How to Get Your Song on the Radio as an Independent Artist
In this video, I break down how I help independent artists go from local gigs and regional radio plays to landing national coverage on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, and major UK festivals, without a label or industry connections.
Whether you're an independent artist, DIY producer, or looking for a mixing engineer in Leeds, this video shares valuable lessons on what it really takes to break through.
Transcript
So recently I did a talk at a networking event and it was about how to get independent
music onto the radio. And I've had some success with that or rather the bands that I've helped throughout the years or worked with have had, some of them have had success with that. And it's really really tricky but um I was basically just really, really trying to get it down to a few fine points.
Obviously you need a bit of luck, but when I was thinking about it, it really did come down to having the right people on your side and having people that are going to go to bat for you. And obviously in those situations, I was one of those people. And I think without a really, really good song and a producer mixing engineer that understands your vision and is able to get your music to the level where it stands up on radio, it's going to be difficult.
Luckily, there's things like BBC Introducing and smaller radio stations. So if you're not quite at that point, it's not worth not exploring those options. It's not worth not exploring, you know, it's really good to get yourself onto local radio, onto Introducing. It's really good to get yourself onto student radio, anything really. Your friends' playlists, people you don't know's playlists. But enough of that.
We're going to go through the three or four main points that I think can really, really help independent artists get their music out there. So, to do that, we really, really need to like zoom right out. Let's take the amazing song that's really well produced, well mixed and well mastered for granted. Let's just say that's given.
How does a song get onto national radio?
And really it happens through determination and iteration. So if you've not released a song, it's not going to go onto national radio. But if you've done local radio, if you've done BBC Introducing and you've done all those things and the DJs can see that there’s some sort of momentum building and you're playing shows, then they're going to want to be part of that and support that. So that's kind of like the first person I think you kind of have to, or rather a really important person you have to get on your side.
And what order these things happen in is quite complicated and different for lots of different bands. So similarly to DJs, you also need playlisters. It's not just the DJs who decide what gets played on their shows. There are playlisters and people who work for the radio station who shortlist what people can choose from as well. Who knows how much control different people have. You've got radio producers, you've got playlisters, you've got the DJs. And then at the highest level, I guess you've got the execs as well who would have some say in that as well.
I've not worked at a radio station, so that's just based on what I've understood from speaking to people. If you have worked at a radio station and you know more about that, then please...
leave it in the comments below because I think people would really appreciate being able to understand that. So that's the radio bit.
You obviously need someone at the radio on your side to get your song onto the radio, right?
But what if you don't know anyone at the radio and what if you're not making a big enough splash?
How do you get in front of the radio?
And then you're starting to talk about gatekeepers, industry gatekeepers. So managers, radio pluggers and they have the year of those people at the radio. And they are able to set meetings and go and introduce your music to those people. And this really is a music industry. And I think that's a really good example of it. If you are starting out or if you've been doing this for a few years and you think that all of a sudden someone's just going to come along and give you a record deal and sign you after a gig at the pub.
That's not really how it works 90% of the time. And it's not really how it works anymore. I think we all grew up hearing about those stories. And sure, there's truth to them. But they usually leave out 10 years of hard work. Everyone's an overnight success. It just took them 10 years to get it.
So I think that's the sort of main... they're the main sort of three, two, two or three groups of people that you've kind of like got to have on your side.
And the last one is the audience, right?
So like the audience, they vote with their ears. So if they're listening to stuff, then it's easy for other people to say, well, we can play this because people like it. And that is what's really unfortunate or fortunate for them, I guess, about things like Spotify, where you can see the streaming numbers. And I think there are situations um like the modern modern story is, you know, people paying for plays, people buying plays, so it boosts them so that they can get played on radio um and that's sort of throwing money at a problem and um sort of gaming the system a bit.
Now that's not new, right? Like when it was the charts, early charts, they'd only collect their data from so many shops and people with money would pay people to go down and queue outside the shops and buy singles on release day so people could have a number one.
So this industry has always had its cowboys and it's not worth getting upset over because it will always have its cowboys too. The problem's just changed, right? I mean, look at the way that Spotify is investing. It's crazy what's happening to the finances in the music industry. It's just nuts.
So let's say you've got your amazing song and let's say you are speaking to a DJ and you're working at the Introducing level.
How can you make sure that you're getting consistent recognition?
And this is something that I talk to my clients about a lot because I do a lot of work with clients who are either new and breaking through or have been doing it a while and are ready to break through introducing and start getting some national radio play. And I think the trick is about relationships and collaboration.
