Okay, first of all, you are trying to get airplay of your single, right? If the stations really like it, they will ask for rights to play it on the air where you will need to license them in a formal contract to play your song for a set fee per play.

I am assuming by BDS you mean Nielson Broadcast Data Streams. If you are a member of BMI, then from what I gather from their site you do not need to get with BDS. BDS just monitors the radio and makes sure your royalties get paid. BMI already does this for you. In order for a radio station to legally play your song, they have to have a license with BMI which entitles them to play any songs by BMI artists so long as they play the fees for the song to BMI. BMI then handles the royalties distribution. ASCAP is basically the same. I am a member of ASCAP.

Basically, if a radio station really wants to play your song, they would have to go through BMI. You should have to pay to have your song played. What your job is is to sell your song to the radio station as a great marketing tool for them in that it will attract more listeners. This is really hard for an unsigned artist to do at large radio stations and chart stations (those stations that play the same 10 songs over and over again). You should try to push it to a small radio station or an indie radio station.

All that said, I can now tell you about promoters. Promoters are essentially your marketing team. According to their website, Loggins Promotions markets your single to radio stations. You pay them just as you would pay your marketing staff if you were a signed band. Before choosing a promoter to work with, I would dive deep into learning about their clients, success rates, and other things like that. Its like finding a good mastering engineer - you have to find someone that fits your style and taste and can deliver. Learn everything you can about a company before you commit to them.

THANKS BRIAN!

BrianAltenhofel wrote: Okay, first of all, you are trying to get airplay of your single, right? If the stations really like it, they will ask for rights to play it on the air where you will need to license them in a formal contract to play your song for a set fee per play.

I am assuming by BDS you mean Nielson Broadcast Data Streams. If you are a member of BMI, then from what I gather from their site you do not need to get with BDS. BDS just monitors the radio and makes sure your royalties get paid. BMI already does this for you. In order for a radio station to legally play your song, they have to have a license with BMI which entitles them to play any songs by BMI artists so long as they play the fees for the song to BMI. BMI then handles the royalties distribution. ASCAP is basically the same. I am a member of ASCAP.

Basically, if a radio station really wants to play your song, they would have to go through BMI. You should have to pay to have your song played. What your job is is to sell your song to the radio station as a great marketing tool for them in that it will attract more listeners. This is really hard for an unsigned artist to do at large radio stations and chart stations (those stations that play the same 10 songs over and over again). You should try to push it to a small radio station or an indie radio station.

All that said, I can now tell you about promoters. Promoters are essentially your marketing team. According to their website, Loggins Promotions markets your single to radio stations. You pay them just as you would pay your marketing staff if you were a signed band. Before choosing a promoter to work with, I would dive deep into learning about their clients, success rates, and other things like that. Its like finding a good mastering engineer - you have to find someone that fits your style and taste and can deliver. Learn everything you can about a company before you commit to them.

THANKS BRIAN!

your honestly going to just throw your money away unless you have a lot of other things set-up. 1st, is this a dance single? If it's a pop or rocj, or country, etc. it pretty much needs to be part of an album about to be released. Do you have stores ready to take your product in the market(s) you'll be trying to get radio adds in? A "promoter" will be more than happy yo take your money, but the odds of a station palying it, and palying it long enough to generate something, on your own dime is a huge and expensive gamble.
Try getting a mananger, or others interested. If you have something great, you should be able to get others to spend (or at least loan...cause in reality it's all a lone untill you start making sales).
Be carefull, and keep your head on real straight. Talk is cheeper than free.