Radio Promotion

Radio Promotion might not be the first thing on your list when you’re thinking about how you want to get your music out there, and that’s okay, but you definitely shouldn’t overlook it! There are many aspects to releasing music and ensuring its success from social media to merchandise each as important as each other. 

You want to make sure you get the best radio plugger possible to increase your chances of getting your music played. In this article, you’ll learn all about how to get your music on the radio. We’ll be breaking down what a radio plugger is, if you even need one, some of the best airplay Radio Promotion companies out there and more!

What Is Radio Plugging In The Music Industry?

Radio Pluggers in the music industry come underneath the music PR job role umbrella. In the simplest terms, a radio plugger’s job is to get their client’s music (indie artists, singer songwriters, major labels) played on the radio. Radio airplay, including internet radio generates backend royalties (money) and supports your music marketing efforts.

Radio and therefore also radio campaign promotion, has changed massively over the years. Being played on the radio now includes traditional radio, online radio and in some cases also online streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. If you’re part of a large record label, they’ll usually have in-house radio pluggers, but as an independent artist you can also hire freelance radio pluggers to do the job as well. 

If you’re promoting your music in multiple ways, for example across press, streaming, advertising and more, it would probably make most sense to look for music & radio promotion companies. They’ll be able to help out with all of that in one place, making sure your track is looked after in the best way possible across the board. 

Ultimately, a good radio plugger is someone who has built some great contacts through networking and established relationships with DJ’s, Curators, program directors & music production teams. The job role varies from office work e.g. sending emails, making phone calls and meeting with clients as well as going into radio stations and meeting with DJ’s and producers. 

Why Get A Radio Plugger?

Radio promotion and radio pluggers can’t guarantee that your music will get played on every single station that you want to target. However, they can guarantee you’ll get more airplay than you would have without a plugger & for an independent music getting the public hearing your music can make a huge difference to its traction.

Getting your music under the noses of the right people is a radio plugger’s specialisation. They have the time to keep up with all of the latest hot radio stations, online streaming trends etc. As an artist, you’ll have so much on your plate, having an extra pair of hands will take some of the load off your back.

Having your tracks played on the radio and on music streaming services ultimately gets you more listeners and followers while growing your fanbase. Your radio plugger will ensure you keep a good relationship with the radio stations you’re working with to hopefully ensure regular plays.

Without a radio plugger, it’s really hard to separate yourself from all of the other musicians out there. Your online presence can get lost amongst the thousands of competitors and gaining a large following online can be a strenuous and time-consuming business. With everything else going on, you don’t need the hassle! Leave it up to the professionals and rest assured your music is in good hands!

How Much Do Radio Pluggers Cost?

This all sounds great but how does a radio plugger cost? There isn’t really one solid invoice cost for radio pluggers. Especially if you’re using a freelance plugger, they usually have their own fees. Larger, more well-known and experienced radio pluggers are going to cost you more money. Some promotion services provide a mixture of plugging, pitching and radion promo which is available across the music businesses sector.

They’ll have a larger amount of good contacts but that’s not to say they’ll do a better job than a less well-known plugger. Small pluggers will still have their fair share of contacts and probably fewer clients and more time to spend on getting you the very best placements.

You can also hire radio pluggers for different amounts of time. If you only want to plug one single it’ll cost you less than setting up an entire campaign for your new album release. Radio pluggers will usually take a basic fee and then receive bonuses based on targets met. On top of the basic fee, you, as the client, will be expected to pay any costs from the campaign.

What To Look For When Choosing A Radio Plugger

There are tons of radio pluggers out there. It’s worth investing a little extra time to find the right fit for you. Here is a couple of things you should be looking out for when on the hunt for a radio plugger:

• Be aware of radio promotion companies who say yes to everything, you want someone who keeps things realistic.
• Someone who has realistic goals and expectations. You don’t want to be sold an unreachable dream, it can only end in disappointment.
• Don’t settle! Shop around and get the companies to pitch for your music. 
• You want to make sure you’re checking the success stories, try getting in touch with people who have used the company before and get an honest review.

Here at Music Gateway, our dedicated music promotion team works tirelessly to ensure your music’s success. Whether that be placements in a movie or TV series or played on the top radio stations! We work with our artists towards their goals through a bespoke campaign that is built to work for them including social media campaigns, email marketing, plugging and much more. 

We’re so proud of any placement our artists get, some to date are Mutya Buena (Formally of Sugababes) X Electric Pineapple and George Holliday X Isaac Taylor played on RTE Radio 1 (Ireland’s biggest radio station). Anish Sood’s single ‘Running Back To You’ played on Radio 1.

Now You Know How To Get A Song Played On The Radio

Hopefully, after reading this article you feel more knowledgeable about radio plugging in the music industry and what to look for should you take the plunge to hire your very own radio plugger. 

Of course, there are other options to get your music out there, so if you simply don’t have the budget to stretch to radio plugging make sure you explore your other avenues. Social media is your friend, read our article for tips on how to utilize it to the max here.

If you are looking for a platform that offers everything you need in one place, why not try Music Gateway? We can help with promoting your music, improving your streaming presence and providing Sync opportunities. Try it out for free today by clicking the button below.