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RADIO AIRPLAY 101
By Bryan Farrish www.radio-media.com
Reporting vs. Charting
As you start doing more radio, you'll get more opportunity to choose between
"reporting" and "non-reporting" stations, and also between "charting"
and "non-charting" campaigns. One is not better than the other; they are
just meant for different purposes... like a car versus a bus.
"Reporting" is when a station fills out a form (or an email), and sends
it to a chart magazine... telling the magazine that the station is adding
or playing your record. "Charting", on the other hand, is either (1) when
you appear in that station's "most-added" or "most-played" chart, or (2)
when you appear in a MAGAZINE'S "most-added" or "most-played" chart. The
station's chart is only for that ONE station; the magazine's chart is
an average of all similarly-formatted stations across the country.
The advantage of a station reporting you is this: People will SEE your
name. And the people who see your name will be the same people in the
music/radio business that you need to impress, such as labels, managers,
booking agents, music writers, club DJs, retail buyers, and (especially)
other stations who will not add your record until they see that other
stations have done so first.
The disadvantage of trying for a reporting station is that they are much
more difficult to get (compared to non-reporting stations), due to the
increased competition these stations garner because of their (generally)
larger listenerships. Everyone wants to show up in the trade magazines
(the "trades"), and thus these reporting stations are the first ones that
people select, including every major label. So in the car-versus-bus comparison,
reporting stations are the bus... they carry many more results, and the
cost to get them is proportionately higher. Non-reporting stations, however,
are much easier (and thus lower cost) and are more suitable for the beginner.
The largest labels, however, will work both the reporting and non-reporting
stations together.
Now let's talk about "campaigns". A radio campaign is when you work a
large group of similar stations at the same time, so as to create a "hit".
A hit is simply a particular artist that is being played on a large number
of stations AT THE SAME TIME. If half the stations play it now, and the
other half play it a year from now, you do not have a hit. Hits have to
be on all pertinent stations at the same time. On top of this, the stations
that are chosen for charting campaigns HAVE to be reporting stations,
even if you also have chosen non-reporting stations.
And thus the difficulty. When you work a charting campaign, you not only
have to work all reporting stations at the same time, but the stations
that you are working are the more difficult ones. So in terms of money,
a charting campaign (say, for non-commercial radio) is going to cost about
twice what a non-charting campaign would cost. And for commercial radio,
a charting campaign... even in small markets only... is going to cost
twice to ten times that of a non-charting campaign, and in medium markets,
charting is going to cost five to one hundred times that of non-charting.
Finally, there is the regional option. Many times, people will want to
go after just a few stations in their own city or state, and this "regional"
effort does have some merit... mainly lower cost... but it is not referred
to so much as a "campaign", as it is just a "push". Regional is useful
since all the stations are selected to be close to the artist, but the
push is not very impressive to other stations because (1) most of the
stations will be small, (2) there will be no chart action, (3) there will
be no trade reviews, (4) there will be no stations near other stations
in the rest of the country, and (5) you will have very few station-success
stories to tell. But considering the cost, many smaller projects will
have no choice but to opt for a regional effort.
Bryan Farrish
is an independent radio airplay promoter. He can
be reached at 818-905-8038 or www.radio-media.com