There's no better pairing than that of new artists and radio stations. Each feeds the other's needs; at least, that's the way it was until a wrench was thrown into the works. The internet, a threat of royalty payments, radio industry consolidation, and social media loosened broadcast radio's grip on being the "breaker of new music."

There are multiple views of how things stand.
It's hunky-dory, and music distribution to radio is working fine.
Independent artists now control their destiny through social networks.
Record labels missed the boat in online distribution.
The radio industry is scrambling for a piece of the indie pie.

You also have those in the copyright royalty office with other views of the radio industry.
Broadcast radio stations help promote the artists - no performance royalty needed.
Internet-only radio stations don't help promote artists - pay up, dearly.

Note that the first of these last two views is about to change.

"Today the path to radio airplay is through online."

I'm in the thick of this, from the indie artist and online radio station sides, so hear me out. If what I've witnessed over the past week is an indication, indie artists will chart their course on the internet radio sea, and radio stations will benefit from a new form of free short-form programming.

There's a chance this will be read as promotional words. If you choose to view it that way, I suggest you are missing the broader picture. Here we have a real-world example of a new music distribution system that started with a blank page.

Important is how the internet is allowing indie artists and internet radio stations to work together. Of most importance is how fast this concept is growing.

Let me introduce RRadioMusic.com. Launched in 2003 as a web site for internet radio programmers to find indie artists, it's maintained a low profile due to the not-enough-time-to-do-anything-with-it syndrome. I found that "time" in mid-2010; I redesigned the web site and created a program called "Intro to Indie Artists."

Genesis for "Intro to Indie Artists" comes from the observation that most of the ten-thousand-plus indie online radio stations resemble a jukebox on steroids. Solution: a program that introduces new music in 5, 3, & 2 song lengths - in country, dance, hip hop & rap, jazz, pop, and rock formats.

In the months it took to build a back-end for solicitation of songs, production of the programs, and distribution of the music, I kept my eye on that royalty payment problem. Key to "Intro to Indie Artists" and RRadioMusic.com is that the artists see a direct pipline to radio programmers, online.

Each artist signs a waiver giving internet radio stations the right to play their song in exchange for exposure.

So, what's special about this past week? It's the first time "Intro to Indie Artists" programs have been publicized to a large number of internet radio stations, and an amazing 3.9% of the contacted radio stations signed up for the program. (Imagine if you could get a 3.9% response from contacting potential advertisers.)

As of 1/28/11, a variety of 241 "Intro to Indie Artists" programs are on 103 internet radio stations. Go here to listen to samples.

From the artists, there's also been a 361% increase in the number of indies submitting songs at RRadioMusic.com, when comparing this past week with the average of the same week taken from the preceding three months. To date, 180 independent artists have received airplay on internet radio stations.

But here's what makes this story important: Not one song was sent by an artist to any station. By combining new music into a variety of program options, the musicians win and the radio stations win.

As for the audience? It wins, big. This is the way your online radio audience feels about hearing new music, as reported by 1,043 internet radio listeners.

	Would you like it if your online radio station played fewer/more new artists?
	Are you interested in hearing music from unsigned bands?

How a song gets initial exposure has changed forever. There's no going back to a broken system where record labels determine which songs are sent to radio owners.

An artist can now take a direct route to a radio station - or group of stations. All that's needed is the internet. Artists' options include social media, hundreds of web sites that let indie artists list songs for sale to the public, and the artist's own web site.

Today the path to radio airplay is through online. This chart represents the view of the same people who answered above.





Relative to musicians and the path to radio airplay: According to this past week, at least for me, it's been proven that both the online radio industry and independent artists are waking up to the fact they have much to gain from working together.

Receive Newsletter
Search Archive

Radio Stations: