Actually, this wasn’t going to be one of the hundred questions I keep getting asked about music online… but it’s a good question, and I’ve come up with a fun theory about it.
I’ve been doing some consultancy for an artist known as Krause. You might place her sonically between recent Madonna material and Peaches.
We’ve talked about all sorts of things along the way, from online marketing priorities to er… ponies — but that’s a long story — and I’m delighted to say she was the winner of the Lopend Vuur Sony BMG pitch in Holland last month.
One of the things that Krause’s keen to focus on, as well all the online stuff, is traditional media. In short, she wants a radio hit. And she’s perfectly capable of achieving that. But I made a suggestion I think might help.
Radio likes to play songs with the word ‘radio’ in them.
That’s it. Simple as that. Put the word “radio” in the title or the chorus, and your chances of airplay go up by a factor of ten. I spent close to 20 years in the radio industry – and trust me: it’s more true than anyone would like to admit.
In fact, it’s fair to say that a bad song with the word ‘radio’ in it stands a better chances of being selected for airplay than a good song without. I’m sure you can think of a few examples.
Now, I meant it as a throwaway observation – but Krause is keen as mustard. So she wrote a song.
Check this out: a great radio song that manages to fit the word ‘radio’ in 24 times (as well as once in the title). Not only that – but the entire lyric is specifically directed at radio programmers:
Tell me – how does it sound? The radio edit…
That has to work…
UPDATE: The link to this mp3 has been removed at the request of both the artist and Sony BMG. There’s a story here, but it’s not terribly sensational. I’ve put a few questions and answers in the comments.
Of course – when you want a bit of mainstream airplay, having a major record label on side and a decent plugger working for you – as well as a decent promotional strategy and a bit of budget wouldn’t hurt. But a bit of psychology goes a long way.
Enjoy the song. Oh yeah – and it’s pretty much a race to playlist it first.
It’s got HIT written all over it.
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[...] is convinced that you’ll get radio airplay if you write a song with the word “radio” in it.  Also check out his post about selling your music online (some good comments on that one, [...]
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12 Comments
Amen! Great song.
*chuckle*
lovin’ this idea :-)
then I got to checking out the wonder that is everyhit.co.uk
only 15 songs beginning with the word “radio” have ever charted in the UK
and of those, all but two are lowly sellers
Queen & Robbie Williams buck the trend with the only ‘smash’ offerings
then I thought to check out itunes, it takes a while to collate, but I reckon there’s only c.38 discrete tracks on sale with the word “radio” in the title.
So, surely this is a winner of an idea, yet what if all us ‘new model’ artists started writing songs called Radio?
hmmmm
how about starting a whole sub-genre, then – anybody reckon that these titles would go down well at playlist meetings? feel free to add your own ;-)
I’m the world’s best DJ
Everyone that meets me loves me
My show’s the best
Trendsetter
(I think you get the drift!)
It doesn’t just have to be the word radio -
‘Wake Up Boo’ by The Boo Radleys is a really good example of how a band sat down and wrote a commercial song – and they got it spot on. The chorus made sure it was played on every Breakfast show ever for about a year.
It killed any hope of a follow up though – as DJ’s would *always* play ‘Wake Up Boo’ even there was a new Boo Radleys single out.
Our music is instrumental, so there is no way to put the word radio in it – except for the title.
But we get radio airplay, even all around the world. It’s not that big, and I don’t expect to have an instrumental hit ( yes, there were some way back in ‘ 68 and ‘ 69 )
But if somebody puts an instrumental at the beginning or the end of a broadcast, you can get extended plays for years.
I could see from my royalty statements i. e. , that one of our tracks had been on a years – long rotation in Japan. No idea what the station is or the program…
There are many different ways….. Vocals are only one. And instrumentals are not limited by language.
I’m sure it would be better to write a great song about radio than just stick the word radio in the chorus.
Off the top of my head – ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ (kind of the pinnacle of the one hit wonder, perpetrated by Trevor Horn) and ‘On My Radio’ by The Selector (which is fun but pretty annoying), ‘Radio Gaga’ by Queen (which relaunched them back in the 80′s after they’d spent a while out of favour, the idea which is pretty much a rip-off of VKTRS)
Umbrella by Rhianna is bordering on a novelty song, took one idea that hadn’t been done before and happened to be released in the worst summer for years in the UK. Annoyed the hell out of us all with its ella ella ella hook, but was memorable as it was paiinful. However, it is unique – ain’t no other song called Umbrella I’ve ever heard.
I never play any of the songs I’ve just mentioned, the only band I can say I ever play out of this lot is Queen, and that would be all their classics. So, was it a good career move for the Boo Radleys to write ‘Wake Up Boo?’ Well, depends doesn’t it.
If they had an earth shattering album waiting in the wings to unleash on an unsuspecting public then yes, this was a silly idea and trashed any chance they had at being taken seriously and growing their career.
On the other hand, a bunch of guys wondering how to have a hit and coming up with their only stab at the big time with nothing to lose ‘Wake Up Boo’ is a great idea. Why not? Cash in while you have the opportunity.
Radiohead have the word radio in their name and they’re pretty succesful. I think it may have something to do with the music though. They have yet to release a song with the word radio in the title.
