Welcome back to the sixth of our seven-part interview series ‘Charting the Course: A Radio Promo Discussion’.
The purpose of this series is to explore the world of radio promo, with insights from 7 people who work in and outside of the realm of radio promo, but all of whom have dedicated themselves to advising independent musicians.
Yesterday we spoke with David Avery, President of Powderfinger Promotions.
Today we hear from Michael Addicott, Manager of curation at Pandora.
1. Why should an artists try to get their songs on Radio?
Pandora is a personalized radio service where listeners have the opportunity to hear music that uniquely suits their listening interests. We have over 100,000 artists in Pandora’s collection and over 95% of our the collection plays regularly!
2. Which format is best to try to get if you are an independent musician?
We acquire hundreds of independently produced albums every month. Independent musicians can submit to Pandora via our online submission portal. Look here for details: http://submit.pandora.com. So not only do we spend time actively seeking out a broad spectrum of independent music and comedy, we have a way for artists to get their music reviewed for inclusion for Pandora. One of our curators listens carefully to every one of the many albums that are submitted to us every week.
3. Do independent musicians have a shot at getting their songs to break on commercial radio in 2012?
Yes! Once your songs have been musically analyzed and added to our collection they start playing on Pandora. We’ve found all kinds of different music, across all the genres that we support, underground to mainstream, reach a sizable audience. Independent artists have the opportunity to do particularly well on Pandora because traditional radio formats no longer play this kind of music by and large. Listeners know they can find music by independent artists. With so many unique starting points – or stations, the majority of these being based on an independent artist, song, or genre, we’ve got plenty of depth and breadth to deliver lots of good independent music to listeners who are seeking it.
4. How do you know if your radio campaign is successful?
Ask your fans, how many of you have heard us on Pandora?
5. How do you make a radio campaign last or have a future impact once you begin to slip back down the chart (assuming you already are up the chart)?
Keep releasing music and let us know about it, we want your collection to be up to date on Pandora. If our listeners are enjoying a song, it will play!
6. How can you best leverage social media to work with your radio campaign (or is this not possible?)
Let your fan base know as soon as your music is available on Pandora and encourage them to create your station. If you are a Pandora listener yourself, share your favorite Pandora stations and your listener profile.
7. What advice would you give an artist who calls you looking to spend money on a radio campaign?
Wherever you choose to spend hard earned dollars for radio marketing, consider the targeting capabilities, and the ability of the service to reach listeners on mobile devices.
Join Us Tomorrow!
Come back tomorrow for part seven, the conclusion of ‘Charting The Course: A Radio Promo Discussion’ with Mark Muggeridge of Evil Genius Media who will be providing us with the UK-perspective on radio promo for independent musicians. Stay tuned!