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Home::Music
Specialty/Mix Shows: Untapped Goldmines
Author : Kenny Love
It is generally understood by most people, whether or not they
work in the radio industry, that commercial radio stations,
one-on-one, still carry the most listeners in the terrestrial
broadcast world. This is versus non commercial, public, and
college stations.
Hence, their large listenerships are, in part, why it is
difficult for new independent artists to break into their main
rosters directly for airplay. Additionally, their listenership
numbers are why commercial station rates are the most expensive
as well.
But, there is a "back-door" approach that can get your music on
commercial radio stations from the onset that eliminates your
need to "build up" to them by first going through college, non
commercial and public stations.
I'm not saying that you don't need these other stations,
because you do. However, again, you don't need to wait nearly as
long just to create a history and, pardon the pun, track record
for commercial stations.
And, the element that assists you in achieving this feat is
known as "specialty/mix shows."
It is truly perplexing to me when I read other writers'
articles that attempt to devalue specialty/mix radio shows as
positive sources of exposure for independent recording artists.
They attempt to further substantiate their claims by alluding
that specialty/mix shows are aired during late nights when no
one is listening, say, at 2:00 a.m. Come on! Not everyone has
"day" jobs.
Without trying, I can think of a number of jobs, services and
positions that function all night, with their employees
listening to radio stations during their entire shifts. One such
area is the security industry which, by the way, is a very large
industry.
And, while it is true, in part, that many such shows air during
late nights and overnights, there are just as many shows that
air during early evening time slots as well.
To learn if stations have specialty/mix shows, which many have
at least one, it is as simple as calling them up. If a station
has a website, it will usually post its program schedule online
as well, which will oftentimes include its independently
produced deejay-run shows.
However, some stations won't include their specialty shows and,
in these cases, you are better off contacting their programming
departments by telephone, as you may then find that they also
have multiple shows where your music will fit.
To further support my own argument for specialty/mix shows,
many listeners keep their radios set to their favorite stations
around the clock, regardless of the programming content possibly
changing during different times of the day.
Hence, in relation to working with commercial radio stations as
a part of your promotion, your goals should be as follows:
1. Locate as many commercial radio stations as possible.
2. Discover as many specialty/mix shows that each station
carries in its programming lineup that specifically fit your
genre.
3. Ask for the names of the producers of the shows, who are
usually the same individuals who host, and who are far easier to
get in touch with than the station's staff music and program
directors.
Additionally, in most cases, it is much easier to get your
music aired on specialty/mix shows that are carried by
commercial stations, as opposed to attempting to get it onto
commercial stations' main rosters.
Likewise, the specialty/mix show host has much more time to,
and can more freely present bios on the artists whose music he
is airing on his show. You will rarely (if ever) get this added
service through a station's main programming, unless you are a
superstar artist.
Be sure to also include a note within your media kit informing
the host/producer that the music can be purchased online, either
on your site, or on a site such as CD Baby.
And, as I've informed through other articles, you should also
ensure that your music is carried by such organizations as The
Orchard (http://www.theorchard.com), as well as by New Artist
Direct (http://www.newartistdirect.com).
Why?
Because, in addition to providing online sales, these
particular two distributors also place orders with offline music
retailers, with (I believe) a 90%-95% concentration depth on a
national level in the United States. They are actively involved
with both major music retail chains, as well as independent
music retailers.
And, they have been specifically created to offset and
eliminate the headaches and heartaches that most artists and
small labels experience when dealing with traditional
distributors.
By the way...radio stations maintain constant contact with
their area retailers to learn what is being requested and moving
via sales. Likewise, retailers stay in contact with area radio
to learn what is popular enough to stock.
The best things that can come from all of this are:
* If your music becomes extremely popular on the show, and the
station request line heats up, followed by your sales increasing
in the station's area retail stores, its popularity will get
noticed by the music or program directors, who may decide to try
it within the main lineup.
* Due to its popularity with station and retail requests,
retailers may decide that your music has proven itself and is
worth the risk of ordering from The Orchard or New Music Direct
to stock in advance.
So, are you now thinking more seriously about marketing your
product to specialty/mix shows on a national level? If not, you
certainly should be.
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