G'day Everyone, DJ Struth Mate here & I'm here to share my personal little bit of insight into getting your music heard & promoted in the 'Internet Radio' world from personal experience.
Origin
To start off with I am a musician myself & have dabbled in recording, producing, live performance etc. over the years, as I'm sure most of you have too.
I was content with uploading a song or a video here or there on social music media platforms but after a while of trying my hardest to 'self-promote' I became so much more focused on the variety of stuff that I was discovering in the process.
My recording sessions started getting replaced with juke-box evenings of sounds from all over the globe. It's happened to us all!
I then I had my own moment of personal discovery as I was asked to be interviewed for an international internet radio station & not going to lie, I was over the moon! An Indie solo artist from Australia got chosen & I embraced it.
It ended up with nothing much else garnered at the time other than five minutes of me chatting to a 'robot' of a host & a song of mine aired to a ghost audience.
My mind was struck via the fact that I literally had my recording played to a deaf internet world & with no promotion or anything it was a bit..well. disheartening...annoying...discouraging so to speak.
Now here's where my 'Epiphany' moment happened! :)
Why can't I, someone who enjoys discovery of music, share the sounds , I like, with the rest of the world via a medium like this?
“Absolutely Nothing” was the answer!
After learning the process & connecting with the right people I have gained the loyalty & friendship of the team at http://www.weststarradio.com
I am now an administrator & currently host a weekly show of content I create for listeners that consists of featured artists I have connected with, interviews & more shenanigans.
Okay 'story-time' over now. I have been sharing as many new artists as I can to date & shall continue with passion Y'all!
Finding Avenues
Seeing as you are reading this on http://www.musictalks.xyz you have obviously found some people with passion for their work. #URock MusicTalks ! (A wonderful platform for musicians!)
This is the underlying difference in an artists pursuit for sharing their work via this route.
Attention! Not all internet radio stations are there to actually help 'you' out!
Not a big newsflash as I & possibly yourself have discovered but that stigma shall be changed, at least on my end.
Sure bands have to use SoundCloud, ReverbNation, YouTube & so on ( Which are necessary ) but to have someone credible & passionate about making sure your work is heard to a different, if not, a broader audience ,you can't really complain.
Some of them have huge fan-bases that follow their lead in musical taste. A few extra followers for your craft can't hurt surely?
In your discoveries you will find some are run in a 'Bot' like fashion & some want your hard earned money in exchange for their 'services” ?
Seriously? That is not, or shall ever be what I'm about personally about. 'Pay to Play' is over!
Not knocking any of the stations that run on charity specific donations for air-play & similar either.
I want y'all to be wary of sending your tracks (your blood, sweat & tears) to a random person, claiming that “I Love Your Sound” or “Shall Play Your Song Again”.
If you were to ever speak to the artists I have featured personally on my show, I'm pretty sure they would say I have kept up on the communication front to the best of my ability with more than these types of quotes.
*Quick Mention: Language barriers & time zones have been obstacles for DJ Struth Mate & if I have ever made mistakes on my end I'm always empathic straight away & try my best to 'make good' for all that was promised. Honesty is my highest regard in these situations & it has led me to more confidence/connection with real people so a negative becomes a positive.
Do your 'own' research or maybe you have a 'Buddy-band' who knows of a station that is possibly specific to your genre of music.
*Hint: Once upon a time I dropped a 'cartoon show' opener theme song in the middle of a track I submitted & guess what...? It got aired! Ha. This proved to me that some Stations/Presenters aren't doing their full research in advance of advertising on your behalf.
In this situation it was noticeable, My hint is not to edit your tracks with altered sounds but mainly to focus on the right contacts to send to who are genuine.
Your main goal will always be to get promotion out via all means & get as many people hearing your sound.
That is only admirable for an indie musician/band! Wishing you the best of luck in sharing your creations!
Strike gold with the right audience & you have situations say for example, a tiny 'folk' band from Ireland can gain a massive following in 'underground' Japan! (too far-fetched? You never know?)
So all you creative artists who have the ability to multi-task via music-making, promotion & such in a 'Do-It-Youself' situation #URock !!! Much respect thrown your way of course.
Never going to be one to discourage tunes being shared globally but always make sure you check your sound too via different mediums e.g. mobile device & home speaker set-ups before sending through as once it's in their hands for use your final mix is totally 'out there' for them to use at their discretion.
That's not being negative either, just that radio editing will always vary from every set-up.
I always make sure to include the track submitted in it's original form via the means I have been given.
For sure, most random presenters will be striving for this with their own means. You will find out the others who go, just that little more above the mark to ensure quality broadcasting
To each their own of course. :)
So ultimately I say send & share your tunes to possible radio stations that are on the interweb & know that no matter what, there will be someone, somewhere listening & you may just get a new fan that would love to connect with y'all on some level!
Musical Discovery
Know that for every time you send out a message or submission that there will be some that respond with genuine excitement & use your instinct to weed out the rest is my advice.
Wowsers may have seemed a little negative towards the path that I have taken on board but I know in my heart that what I do is with more than 'self-promotion' now.
I share talent I have found via searching/connecting with real people & hopefully you shall find the perfect, ongoing promotional situation for yourselves.
Wrap-Up
So thank you for time & reading pleasure regarding this little insight into my world.
