College/Non-Commercial Radio is one of the few places in the music industry which has the ability to shed tangible light on an emerging artist, who has no previous industry backing or profile.
Apples And Cats Media provides artists and record labels with individually targeted radio promotion services, utilizing a current/constantly updated list of Radio 200, RPM, Hip Hop and World, CMJ Chart reporting radio stations. [We also offer smaller radio-show focused options for niche genres that do not fit well into crossover facets of these broad categories.]
Our custom campaigns service college, community, non-commercial, satellite, cable, and high-quality Internet radio stations. We also offer an affordable and unique commercial specialty servicing program with feedback and tracking, when a project warrants taking things to that next level. We feel that our services are the most modestly priced in the industry for this level of performance, care, and attention to detail.
Best of all, we are exclusively geared for the extra effort it takes to break truly indie bands in college radio. This tenacity also serves our more established clients very well, as we have that internal fire and hunger hardwired into us to get the job done right.
Our 9-5 and beyond job is to work the phones and bang out emails, in order to gain valuable feedback from radio programmers about your music through direct contact. After years of calling the same people each week, one builds a quality relationship that allows programmers to feel comfortable relaying comments and thoughts they may not share via a cold call ... especially with a band, where honest criticism may be received with an unknown and possibly unwelcome end. Which is really one of the key benefits of hiring a music promotion company. [Aside from giving your project a fighting chance over the hundreds of random unsolicited albums radio stations get each month to use as coasters and Frisbees around the dj lounge.]
We also utilize digital tracking services such as Mediaguide, Radiowave, and subscribe to CMJ Industry Access, in order to get the most detailed information possible about your project. [All of this information is compiled daily and sorted in an easy to read fashion with a cover sheet, for your weekly airplay report retrospective, which we email to you during your entire campaign every Wednesday, after all numbers are finalized at CMJ and Mediaguide for the previous weeks spins and charts.]
The good people here at Apples and Cats pride ourselves on being honest and hard-working, and hope to have you as longterm client and friend. We aren't into just taking some moron's money to promote his or her lame vanity record. We do everything in our power to make sure you have a positive experience in the area of indie radio promotion, and we would rather eat worms than call radio stations about a record we can't get behind. [We also offer other services on a limited basis depending on the project and time constraints, including press and tour promotion.] We've had some amazing successes in our history and a few records that simply broke our hearts.
That all being said we believe we must make sure that artists and bands who want to work with us first understand the fine print of college radio promotion. As most likely college radio promotion alone will not sell you a gazillion records or put you on the cover of Under The Radar - it is only one integral piece of the overall puzzle that an artist, band or indie label must manage in order to get their music in front of a larger audience. [Other important areas include press, touring, marketing, retail etc.]
What this neat little semi-untainted area of the music industry can do is put your music in front of a group of people that are actually into finding the next great band ... before everyone else does! It can garner some new people for your fan-base, get your music outside of Peoria, and give you valuable feedback on your music. Which could very well help you grow and be a better musician and songwriter on your next record ... and closer to grabbing that cheese on a string, called being a professional rock and roll star, or what have you.
Most artists are familiar with CMJ, [College Music Journal], and the Radio 200 chart as well as the other CMJ specialty radio charts. [RPM (Electronic), Hip Hop, Loud Rock and World.] Many new artists desperately want to chart in CMJ. As that often opens some big doors for some lucky artists ... and this is the base starting point of most indie radio campaigns, since the radio stations who are sent the music are generally CMJ Reporting stations.
It is also good to keep in mind that these stations can only submit 30 albums to be included in the calculation for the Radio 200 chart each week; and only 10 albums on each of the various specialty charts! On another side note, each station is weighted depending on various factors such as programming, wattage, and market. [On some of the heavily weighted stations like KEXP, KCRW,WFMU and WRAS, it is a pretty big deal to get spun even once ... let alone make their Top 30 chart as a brand new artist. As these big tastemaker stations are known to pass on an established artist's album if their programmers are not into it.]
When you think about it, the CMJ charts are sometimes a lot like being at the airport and trying to get a reasonable walk-up plane ticket on Thanksgiving-eve.
If you look at the overall 200 albums that make up the Radio 200 on a given week, the spaces reserved for totally out-of-nowhere bands are few and far between. Especially once you get through all the chart's old faithfuls, like Sonic Youth, Tom Waits or Frank Black's latest record, the new dominants like The Decemberists, Shins or Sufjan Stevens, and the bright new shining stars of established indie label offerings like Be Your Own Pet or Smoosh ... not to mention the name your underground famous dude's new side-project band like Witch, Blowoff, or even The Raconteurs! Or the coveted spot that you are eying - the insta-amazing spontaneous combustion media darling bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Beirut, or Voxtrot.
