European Radio howto

I seem to remember that you need to make sure you file for international copyright, but otherwise I'm not sure what'd be any different than sending stuff to American stations.

One thing I'd consider though - what's the purpose behind trying to get airplay in Europe? Is your friend planning to be touring Europe any time in the next year? Is there distribution of the music in Europe? If not I'd think it'd be better to put energy elsewhere.

Yeah those are pretty good considerations. I was thinking of ways to get as much attention as possible but it would be best I suppose to stay stateside with it for now. Good heads up on the international copyright.

If there's one thing I learned in my band's six-year failure to quite break through, it's that isolated pockets of "attention" don't do much good by themselves. And I say this as someone whose band has been played on radio in a couple of European countries - it never did anything for us because we weren't touring there (well, I think maybe we got a handful of downloads from Europe or something, but it wasn't much)

In general, you have to think of promoting yourself as a strategic offensive. (Ugh, I hate this metaphor already). You don't just lob a missle here and there and hope it hits something. You come up with a comprehensive tactical plan. We were always getting a write-up and thinking it was a big deal, or opening for so-and-so and thinking it was a big deal, but then not capitalizing on it and creating momentum. Focus on certain regional markets and aim for press, internet and live shows all around the same time and make sure the music is available in those areas. If it seems like it doesn't pay off, push harder. If it seems like it does pay off, push harder.

I mean I guess there's always the off chance that some producer in Europe will hear your friend, but with most success stories like that there's usually more beneath the surface.

Yeah I can understand the cynicism but Im ok with 'strategic offensive' because I see the marketing as just another aspect of art and goin about it the way you're suggesting seems a smart way of doing so. The logistics of breaking through is so un-glamorous nobody wants to focus on that but of course its the reason a lot of talent goes completely unheard. What may be objectionable is when its simply money that does the talking and not the artistic voice.