How can I get featured with Music on the radio?

Question

I am a song writer. I play guitar and I sing folk music, How can it be possible to get my songs on the radio. Do I need to go to school or something or do I need to just work on it? Or Do I have to know the right people? Thanks!!

Answer 1

You don't need to go to school to learn how to promote your music, but it would be helpful if you took a few classes at your local college on product  marketing. You need to start viewing your music as a collection of items to be sold to an audience. While this may sound a lil' sterile at first, you can still view your work as a form of creative expression, but not in the context of business.

Secondly, you don't need to know the 'right people', but the right networks that have the people that will best help you achieve your desire to appeal to a mass market. I have to be honest with ya, folk music has been traditionally harder to promote in recent times, since its heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, so it will be critical that you make contact with local radio station managers that play this music exclusively.   I'm assuming that you have already make demos of your music, so the best thing for you is to arrange meetings with these managers and offer them the chance to hear you play live at a local gig, while also providing them with a demo copy. That way, they get to see what kind of buzz you generate from a live audience, which is probably the best indicator for the manager to determine if people will appreciate listening to you on the air. Lastly, make sure that you dress presentably in the meeting...no need to get overly dolled up, but business casual is usually the best way to go. It might feel like you're just putting on airs, but first impressions still matter and you want to make sure that the managers take you seriously, and view your music in the same light.

Hope this helps.