too.

Internet Radio Stations

These will have the smallest listenership but are a good avenue for less established acts.

HOW DO I FIND THEM?

There are several resources such as Internet- Radio .com and  live365 You can also do Google searches for new music shows on internet radio.

Restricted Service Licences (RSLs)

These are stations who broadcast on AM/FM/Online but only to a defined territory (a local community, a University campus etc). These stations are often champions of new music.

HOW DO I FIND THEM?

Here is a list of community stations in the UK and here you’ll find a list of Student radio Stations.

Student radio stations love to play unsigned, independent music.

BBC LOCAL RADIO

BBC Local radio is the home of the BBC Introducing brand and champions new, independent music.  Each local station hosts its own show which acts as a ‘feeder’ network putting forward their favourite music to national stations Radio 1 and 1Xtra.

BBC Introducing is one of the biggest supporters of unsigned music in the UK.

BBC Introducing also have festival stages for their favourite acts  at some of the UK’s biggest festivals. Upload your new music now here  http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/uploader

HOW DO I FIND THEM?

Here is a list of all the UK BBC Local Radio stations

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/M6hmZj0X5c8nxQQydfWjBW/bbc-introducing-radio-shows-and-downloads

SPECIALIST STATIONS

There are a few genre specific commercial stations in the UK which have their own ‘Unsigned’ shows.  For rock there’s Fresh Blood on Kerrang and X-Posure on Radio X.

HOW DO I FIND THEM?

Google/research your genre of music and radio stations.

Alex Baker presents Fresh Blood the DIY/independent show on Kerrang Radio.

BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC

BBC Radio 6 Music has a one hour new music show every week, Fresh On The Net http://freshonthenet.co.uk/the-bbc-introducing-mixtape/

Fresh On The Net is another great National radio exposure channel.

PODCASTS

Think of podcasts as on-demand radio shows.  There are loads of new music podcasts and genre specific/specialist music podcasts that love and want to play new music.

Podcasts are another avenue all unsigned bands should explore for getting their music heard.

HOW DO I FIND THEM?

Google/research using the search term new music podcasts or podcast and your genre of music.

60 Second Music Marketing Radio Tips

• To research radio stations, I’d highly recommend The Unsigned Guide which lists contact details for nearly every station in the UK.
• You might be asking yourself, should I hire a PR/plugging firm to send my music to radio?  Read my thoughts here.

Click here to find out how to best submit your music to radio stations.

Got any questions about this post or how you can better market yourself?

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