[You get the picture - only 200 spots are slim pickings to go around when everyone's neighbor's poodle has some kind of access to ProTools these days.]
Unfortunately, depending on the type of music you make, your chances of charting may even further diminish, as College Radio is hungry for something new and eclectic. [The CMJ Radio 200 is absolutely nothing like the Billboard Hot 100.] If you want to be the next American Idol/Nickelback/James Blunt/Beyonce ... I am sorry to say ... you are not in the key demographic of an artist that is likely to chart at CMJ without some major-major label sugar. [In this case, you are best advised to gig every chance you get until you find a feisty old rock manager in the know, or a connected lawyer to shop you around to those major label A&R folks ... who sit in fancy corner offices in big buildings in Los Angeles, Nashville, or New York.] BTW, we don't know any of those type people, so please don't ask us to hook you up!
In the end it really comes down to a bunch of key factors, talent, timing, and hard work ... and some fairy dust as to whether or not a band or artist becomes something that is larger than life in the music world. [Also, be careful what you wish for - touring for most working bands is a pretty brutal process of broken down vans, no real home base, bad food and lodging - sans all the fancy riders.]
So with all this in mind, the ideal band that Apples And Cats wants to work with is someone who has originality first, a quality recording and a clue. Since these days to come out of nowhere and make waves you can't just be good - you need to be exceptional and lucky. [No matter how much money you're willing to throw at something, in the end even seasoned professional arm-twisting goes only so far.] We can get your tunes to the right folks and talk you up till everyone's eyes glaze over, but honestly a huge weight rests on your shoulders as an artist to set up the play for victory.
One suggestion we may offer beyond the music, is that you put some real time and thought into your album's packaging. Don't skimp on print quality. If you do not know how to professionally layout your artwork and the letters dpi mean nothing to you ... find someone who can do it for you! Ask other bands you know with cool artwork for references. [Often there is an artist in town that hooks up all the local bands with amazing flyers and graphics - find him or her.]
It is very important that your CD look good, and be in either a jewel case or digipak with a spine. Mainly so that Music Directors can find it buried under every other record they've got piled up on their desk more easily, when we call them to see if they have listened to your album yet! Also, really creative artwork ups the chance that a music reviewer will take a leap of faith to check out some unidentifiable artist's album that somehow grabs their attention. [Remember, this is the first impression one gets of your music before they ever hear it, and it will help or hinder initially getting your songs in someone's headphones.]
For instance, we never recommend that an artists do the good ol' Hall & Oates vanity cover-art, generally speaking. If you just have to have a glossy photo containing humans, make sure it is more to the end of LES gallery artsy ... than say the back-cover group shot of an 80's hair-metal album. [If you want some good examples of modern album artwork to gander at and not rip-off, Insoundis always a great place to see all the wicked current album art of CMJ-type bands, both nifty and not so neat ... and buy some music there while you're at it!]
Remember that once you're famous you can feel free to do that ironic glitter-shot parody of your uncle Sherman eating ribs for the cover of your next album. Until then ... you really have to think about the message you are sending the guy on the street that knows nothing of you or your music, except that it's wrapped in plastic.
Lastly, it is always good to be familiar with what is going on in the genre if you have your eye and heart set on breaking into the CMJ Radio 200! WOXY.COM and KEXP, are just a couple of places where you can hear amazing indie programming on-line. Again, not so that you can start writing as fast as you can to rip off Band of Horses or TV on the Radio before they go cold - but so that you get a feel for what College Radio and the big CMJ Radio 200 chart that everyone salivates over is all about. In the end you have to make music from the heart that you believe in, and if you want to play the numbers game you need to be realistic and have fun with it.
[That's all we're really saying here, as too many times the first words out of some band guy's mouth are, "You have to get us charted in The CMJ!" and not, "I really need some help getting my music actually heard by real live people, and laying the groundwork that can help us have a fighting chance in this dog eat dog music industry where only one in a million bands make it, and most of those who do hit the big time have an average lifespan of about two years or less ... when you consider the speed of information on all the music blogs these days!"]
Also, one more last thing: If your main inspiration is Pearl Jam and early 90's Seattle Sound ... please don't say your band sounds like Death Cab For Cutie on your one-sheet bio. [Bait and suck never works.]
So in conclusion, if you've read all of our musings and have some amazing indie music you'd like to share with us, and want to get it out to College Radio - and you think we're singing to the choir and stating the retarded obvious in this sometimes unintentionally rant-like essay ... Please send us your music to check out now! [We'd love to hear you.]