Enjoy more future articles via http://www.musictalks.xyz to come!
#PeaceandMusic #URock !!!
You can connect with me here...
Testimonials
“Being in an independent band, it's often a struggle to be heard and having connected with DJ Struth Mate some time ago, he has helped us in so many ways, with wonderful promotion and features on his radio show on West Star Radio.
His enthusiasm for what he does is clear and his shows are full of great music, humour, intelligence and joy.
That he actively seeks out new and unsigned bands & musicians speaks volumes for his commitment to music and it keeps his shows truly diverse and exciting each week. Plus, he is a great musician himself!
Having known him for some time now, I couldn't have hoped to have connected to a nicer person and always look forward to hearing about his endeavours (..and he Rocks!) “
- Joe from Minus Cube
“I have recently had the fine pleasure of being interviewed by my good friend, Mr DJ Struth Mate of 'The DJ Struth Mate Show' in Australia on West Star Radio.
He has very kindly featured my music on past shows and on this occasion was so impressed with his professional, yet laid back manner via interview, that it was truly wonderful to work with him. His questions are well placed, informative, yet humorous and entertaining.
My admiration for his passion of his work goes a long way as he himself has pointed out how much he enjoys meeting several avenues of music genres from all over the world and that doing so makes him feel fulfilled to be able to put himself forward to promote Indie artists trying to be heard.
Personally, I have a deep respect for the gentleman and his interests in his fascination of Indie music and its promotion in particular. Its no wonder I should look very forward to our music ventures on radio together in future.
I highly advise with great endorsement any artist looking to promote their music to a wider field of radio do so with Mr Struth Mate. Well done good sir and keep up the great work my friend..Oh and #UROCK, sincerely “
- Jerry Hull
"DJ Struth Mate is a fantastically faceted spirit with sublime taste and a witty mind.
Love what you do, how you do it and love the music selection! It's a treat being acquainted with you. It is great as an artist having support and exposure from like minded individuals. You are highly appreciated ! “
- Kali Rea
“DJ Struth Mate at West Star Radio has been massive in supporting my music. It is particularly important as in independent artist to have such support networks.
He is continually searching for new undiscovered music, he is passionate about the artists, and the path it takes to get a track produced.
DJ Struth Mate, thank you for the epic shows! You will always be the first person to have promoted my debut track, and the first to know when my latest work will be released!”
- Bryce Carter
https://www.mixcloud.com/DJStruthMate/the-dj-struth-mate-show-episode-12-fear-loathing-in-el-grande/
"DJ Struth Mate is a great guy, chatting with him is good fun! He asks great interview questions and makes the artist really comfortable.
I'm always excited to share my news with him, and he's a keen supporter of me as an Indie artist."
- DiElle
“On behalf of all the Cyclones , we'll always have great appreciation for DJ Struth Mate.
This man single-handedly grabbed our music and started us on the road from a regional band in the South-East United States to a worldwide rockabilly phenomenon.
Between his great ear for music, to his unmatched initiative , he has changed our narrow-minded plan to get our music heard, to really making us a worldwide hit!
I can say so many positive words it would take all day. However fact is fact , DJ Struth Mate took a real chance in taking our music to the next level.
I am confident that we are not the only one , there's probably hundreds of bands that should share the same appreciation. I can sum it up in one sentence. You rock DJ Struth Mate!
We are it not only indebted to him , he has the knack to be able to connect great bands to the great people that want to hear it. We even wrote a song about him!
- The Cyclones, now a rockabilly phenomenon
“We see DJ Struth Mate in the tradition of 'Sixties English Radio', where DJs would choose music, culturally relevant and characterful due to their investigative nature.
Being a guest on his show we appreciate him being a very kind and professional host. If you wanna hear what's up in the music world flying under the corporate radar, DJ Struth Mate is your man!
- Ibasou
“About a year ago, it was finally time for me to release my debut album.
At about that same time I started a Twitter account with huge doubts, since I had never even read a single tweet before and really couldn't see any reason at all for it, but it was one of those social media things that was recommended to have as a musician.
One of the radio guys that contacted me on Twitter was DJ Struth Mate
I got back to very few people (still do), but Struth felt more honest, sincere, interested then all the others, so I decided to respond.
That was the beginning of our friendship.
He has a radio show on West Star Radio and he invited me to be a guest on his show and I gladly accepted.
We connected on Facebook and then later on Skype, where we did an interview and live music for his show.
He's also a great musician himself and has written some really nice songs.
A while ago he asked me and another fellow musician (who has also been a guest on his radio show) if we were interested in a musical collaboration.
We both accepted without hesitation.
DJ Struth Mate is a really nice guy with a big heart.”
- Andreas Bryntesson
"One of the coolest people I’ve ever met is definitely DJ Struth Mate!
A great radio presenter, an awesome host and overall an amazing human being.
I’ll never forget the opportunity he gave to a rookie, unknown performer like myself, to have some of her songs featured on his show and how he interviewed me at 4am (if I recall correctly) on his time zone, to match mine (since I live in Portugal).
It was truly an awesome experience and it really shows how dedicated he his. It’s not every day you get to meet such a great individual like himself and I’m really glad I did."
- Cat Rox
“URock !!!” - DJ Struth Mate
