First of all thanks to everybody that took the time to send an email to the radio station. I really appreciate the support!
So here is how it all went down.
In the past, stations in Valdosta, Daytona, Tallahassee, and Savannah among others have contacted the band and requested on air interviews with members of the band. This is always great and helps promote the shows in the area. Some time during or after the interview, the station would play a song or two of ours. We can't thank those stations enough!
That being said, when we were contacted by the Golden Isles Speedway to play a Bike Rally there, I asked if they were going to be advertising on the rock station there and they said yes. So I told them to tell the station that we would be happy to do an interview on air and donate a few cds and t-shirts for the station to give away to help promote the event. The people in charge of the event thought that was a great idea and they said they would add some free tickets to the give away too.
So they got in touch with the station and told them the idea when they purchased the advertising. The contact at the station said it would have to be approved by the program director. So I sent off an email to the station telling them about Big Engine, the places we have been playing, the others acts we have played with etc. Then I mailed 4 cds to the station with a letter about the band and included that we would love to do an interview and do some give aways and saying it would be great if they could spin one of our songs a time or two the week of the show and have callers call in to win the prize package. I mentioned how well that had worked in other places on other stations.
So when we didn't hear anything back from the station, I got the feeling that they weren't going to help at all. I contacted the person with the event and told him that the station would probably come back with the "doesn't fit our format" crap instead of telling the real deal about airplay. That's when I asked if he would mind if I sent an email to all of you guys and he said go for it. I checked out the station website, noticed that the format was "New and Classic Rock" so how can we not fit? I also copied and pasted into the email I sent out the paragraph on the stations site from the program director that said how they wanted to be your LOCAL station and wanted to hear your comments on anything and had an email link to the program director. Many of you emailed and got a rejection message and others actually got a form letter type of reply from the program director. This was his response to the emails below.
To All Concerned,
Thanks for your feedback concerning “Big Engine” and Solid Rock 107.7 the Fox. As a former touring bass player I appreciate your campaign for airplay. However in the case of 107.7, I fear your efforts will be in vain. We at the Fox are part of Qantum Communications. We have a playlist that is tightly scheduled and consulted. It is not our policy to play any materiel that is unsolicited by Major labels or their subsidiaries. In addition, I as Program Director do not feel that “Big Engine” fits our current format. We do have an occasional “Sunday Showcase” feature that is dedicated to local bands with label interest. Unfortunately that show is not for touring artists either.
On the bright side, We at 107.7 will be promoting Big Engine’s upcoming performance at the Golden Isles Speedway as part of their Spring Break Bike Rally March 26th-28th, and one of the on air give-a-ways linked to that event includes 2 CDs furnished by the band.
I might suggest to the band and it’s loyal following that in this day and age, you might do better to hire and entertainment lawyer who can professionally shop the band to the “powers that be” in our industry. The days of the small, locally owned radio station that can change a rotation, or break a band at will are winding down at best. That being said, We appreciate your comments and suggestions, and encourage you to continue to support original rock music wherever and whenever you can.
Sincerely,
Mark Douglas, Program Director WHFX-FM
Solid Rock 107.7 the Fox
So they are cool with using our music on the radio ad because it is being paid for! They can't play anything that doesn't come from a major label? So they will play music by bands that will never set foot in Brunswick let alone play a show there but they won't even consider a single play of a song by a band that is playing two shows there? Why do you think that is? Money of course.
Let me first say that I am not angry at Mark Douglas. I don't know the man. He may be a great guy just doing his job. I emailed him and thanked him for his honest response. I wanted everybody to see how songs get on the radio. This particular station, like most is just one of many owned by a parent company out of the area. So where do they decide what goes on the air in Brunswick, Georgia, well Boston of course! I'm sure the people in charge up in Boston have their finger on the pulse of what's happening in Brunswick, Georgia. That's the way it is all over. In order to get airplay, you have to have tons of money going into the right hands. Payola is illegal and several record labels have been sued and lost millions because of paying off stations so now they have legal ways to go around it. One of the ways is the label pays radio promoters who in turn pay the stations to be a consultant of their playlist. That is just one way of getting around it. I remember reading an article years ago about how stations were taking money from labels to play songs in their entirety as an advertisement. They would have to say before the song played, "this is a pay for play" and then the song would play. Limp Bizkit's label paid stations $5000 each to spin a song 50 times. I don't blame the bands at all. They all have to do it to get on the air. It has always been this way but most people don't know about it.
My point is, out of an entire week the station couldn't find one minute for an interview or 3 and a half minutes to play a song to promote a local event? This is Brunswick, Georgia not Boston or New York City! How much is going on in Brunswick this week? How many bands are playing in Brunswick this week? Other places are able to find the time and actually approach the band about interviews but this one did not even entertain the idea. I told Mark that I think this is ridiculous. In my opinion, local radio that is making money off advertising for an event like this should help promote the event in other small ways so that the event is a success which then leads to the promoters having other events in the area which leads back to more advertising dollars back to the station and equally important, GOOD WILL in the community!
Mark said that he might do an interview with me this week. It's Wednesday, we play Friday, and I haven't heard a word.
In summation, I am not bitter. If anything, I'm more thankful than ever to the stations that have done interviews with us and played our songs. We know how tough it is to get songs on the radio and so we don't even pursue it. In this case, I was just offering to the station what other stations had requested of us in the past. I thought the station would appreciate a band going out of it's way to try and promote an event in the stations area and offering to give the station some prizes for the station to pass on to it's listeners. We don't get cds and t-shirts free you know.
I am glad that you guys get to see how things really work. I can't thank you all enough for the support.
Take care,
Tony Mikus