I wonder if this trick would work just as well with words ‘podcast’ and ‘internet’… i.e. newer forms of music promotion than radio. Although I think it could be difficult to find lyrics that rhyme with ‘blog’. :-)
I think that’s a great idea. However I do feel like it doesn’t fall too far from being labeled as a gimmick. I am not saying that is a bad thing though. Due to the current climate of music, an artist has to learn how to walk the fine line of being gimmicky and original/innovative at the same time. The market is so saturated right now that one has to do whatever they have to do to stand out in the crowd. It takes more than just pure talent to get noticed these days…….(ie good relationships/gimmicks/a good story, etc)
http://www.myspace.com/kardier
As noted, the link to the mp3 has been removed. I was asked nicely, and of course I said that would be no problem… but thought it might be interesting for you to know the reasons behind what must have been the politest takedown request in the history of major labels on the internet.
I asked three questions of Krause, the artist – and three questions of Albert Grootoonk of Sony BMG in the Netherlands.
These first ones are for Albert:
1) Why is important to Sony BMG that the song is removed from the internet leading up to its release as a single?
2) I am, of course, more than happy to take down the song, because Susanne has asked me very politely to do so. But hypothetically speaking, had I refused, what would your course of action have been?
3) To what extent do you personally believe that songs being made available for free on websites like this is harmful to the sales and promotions of an artist like Krause?
HE REPLIED:
We requested it because it’s a demo and the upcoming original will be much better, Andrew, so that’s why we asked for taking it off your site. When we have the new mix, we will deliver it to you. Concerning Krause’s contract it will be a 50/50 deal as mentioned before.
And three for Susanne:
1) You said in your earlier email that you didn’t see this coming.
2) Why did you put the song up on those sites originally?
3) Could you please briefly explain the deal that you have with Sony BMG as you understand it? I’m particularly interested in the revenue share, who owns the rights to the recording, and who owns the rights to the composition in this particular case. If there are recoupable expenses or advances involved that would be interesting to know too. Obviously you don’t have to tell me anything commercially sensitive, but a general idea of the agreement would be really helpful to put this all in context.
SHE REPLIED:
1. The idea behind removing all copies of Radio Edit from my MySpace and Hyves pages is that this version is a demo. The track will be recorded, produced, mixed and mastered much better than this demo. And of course I want people to hear the best version!
2. I put the song online originally because, like I said, I didn’t see it coming. I have always put new tracks online to get feedback. I need this feedback from others because I work alone. But things have changed now. I can now work with producers and I will get feedback from them. I don’t think it’s weird to wait to put the song online when it’s being released, because there’s more to it than that. You know, promotion and marketing stuff. I want a new and improved Krause-launch!
3. I don’t feel comfortable talking about the contract really. We all signed a document before we started writing our business plans that we wouldn’t talk about it in public. So I guess I shouldn’t then. Albert told you it was a 50/50 deal, but I think you already knew that. But even if I wanted to tell you all about it, I couldn’t, because SonyBMG is still working on the contract.
++++++++++++++++
I know that Albert didn’t address the most interesting question (what would the response have been if I’d said ‘no’ to the request…?), but I think on the whole, I was delighted to have the song up on the website so you could hear it – and I’ll be delighted to have the song again once the finished version becomes available.
I think the point may be moot now anyway, ‘coz these days song are like secrets: once they’re out, they’re out. I have to say I’ll be surprised if, when the promotion machine starts on the project, the song in question won’t end up on the torrents before it’s actual release date.
A good question to ask, as far as getting a song on the radio goes, is: why? It’s promotion definitely, but first you have to have something to promote. A band I was in had this huge drive to be on the radio (that was around the turn of the century, a few years ahead of the Internet blowing up as a viable promotional channel – here in Poland anyway) without any idea of what they were to do next. I did try pointing out that having radio airplay, even a radio hit, with nothing to sell isn’t exactly great business sense, but they weren’t inclined to listen. When the drive got out of hand, to the point of being silly, I left. Needless to say, they broke up shortly afterwards. They did manage to record a radio song after I left though – a modern pop-rock re-make of a Polish standard from the Sixties or Seventies. It bombed.
My name if Sister Mary Williams it it very hard to get air play, and get someone to sell your music, but I am not going to give up. I have always believed that I would someday make a CD, and at the age of 63 my dream finally came true. I know now that I can even write music, I know I did’nt come this far to give up. I will contiune To sing and write music until someone discover that I have real talent. If you have more suggestion of what I can do to sell my music I appreciate it. I know once my music get out to the people they will truly enjoy my CD.
Thank you
Mary Williams
Funny thread … When we were first thinking up band names, we toyed with the idea of calling ourselves “I’m a Stupid F’n DJ” – just to see what would happen. Of course we realised that would probably work against us even if it got us attention. But we do have a song called “Outlaw Radio Guy” (which should have shown up on that Itunes search.)
Other avenues though for Longtail radio royalty strategies are several online radio stations at Pandora.com and finetune.com
We’ve had our music at Pandora for a year and gotten royalties. Created my own radio station and listen to it online while I work at my computer – not sure how many other folks have discoverd it, though we do publicise our station to our friends.
Wabbit Wadio
And just started to play with Finetune … it helped that for some reason they already have 2 of our CDs up but this station looks to have more flexibility with creating playlists. Friends of TagYerit
By the way a fringe benefit of both of these stations is that they list artists that they consider similar which can be helpful.
Maybe you know of other stations of this type?
Just to let you guys know, the final version of this song was just released to the world. The videoclip premieren on (Dutch) Myspace end of last week: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=36986645