Imagine playing baseball, hitting the ball hard and immediately running to third base. Doesn't that sound insane? Well it's exactly how a lot of musicians are going about their music career and chasing commercial radio airplay. There are many misconceptions that are holding independent artists back from having a successful career in the music industry. The biggest misunderstanding is the of purpose of commercial radio. As the administrator of a page with over 6,000 musicians, I think this topic is a major hurdle for unsigned musicians. Three basic things artists need to understand about commercial radio airplay and the music industry are relationships, the cost of marketing and promotions, and the proper way to create a buzz to eventually obtain commercial radio airplay.

(1)Relationships

I often hear music artists complain about the songs they listen on the radio. In order to understand some of the dynamics that go into who gets commercial radio airplay, take a look at the background of some people in key positions at a record label. One label whose artists gain a lot of airplay is Cash Money Records. A few years ago, I looked at the Marketing and Promotions department of this label and the VP of Promotions, Mel Smith. He has been responsible for promoting "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince as the National Director of Promotions at Jive Records in the 1980's. Mr. Smith also worked with A Tribe Called Quest, Too Short, D-Nice, Kool Moe Dee, Boogie Down Promotions, Marcus Roberts and Billy Ocean while employed at Jive Records. He left Jive to work at an Indie Label named Rap-A-Lot Records, where he worked with The Geto Boys and Scarface. He promoted Mary J. Blige and Jodeci's projects as Senior Director of Promotions at Uptown Records. He then worked for the music mogul Sean Combs at Bad Boy Records for 11 years. Mr. Smith then moved on to Cash Money Records. He has a 30+ year track record of marketing and promoting great artists and great music. Is there any doubt why Cash Money Record's artists are so well-known? If you were a program director, would you give more consideration to one of his artists or one of the countless unsigned artists who have not even taken the time to send a professional EPK or introduction? Music professionals and program directors trust his judgment when it comes to identifying a hit song. If you were in their shoes, you would too.

(2) Marketing and Promotions

Take a guess and fill in the blank. The marketing and promotions budget for an artist signed to a major label is _________. The marketing and promotions budget for an artist signed to an Indie label is ________. I asked these questions to help you gain a true sense of the costs of marketing and promotions cost of your competitors. According to former Sony entertainment attorney Steve Cohen, "A major label allocates 1 MILLION DOLLARS and an Indie label spends between $15,000 to 30, 000 on marketing and promotions the project one of their artists." Now unless you have a million dollars and you know a well-respected record promoter with well established relationships, commercial radio should not be your main focus. Indie labels focus their attention on specialty shows and college radio. As an unsigned artist your focus should be on spending your resources in the most cost-effective manner. I've heard horror stories about unsigned artists paying for a DJ's car payments, mortgage and children's private school tuition when a DJ has almost no input on what gets played. Starting a college and non-commercial radio campaign is the best way to create a buzz and eventually gain commercial radio airplay.

(3) Proper Way to do Things

The first time I looked at the college radio charts, I was surprised to see the Outkast and a number of other well-known artists. Most commercial program directors worked as a DJ at college radio during their undergraduate years. They are accustomed to doing things the proper way. They receive thousands of CDs and MP3s a month from unsigned artists who haven't taken the time to create a following by utilizing college radio. At a Tastemakers Soul event, a commercial radio station program director stated, "He listens to college radio to see which indie artists are creating a buzz using noncommercial radio platform and checks the press kits in his office." The role of college radio is to discover new and hot music. Commercial radio is in the business of selling commercial or SALES ADS NOT discover hot music. If your song doesn't equal more listeners, less companies are willing to pay for a commercial ad on that station. You need to have a huge enough fan base to support your music being played on commercial radio so build your fan base first! College radio is the perfect platform to build your fan base to eventually gain commercial radio airplay.

It's a great time to be an independent musician if you take the time to understand how this business works and how it has changed. Unfortunately too many artists are ill-informed and are obsessed with outdated business model that rarely worked for an artist outside a major city. This misconception has led to too many musicians, especially hip hop artists blindly wasting thousands of dollar chasing commercial radio. Hopefully this article will help a few unsigned artists understand the music game a little better and avoid a little mistake that cost one underground rapper 50K.