I just wanted to air my frustration at trying to get NZ Radio to play my music - it is pretty much like banging your head against a brick wall, I understand about the whole commercial thing - I have been told by a certain radio station that its about the quality of the recording and it has to be able to stand up beside overseas recordings - yet when I listen to this radio station they completyly contradict themselves by playing utter crap that has obviously being recorded in the bedroom (im all for playing crap as long as they play everybody's crap!) I know that this is all part of the struggle but I honestly thought - hey we write great songs, we are talented muscicians, we spent alot of money on our recordings - they will play our songs - but no. What do you guys think? Tell me about your struggles!
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What stations did you submit your demos ...
What stations did you submit your demos to, most commercial stations won't touch unsigned artists or have time to listen to demos. The B network stations were better at playing demos but even they have become more commercial in last few years. I had a quick listen to your demo on your website sounded well recorded to me was good, maybe the stop the war lyrics in it is a turn off to the typical non-politcal popish music you hear on most stations... but don't give up submitting just try a few smaller local radio stations first, or get a name of a person/dj to send it to at the station, most demos posted to the station programmer end up in a pile not listened to. Also is important to have a one page fact sheet / bio or short description of what style music is before they listen to it. Anyway just a few ideas I hope you have better luck in the future.. dont give up trying..
Thanks for all you comments - Glad you ...
Thanks for all you comments - Glad you liked the songs - I submitted two songs to Channel Z/The Rock/bfm (they played Right Now)/Moore Fm/Mai Fm/91ZM/The Edge/National Radio - The Rock are amazing they replied to all my e-mails and Paul Martin played us as demo of the week - I havnt heard a thing from any other stations - Your right , radio wont touch unsigned artist s BUT record labels tell me they wont touch bands that dont have radio play/chart sucess - I have applied for the next hit disc and a video grant, so Ill have to wait and see - Noizyboy - good advice about the whole live scene thing, I will concentrate on that - its funny, its so easy to forget the whole reason why I do what I do - its because I love to stand on that stage and SING and really draw a crowd in, give them shivers up their spine, write music - its so easy to get caught up in the whole commercial thing and forget why you do this - After we recorded the 1st track and got the comments from radio that it wasnt good enough quality we went out and spent thousands on the next single and even managed to get the UK producer Greg Haver (produced The Feelers) he was wicked, he said he left the vocals raw sounding to keep that emotion and not sound like a wanky American band - Greg Haver rocks!
[ http://www.aangelsound.com ]
Well, I confess I was getting ready to ...
Well, I confess I was getting ready to bag yiz, but I just listened to Friend Or Foe and had to eat my words before I wrote them. I reckon stations' unwillingness to play your stuff probably has little to do with talent or production, and more to do with PR & exposure (ie you're not very well-known). Popularity feeds off itself and all.. Mind you, you're competing in a genre dominated by heavy hitters with hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on mastering, and they do..brit/kiwi-influenced retro rocknroll is great in the raw, but it seems that US-dominated heavy rock has to be so immaculately polished as to suck the life out of it, and I don't think you went quite that far...
so..yeah...what he said......
so..yeah...what he said...
yeah, it's pretty good eh? better than ...
yeah, it's pretty good eh? better than tadpole, anyway...
I think Heather's onto it with the PR/exposure thing. If you're an indie, and trying to get airplay on Channel Z/The Rock/Hauraki/Edge (stations I imagine that your music would slip into the playlist the best) you're probably going to struggle. Best bet would be to (a) hook up with a label to help you out, and/or (b) use NZ On Air as an 'in' to the radio programmers - preferably by getting something accepted onto one of their radio hit discs (and a video grant, while you're at it).
And yeah, a big live profile wouldn't hurt at all - you might sound like a million bucks, but if no-one knows who you are, and you're from the same town as them, they might start to wonder. Live scene popularity is a tried and trusted method for gaining more access to the commercial airwaves.
create your own small label, that way ...
create your own small label, that way you get around the whole label thing. you'll be amazed at the response you get if you approach them as a label rather than a band.