I was in the lobby of my radio station the other day, looking at the day's crates of incoming mail. Setting aside for the moment the fact that it actually WAS Mardi Gras, the colored boxes, streamers and balloons peeking out of the pile were pretty overwhelming.
And for what? The interns picking through the slush pile were stripping the CDs of their ornamentation and dropping them into the same bin. At some point during a meeting that afternoon, one of them delivered a cheesecake. Nobody remembers where it came from, which is good. The cake was a little soggy.
When and Where to Send Your Material
In my seminars, I emphasize the importance of building relationships as you embark on your musical career. If you've read the previous articles in this section, you'll know that I usually put the brakes on recording anything until you've got a sizeable enough audience waiting to hear something.
But for too many novice rock stars, the allure of the radio slush pile is too great. I see thousands of dollars wasted every time the mail arrives. So many bands, so many CDs, so many identical bags go back out the door to the dumpster.
When you've got something that you think should be really HEARD by someone at a radio station, do your homework. Find out the name of the person to whom you should be sending your material. At some college stations, there could be as many as a dozen music directors. At many commercial stations, there could be a program director, a music director, and even some specialty show producers.
Call your favorite station and ask who listens to the type of music you play. Find out what formats they would want (some like cassette AND CD), and remember to get the CORRECT spelling of their name. I will never forget one PD I worked with, who discards any mail that doesn't come addressed with his full, legal name (NOT his on-air name). And let's not discuss what he does when someone leaves the silent E out of his name on the envelope.
Once you have a name on your address label, create a SIMPLE package. Believe it or not, radio staffers have almost universally burned out on fluorescent envelopes. Those scream "NOVICE!" The best way to go is a simple padded brown envelope. Use the bubble-wrap style, not the kind that leaves shredded yook all over the floor when you rip it open. Send EXACTLY what the music staff has asked for, no less. (At my station, we ask for four CDs, because four programmers listen to everything, then debate each disc's merits. We also guarantee at least fifteen seconds of our time to EVERYTHING that comes in. That explains why we get so much mail.) Enclose a one or two-page bio. DON'T include press clippings: as a rule, radio programmers don't like other media telling them what to play.
