As many of you know, I host a talk radio show about the music business called Music Business Radio.
And, as many of you know, we take demo submissions from musicians who want their music played on the radio and feedback from our guests.
Here is the address to send a CD to:
Tuned In Broadcasting, Inc.
ATTN: Music Business Radio
1310 Clinton St. Suite 200
Nashville, TN 37203
Notice that it's a physical address. And notice that I asked for a CD.
Still, I get messages every week asking if people can send music via an email attachment...
No, you can't. If I were taking email attachments, I would have let you know.
"But you can burn a CD from the file I send..."
Yes, I could, but that's really your job. My job is to play your music on the air and get it in front of music industry people who will critique it for you, not get it in a format which they're able to play.
This is a radio station, folks. We play music on CD. That means you need to get us a CD, if you want your music played.
Yes, I realize that's a bit more work than sending me an email with a file attachment. Yes, I know there are more environmentally-friendly ways of distributing music. But right now, we play music on CD.
I write all of this because I think it's the sign of a much bigger problem...one that may very well be keeping you from being where you want to be in the music business.
Write it down.
This isn't about you, it's about them. People aren't going to jump through hoops to consume your music. They're lazy. Make it easy on them.
I could go on and on about how to do this, but to keep this short, here's one example...
"Making it easy" is especially important when it comes to selling your music. This means you need to do so via the currency your customers have in their pockets...which is usually a credit card. If you're "cash only" and they don't have cash, you might as well be asking them to pay in gold doubloons.
And if you're "no checks" and they only have checks, you're in the same spot.
Make it easy on people. Take checks, take credit cards, take cash. And if people start approaching you with gold doubloons, find a way to take those too.
And when folks in the industry tell you they want your music submitted in a certain way, give it to them in that way. There is usually a reason for it.
