This week, we’ve brought in Clare Tucker to explain what exactly Radio Pluggers do. As founder of 1-2-hear, Clare explains how pluggers are the key to getting radio airplay and taking your band from MySpace to Radio 1.
Radio stations get thousands of demos and emails sent to them from bands and artists desperate to get radio airplay. Being featured on national radio can open up a whole load of new avenues and opportunites for your band but if your demo CD is just one in a huge pile, there’s a massive chance it’ll get overlooked. Hire a plugger however, and your music gets straight to the people in charge with a glowing review and personal recommendation.
Think of a plugger as a mate whose music taste you really respect saying, “hey, check out this band they’re, awesome!” You’re definitely going to listen right? This is the relationship that pluggers have with senior producers. Clare Tucker tells us more:
“Artists need radio pluggers to get their music listened to by the right people”
I set up my business to provide a music promotional service for unsigned/signed artists to receive airplay and therefore raise their profile in the music industry. Radio pluggers have good contacts and business relationships with heads of music and producers at the likes of Radio 1, XFM, 6 music, BBC radio 2. It is our job to introduce the artists’ releases with a focus on airplay and sessions/interviews.
Firstly we gain specialist support airplay and when this is obtained we then move onto playlist requests. The radio plugging process is gradual and we keep ”plugging away”, building momentum and raising profile until the release date. Artists need radio pluggers to get their music listened to by the right people – the tastemakers – and to obtain that all important radio airplay to the masses.
If you’ve built up a solid reputation in your local region with a strong fan base then it could be time to look to a plugger to push you music further afield and into the hands of national radio producers and presenters. In the end it still comes down to whether or not your music is good enough but a plugger can give you the bump that you need to step up your presence as a band.
If you have questions about your band’s next step or if you’re just a bit curious about the music industry, leave a comment here, tweet @amazingtunes, Facebook us, or email me at ben.brown@amazing-media.com.
