College Radio: The Most Important Radio Level for Musicians

For the self-promoting independent artist, the ideamusicgenres experience, simply by working the
of takingon a radio promotion campaign can, invarious entities ofthe college market, i.e., campus
itself, becomeoverwhelming. But, this idea isradio, campus press, campusbookstores, campus
usually based on such artistsattempting to obtainmusic stores, campus live performances?
worldwide airplay on a local budget.Quite pleasant ones, I would suspect.
And, in doing so, self-promoting independentBut, remember! The above statistics only
artists quicklydiscover another factor not usuallyreference the
considered previously...that engaging in a worldwideUnited States college/university potential
radio promotion campaigntranslates to hundredslistenership. Collegeradio also has a respectable
and, possibly, thousands of CD unitsfor mediaportion of listeners who are *not*students.
contacts alone.Add to that, listeners of college radio who strictly
As you can see, this can also quickly become alisten to thestreaming portion of college radio
nightmare forindie artists, particularly, if theonline, and who may, ormay not, be in the
promotion budget only allowsfor the purchase ofcollege's geographical area, i.e., militaryservice
1,000-CD packages at a time.members.
Starting in the 1980's, college radio became aPlus, there is lot more of the college market
dominant forcein not only discovering independentabroad, of which
recording artists, but alsoin introducing new artistsU. S.-based artists would do well to approach
to the general public. Hundreds ofthese particularEnglish-speaking nations first, i.e., United Kingdom,
artists have gone on to become establishedAustralia, Ireland,subsequently, moving into
'household' names.additional nations.
Likewise, the college radio level has a continuedWhile it may (or may not) be true that it is
history ofpresenting, practically, all forms of music,possible forcommercial radio stations to be the
much of whichwould never see the proverbial lightprimary driving forcebehind most retail sales, that
of day at the commercialradio level and, in manytheory may not be so validtoday, given the fact
cases, neither at the non commerciallevel.that:
Therefore, if an artist has limited funds for radio* With the Internet, artists are no longer required
promotion, itis highly advisable that the he beginto sellmillions of CDs to make a great living
exclusively with collegeradio for the followingfinancially
reasons:* Artists have greater and easier access to far
* Far easier and faster access to airwavesmore radiostations (broadcast, satellite, internet,
* Far more plentiful specialty and mix shows andcollege)
programs* With the college community, and all of its
* Greater chances for both in-studio andcombinedpromotion and sales aspects (radio,
telephone interviewsto promote music releasesbookstores, music stores,live performances), if
* More possibilities for station ID checks forconducted correctly, the college marketcampaign
further publicitycan equalize and, in some cases, even
* Corresponding college campus newspapers thatsupersedecommercial radio results.
will morereadily accept and support music aired on_____________
their campusstations for creating a campus-wide[---Additional Statistics---]
buzzTop 10 College Enrollment:
* A ready and built-in market in the campusMiami-Dade College (51,717)
community forrepeated live performances toUniversity of Texas at Austin (50,616)
further support and supplementcampus airplayOhio State University (48,477)
and campus press coverageUniversity of Minnesota--Twin Cities (46,597)
* An opportunity for grassroots distributionUniversity of Florida (46,516)
through supplyingboth campus bookstores andArizona State University (45,693)
campus music stores withmusic releasesTexas A&M University (44,618)
Is the college market a viable market for yourMichigan State University (44,227)
music sales?University of Wisconsin Madison (40,912)
Though the question is rhetorical in nature, pleasePennsylvania State University at University Park
review thebelow U. S. college population statistics:(40,828)
* There are 631 public 4-year colleges and(The above figures were reported in Almanac
universities thathave a combined student2004-2005,published by the Chronicle of Higher
population of 6,236,455.Education,
* There are also 1,835 private 4-year collegesAugust 27, 2004.)
anduniversities with a combined student population_____
of 3,440,953.What College Students Spend on Music:
* Additionally, there exists 1,081 public 2-yearAccording to a recent Harris Interactive survey,
colleges with acombined student population ofcollegestudents spend $200 billion...that's
5,996,701.right...BILLION dollarsper year, with 76% of the
* Even further, 621 private 2-year colleges hoststudents having spent $2,746,000on music alone.
anotherNote: As an added advantage, the self-promoting
253,878 students.independentartist should also create an Internet
This brings the average U. S. student populationradio promotion campaignsimultaneously, since
total to awhopping 15,927,987 minimum everymost 'net stations are accepting of MP3files for
year. And, morepeople are attending some formairplay, thus, reducing packaging and shipping
of higher education thanever before.costsof CDs to stations.
Now, even the least popular music genres areYou have permission to publish this article
certain to finda financial comfort zone with aelectronically or in print, free of charge, as long as
market of almost 16 millionunique principals.the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your
So, what results could really popular commercialpublication would be appreciated.