The early bird gets the radio spin
I’m not gonna lie – sometimes people ask me why I write for a blog when I am so busy with oodles of my own high-profile work. Well, first of all, I love to write. And I love to write about music. And I really (honestly) love what Play MPE does and how much support they give to unsigned artists. Their radio promotion tool and curated contact lists , along with accessible radio tracking – is really unparalleled. For those reasons, I wanted to see what I could do to support them in spreading the word. It just so happens they want me to write blogs. Win-Win!
One of the more prominent things I do is host a weekly radio show on SiriusXM called “WHOOOSH!”. I am the co-host of Simon Le Bon, he of the rock and roll hall of fame, 100 million record selling, world-wide superstar band Duran Duran. Not bad, right? Each week he chooses 11 songs to play and we talk between them. We used to feature all unknown artists, but after about two years we changed the format a tiny bit. Now 3 songs are somewhat well-known and 8 of them are from burgeoning artists. We take pride in giving artists “first” radio spins. Although not sure we were FIRST, we were definitely early on Role Model (“Sally”) and Neal Francis (“What’s Left of Me”). And, of course, Wet Leg (“Chaise Longue”) and Royel Otis, who we played the summer of 2023, 2 years before they had a hit with “Moody.”
Play MPE’s new Satellite Radio distribution packages
With this in mind, it would seem that I am absolutely the right person to tell everyone about Play MPE’s new Satellite Radio packages! Play MPE can help you get your next release into the ears of programmers at SiriusXM, which is, hello, amazing!!! Their Satellite offerings are curated by genre. making it easy for artists to choose the right place to send their songs.
Satellite genres also include sub-genres/formats:
Rock: Active/Mainstream Rock, Alternative & Triple A
Classic Hits: Adult Hits, Classic Hits, Classic Rock
Country: Country, Americana, Bluegrass
Pop: AC, CHR/Top 40, Hot AC and Dance
Urban: Rhythmic, Urban and Urban AC lists
A spin on SiriusXM can mean royalties to you…
Sirius has lots of amazing channels. WHOOOSH! is on The Spectrum, which plays a lot of new artists and a lot of established artists. Hence why our show is a great fit on that channel. There’s also Octane (rock, heavy rock), XMU (indie rock), Alt Nation (alternative), The Coffee House (acoustic rock, classic rock) BPM (dance), The Heat (urban) and The Highway (country/americana), to name just a few. A spin on SiriusXM can mean royalties to you, so it’s imperative to register your tracks. For songwriting/publishing, register with a PRO like SOCAN (Canada), and ASCAP or BMI (US). You will also want to register the recordings and recorded performances with SoundExchange (US) or ACTRA RACS (Canada).
These NEW targeted Satellite lists available in Caster, make it easy for artists to reach all their desired radio destinations. By introducing these satellite formats, artists have an entirely new avenue to distribute and promote their music—and to be heard by decision-makers at SiriusXM. The automotive satellite radio market is forecast to reach $56.11 billion by 2035. In a 2023 Report on SXM, it showed that the newer the car, the more likely the listener will consume SiriusXM. A significant portion also listens at home through connected devices, smart speakers, and the app. Some programmers at SXM work on more than one station, so you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. Who knows – you may just hear your song spinning on WHOOOSH! sometime soon!
Now’s the time! Start sending your tracks to Satellite lists with Caster.