Major Labels and Indie Labels spend hundreds of thousands of dollars getting their music placed on radio. The negative point about it is, even if you are an independent artist with all of that money, you still need to proper connections to even be graced with payola offers. (See brian Farish Radio Promotion Article in our Advice Section)

So, what do you do? Commercial Radio is the most effective way to market your product and if your pouring money into promoting to college radio stations, sending them t-shirts and sucking up to DJ’s, you might want to consider redirecting that cash to something that offers more exposure.

Buy your own Commercial Radio time.

That’s right. Buy it. And it’s not payola either, which is morally good for you. Purchase commercial airtime from local commercial radio stations featuring your music and the release of your album and where to purchase it. If you don’t have tons of advertising dollars start small. Most overnight ad buys on local commercial stations run from $25.00 to $50.00 per spot and expose to thousands of listeners.

You can even send in your CD for background music along with a 30 to 60 second script and have a popular radio station DJ read out the information which looks even better for you. You can do the same for your concerts, your album release and other important appearances.

More peak spots aren’t so costly either. You can purchase a 30 to 60 second commercial spot on radio during top 10 count downs (around 8pm or 9pm) for $150.00 to $200.00 different stations vary in their costs, and costs change throughout the year based on economy but if you’re confident of your product, this is an alternate route.

The biggest con? Getting enough rotation. Your commercial won't be heard every 2 to 3 hours like Mary J. Blige and you are technically mixed in with, you know...OTHER COMMERCIALS. But, honestly, it's probably more exposre than you'll get on small college radio stations and increased record sales can allow you to purchase more spots.

If your going to spend money on promoting your record to mix-show dj’s and stations with the probability that they won’t play your song. Why not redirect some of those funds to a sure bet? If you want to give people a taste without hanging on the pant legs of local program directors, do it on your own terms. Buy your own time.

Written by: Y.D.
Researched on: CDBaby.com / Derek Silvers