So one of the bands I'm working with at the moment, we've just finished their four-track EP, and they're just going to do a waterfall release, as everyone does these days. Quite right, too, because you need to keep talking to your audience and you need to keep talking to the industry. And doing a waterfall release really allows you that time and space to build momentum and build connection with your audience.
But more than that, I suggested that they email their local BBC Introducing DJ and keep them in the fold. Let them know what their plan is for releasing it. Let them know the strategy. Let them know the release dates. And then that way, if the DJ is on your side, then they can plan it in as well. So if you release a track and then they know that they're going to play the song the next time it's released, they're more likely to play your old song again. And then even if you were just getting one play, you're now doubling that. And if you're getting more than that, then it's even better, right? So then you'll start seeing these steps or rather people further along or higher up in the industry, whichever way you want to think about it. They're going to start seeing this momentum and these steps build.
They're also going to have the opportunity to get to know you over email and see that you're professional and that you're easy to work with and that you're taking it seriously, right?
I think it's easy for everyone in the music industry to sort of go, well, this is what I want to do and this is how I'm going to do it. And I'm an artist and this is how it works. And actually, like, that wouldn't really fly anywhere else. And... I'm not sure that people who are really, really successful were like that on the way up. I'm sure that, being realistic, but I'm sure that Ed Sheeran when he was on his way up was like easy to work with and really wanted to engage with the people that were offering him opportunities and would try and make things work wherever he could.
I can imagine that, in fact, Taylor Swift definitely would have been that way, right? As a child star, I'm sure that whoever was in charge of managing her was that way. So, I think... A lot of people make inquiries with me about mixing and production. The big issue that I see with them is they want something and if you map out the steps for them, they aren't able to toe the path or commit and be consistent. And all of these things involve really require consistency, so if you can only do four hours a week on your music, only do four hours. Don't do eight and then not do any
the next week. Just do four and keep turning up. Because whether you want to go on radio or not, if you're doing music, it's because you have something burning inside you, like we all do, that we have to do it, it's just part of us and you'll want to have a really nice, long, nurturing relationship with that.
The last thing you'll want is to get famous and then not have anything to fall back on and not have really built anything sustainable. You will want to be playing shows in 10, 20 years and writing music and having a nice relationship with your art. So nurture it and treat it with care and consistency um so to wrap this up, I just want to talk about a band that i've worked with a lot over the last couple of years, a band called dirty Blonde. And I was working with them at the same time as another producer called Gareth Nuttall. And he's fantastic.
He has a studio in Wigan called the living Room. He's a great producer um if you're ever looking for someone to work with and you don't want to work with me, ask him.
He is absolutely fantastic um but they were working together and they were really trying to sort of establish their sound. And I wrote a song and the band took it. I'll do another video breaking all that down. But between us, the band, Gareth and I, we really went for it with them. We really, really tried to help push them and identify ways that they could make music that resonated with people. And it must have helped the band massively. The band worked so hard, given so much credit. They worked so hard. And once we got these songs together on their EP, which Gareth produced some, I wrote, produced, mixed some, and mastered some, mastered it, it just sounded great. And when they started firing those tunes off to industry, well, credit to Ailish, the singer, she started firing off to radio pluggers, labels, managers, anyone. And without invitation, she was cold calling them.
But it hit with someone and it did resonate. And then they went to bat for her as well. But had they not chosen the right producers to work with, had they not turned up every week,
had they not spent ages iterating and crafting their music, and had they not had difficult conversations with band members who couldn't play or didn't get the vibe of the band and find replacements for them, had they not taken all of these very difficult but very professional steps and then appeared professional in their emails, they wouldn't have landed there and they wouldn't have broken through onto national radio the way that they have done. And they have broken through international radio and they're playing amazing gigs and it is an upward trajectory and they are about to hit another ceiling in which they have to do this all again, push and break through.
So that's kind of my perspective on how independent bands, small bands can grow create something special that's long-lasting and gets the attention of industry and audience.
So, let me know if you disagree or agree with anything in the comments. And if you want help with any of this stuff, whether it's just the planning, talking it through, mixing, mastering, let me know at mixinghertz.com I've got a contact form on there. It’s got a little bit more information on what I do and how I do it.
It's also got some really helpful resources. So if you're like, I don't know whether I want to be on Radio One or Six Music. I don't know if I want to be with a label or independent. It's got some stuff about that. If you're producing your own music at home and you want to learn stuff about that, it's got information on that too. So I'm just trying to put a lot of my knowledge onto that website. So check it out. All the best.