“Radio plugging” is an age-old task of the recorded music business. One that is both based on relationships and opportunity, and often a lot of work for little reward. Ibilion has has collected and maintains a list of over 130 radio stations and entertainment news and blogs, focussing mostly on South Africa but with key international stations. We provide a detailed emailer design to present new music releases, and its details and metadata for stations. Going through the process includes ensuring artwork, smart links and CMO registrations are in place, and assisting should these be needed, for maximum chances of new music being picked up. We try to ensure the content is relevant to music compilers and also avoid bombarding them with overwhelming submissions. Sending out two emailers a month apart is recommended.
We understand that artists and establishing labels are looking for cost effective solutions for exposure and provide the blanket radio emailer service for R700 per single release (2022), which tracks email-opens and clicks. We also encourage detailed tracking with Radio Monitor if you are serious about pushing music to media. We also provide feedback from the stations if they reply. While we have no control over radio stations playing the music, we maintain contact with radio station compilers who have confirmed they do receive our emailers and have playlisted the content. We often find tracks has been playlisted months after sending them out or that royalties are due years later as a result.
The artist S!ck was recently picked by TUKS FM in this way, as well as the band The Flat Shandys reaching Mix FM and Karoo Radio, spending three weeks at Number 1 on the Mix FM charts. While we don’t believe a blanket emailer is the only way, it is the start of getting your music out there together with your targeted effort to arrange interviews on radio and individually send material to music compilers. A balanced strategy is needed.
Here is an example, although to get to this point requires much planning and added detail:
Ibilion 