During my music career I have had managers, labels, radio promoters, radio promotion managers at labels blah blah, and anytime I asked them about why I wasn’t on radio the typical stockpile answer they would give would be to the effect of, “It is really hard getting on radio. You have to have a big single on radio, be on tour, have a video, lots of press blah blah blah”.
It was a strange answer to say the least. I need to have a big single on radio to be on radio? What? Is this the chicken or the egg question?
I have just realized a big pattern though. Anytime I was on radio it was because of something we in the band did, not something the pros did. The most recent example is when I was interviewed by Paul Cavalconte on WRXP.
I had met Paul months earlier at a James Taylor event and he had caught my attention because of his vast knowledge of music, bands, jazz, and recording techniques bands had used. So, I reached out to him to keep the dialogue going. There was no motivation on my part to be on radio. It was much more innocent. Like when you meet a kid at school who is interested in the same things as you.
Anyway, as it turns out we ended up getting together to hand out early last December. The first thing Paul said to me when I met him in the lobby of the radio station that snowy day was, “Let’s get something to eat and then after I want to interview you for a new segment I am doing called Vinyl Virgins.
Paul and I ended up talking about all sorts of cool things after lunch and he recorded everything I said. If I die in a plane crash tomorrow Paul is the man to see about my vault of interviews! Most importantly Paul got what he wanted which was a snippet of me talking about Radiohead and I, in turn, ended up on the radio the following week.
Moral of the story, in my opinion, is that radio people are just like other music lovers. They are people who do what they do because they love music and musicians. Reach out, be true to yourself and your art, and treat them like people rather than vehicles for your success.
So far I have had the pleasure of meeting Paul, Matt, and Leslie at RXP, and they are just very nice people. I hope all radio people are this nice and if they are not then their loss.
Thank you RXP