9-25-2012
The artists your radio station play every day are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to being compensated for songs. They certainly want airplay on radio and understand the value the opportunities radio brings to the table. They also understand that they cannot come out and say, "We shouldn't be paid for our work." John Rich (pictured), from the Country duo Big & Rich, seemed to want to avoid picking a side on that topic when he sat on a Radio Show panel with CBS's Dan Mason, Clear Channel's Tom Poleman, and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta. Rich was emphatic about one thing. Artists love hearing their songs on the radio. He also had some specific ideas about how the relationship between artist and radio station can improve and shared some frustrations.
Rich spoke about how emotional he was the first time he ever heard himself on radio. It was when he was still with the band Lonestar. "Artists feel like they have a special relationship with the radio station when their songs are played. Radio people are the coolest people in their towns." Big label CEO Scott Borchetta added, "I have never met an artist who didn't want a hit record on the radio. Artists never get tired of hearing themselves on the radio. They love it." He added, "Radio is still the number one place for music discovery, it's just not the only one."
Where artists get a little frustrated, according to Rich, is when radio stations don't intro or backsell songs. A practice which seems to have become law in the radio industry, despite Mason's attempt to change that, at CBS anyway. Rich says, "When the artist and song title are announced, that has a direct impact on record and ticket sales. It's such an easy thing to do." He told a story about hearing a song on a radio station that he liked but had to research who it was because the station didn't say. Mason made big news last year when he was told pretty much the same thing by a label head and decided CBS was going to do more to address the issue. He said there was a time "music was sold passionately by DJs but in the 90s something happened to homogenize radio. Let's rekindle that spark. Radio really can sell product."
Rich says radio can take a lesson from television on how to use social media to improve their relationships with artists. He used The Voice as an example of how the show is always flashing Blake Shelton's Twitter handle and said radio can incorporate similar ideas. He came up with an idea of his own once, utilizing the radio station in the town Big & Rich were about to perform in. Rich called the station and played off the band's latest hit "That's Why We Pray." Listeners were told to tweet what they pray about and tag Rich as well as the radio station. Someone was chosen from all the tweets and given four tickets and backstage passes to the show. "It was the radio personality in town talking to the artist directly and it cost no money. How many people would then be following that station and the artist? We were all connecting. Every radio station is important to an artist."
By the way you can follow John Rich on Twitter @jonrich
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