I grew up with radio, I heard local news, weather and of course music, new and old on the radio. On snowy days we all gathered around waiting to hear if there would be a cancellation or delay. Local radio was simply a part of my life then.

Now, not so much. I still listen to NPR every so often. On very rare occasions I’ll dial up, well tap the punch screen to tune in to a local FM station. As far as current music, I’ve become my grandparents, more often than not I’ll cring and think it is all noise. It isn’t, but music today I think lacks soul. I’m sure my parents and grandparents made simiiar comments about what I listen to.

I’m more likely to listen to a playlist off my iPhone or a Playlist from Spotify that I’ve downloaded. And then I also sometimes listen to albums I’ve purchased.

What all of this is leading to is as a songwriter, I spend a great deal of time on promotion. As an independent I get to wear not only the creative hats, but the business hats as well. I’d rather not deal with those business hats but if I want anyone to listen to the music I’m producing I have to don those hats and sally forth.

Earlier this year I came across a review of a web service that promised to provide contact infomaiton to radio stations. The idea being that one could pitch their music to the station in hopes of getting some airplay. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but I think the reality reflects a lot of effort for little result. I’ve read Reddit comments of those claiming to get some airplay. I didn’t.

I’m not going into details here about the service I used, because I and that company have a disagreement over canceling. I’ve posted reviews elsewhere.

What I want to cover here, is whether radio promotion is even worth it. The best scenerio as I understand it, is connecting with a college station, who are generally more open to new talent, especially talent with a local connection. To a certain degree that is probably true. I didn’t have any luck, but my alma mater is in a different state, one I haven’t lived in for over 35 years. And I did try, but got no response.

Commerical radio stations are all pretty much programmed, and if part of a network, will have little local input into programming. Not only that, but commerical radio stations tend to be genre specific. It is doubtful I could get one of my songs on a top 40 station, maybe classic rock or New / Alt Country. I’d stand a better chance on Country/Alt Country. I think most of my songs fall into the Southern Rock ballpark.

I sent out about 50 presentations. I carefully created a press kit, did all the things that were advised and got not a single response, no thanks but no thanks, nothing, zip, nada. Will I try it again? Probably not. Your mileage may vary.