General Music Chat

I've been a guitarist for the past 20+ years, but my band broke up a few years back. Anyhow, my money making job is online development.

Question: I use to want to get airtime on the radio back before I had this last band even and wondered if unsigned musicians like myself even care to get radio time these days?

The reason I ask is I would like to build a site that would allow artists to pay to get on the air via commercial features avoiding the Payola laws. So far it's a bit costly to get a 30 second spot, but doable, like $5k would get you quite a bit of airtime in a specific region on a high traffic FM station.

I personally do not have $5k to spend, but know I might if it was worth it commercially. Is this something I should explore more? Do artists even care to get on the radio these days?

I only ask cause I live o iTunes and have been for years. I play and listen to progressive Metal so the radio does not have much room for me.

Thanks, just trying to provide something if their is a want for it.

P.S. This is an awesome forum, i've been stuck on another guitarist forum for years and it's nice to see new faces.

A thirty second commercial, to promote your music, on FM radio?
I would think you could do other things to promote your music, for that amount.
I'm not speaking from experience on the music promotion side of things, but as far as being a consumer/ sometimes radio listener, people would tune it out. You would have to produce it like a K-Tel jingle to even cut through the dull attention span of an average radio listener. Even if it is on a metal station. Just my two cents. Good luck.

Not sure what you're thinking of - broadcast radio station, or internet? there's a ton of internet 'radio' stations these days, and so far no one has really looked at the royalty issues too closely with them.

Maybe you're thinking of a Sirius or XM station? If so (or FM - 'on the air') you can't get away with not paying ASCAP/BMI licensing, even if you are only playing music from people who are not registered. Those black suit guys will hunt you down!

I did hear my friend's unsigned band on a local music orientated show, on a local rock station.
Just some paid programming block that a person pays for on the weekends. I don't know how that works on the music side, but AM radio is almost nothing but paid programming on the weekends. Lawyers talking about the middle east, contractors talking about remodeling, on and on.....

It would be on FM Radio, not XM or SERIUS.

Basically, if you wanted to get on the radio and be heard by hundreds of thousands of people in DFW on their morning commute this tool could do that by pairing an artist with a business and playing the song.

EX: This is Sky Vodka bringing you "Band name" then plays. You as an artist could add an into with the brand name to promote an event or site if you like.

$5k is just how much I am finding out this cost to do, but if you do not have the brand to intro you it goes against the Payola Laws from my understanding.

To better explain, my band was together for 3 years and we never made much money from shows or CD sales. Radio is where the masses notice you. The reason I think this is important is if I had to do it again I would have saved up and gave it a shot on the radio to see if it helped us. As a band $5k would not be so tough to divide up, but I can see how it would hurt as a local singular artist.

It would be FM radio only, not AM. I have been reading that public radio is still the best place to get noticed for bands.

I love the feedback, thanks all!

Sounds like an interesting idea, but is it doable?

You might want to put together a business plan and have it reviewed by an attorney familiar with the entertainment industry. Couple hundred dollars. You would also need some market research, more $.

I had a friend that runs an online music magazine and is a licensing attorney look it all over and loves the idea. Says it's doable, but only sees one possible issue, costs for the artist.

It's going to be a challenge though, lots to build. I am more now trying to find out if artists even want this.

I had a friend that runs an online music magazine and is a licensing attorney look it all over and loves the idea. Says it's doable, but only sees one possible issue, costs for the artist.

It's going to be a challenge though, lots to build. I am more now trying to find out if artists even want this.

That's great. Don't forget about ASCAP and BMI. Every song must be logged and reported. You might be able to get by on the stations' license though. I would definitely want that in writing.

I see what you're saying now - this would be 'music as commercial', so no subject to royalties. You should contact either the radio stations' advertising departments (many of them produce their commercials themselves) or any ad agencies that handle radio advertising in your area.
I know someone posted over on the homerecording.com forums that he was doing well with local advertising jingles - where he had a radio station contact.

"... this would be 'music as commercial', so no subject to royalties...."

Uh-huh. Music in commercials is not subject to royalties. That happens to be one of the most lucrative royalty venues.


To the OP: Listen to your friend the licensing attorney, not some know-it-all musical poser on a website.

What 90db thinks he is talking about;
Synchronization rights and royalties - A synchronization license is needed for a song to be reproduced onto a television program, film, video, commercial, radio, or even an 800 number phone message. It is called this because you are "synchronizing" the composition, as it is performed on the audio recording, to a film, TV commercial, or spoken voice-over. If a specific recorded version of a composition is used, you must also get permission from the record company in the form of a "master use" license. The synchronization royalty is paid to songwriters and publishers for use of a song used as background music for a movie, TV show, or commercial.

What you are thinking of would be the songwriter/band actually doing the commercial, not a commercial producer using music from others, so this would not apply.

“It is called this because you are "synchronizing" the composition, as it is performed on the audio recording, to a film, TV commercial, or spoken voice-over.”


This is not a sync license. Damn, you're thick as a brick.


From the OP:

“Basically, if you wanted to get on the radio and be heard by hundreds of thousands of people in DFW on their morning commute this tool could do that by pairing an artist with a business and playing the song.”

Nothing is being synched to a commercial. It's the artist playing their own song. Even so, it must be logged and reported to the PRO's.


Ryan,

Listen to your attorney friend, not some wanabee poser doing open mics for the “exposure”.

With all of this being said.

Lets say I figured out how to make it work legit. Would any of you find this valuable? Do you know people who would?

Thank you guys for your responses.

“It is called this because you are "synchronizing" the composition, as it is performed on the audio recording, to a film, TV commercial, or spoken voice-over.”


This is not a sync license. Damn, you're thick as a brick.


From the OP:

“Basically, if you wanted to get on the radio and be heard by hundreds of thousands of people in DFW on their morning commute this tool could do that by pairing an artist with a business and playing the song.”

Nothing is being synched to a commercial. It's the artist playing their own song. Even so, it must be logged and reported to the PRO's.


Ryan,

Listen to your attorney friend, not some wanabee poser doing open mics for the “exposure”.

You didn't read what he wrote to start with:
The reason I ask is I would like to build a site that would allow artists to pay to get on the air via commercial features avoiding the Payola laws. So far it's a bit costly to get a 30 second spot, but doable, like $5k would get you quite a bit of airtime in a specific region on a high traffic FM station. 30 second spots - not whole songs, not on the radio stations playlist.
You also only half-read that he has already run it by a licensing attorney who said it's doable.

Back to the OP, I'm not sure (@ $5k per shot) how to make it work, getting the bands and sponsoring business together (band alone would not be able to afford it). Personally, I know that a lot of people I talk to these days don't listen to commercial radio at all, and when commercials come on the radio I push another preset button to find music.