Kevin Cole is the Senior Director of Programming at KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle, and KEXP.ORG worldwide.  He is also the host of “The Afternoon Show” on KEXP, and the host for “Wake Up” on Radio New York, 91.5 FM in New York.  Kevin's musical experience extends back to being the in-house DJ at Minneapolis's legendary First Avenue/7th Street Entry nightclub, working as the Music Director at one of the nation's first commercial alternative stations (KJ104), launching Revolution Radio (Rev 105), and serving as the Senior Music Editor at Amazon.com.

KEXP is an unusual radio station.  Our DJs have the freedom to play anything they want along with the privilege and responsibility to curate their own shows.  While we have a rotation for our variety freeform mix, our DJs aren’t forced to play anything they don’t want from rotation.  

KEXP is also rare in that we'll play demos and unsigned bands.  Vampire Weekend gave our morning show DJ John Richards a burned CDR demo of their songs.  We liked it so much, we added it into rotation, and it became our number one record.  Before we knew it, Vampire Weekend were getting signed to a major label, landing the cover of Spin Magazine, and playing Saturday Night Live.

About 75% of KEXP’s programming is freeform/variety shows.  The other 25% genre specific specialty shows—14 of them, covering modern global, roots, reggae, electronic, hard-core country twang, hip-hop, jazz, punk rock, avant garde noise — pretty much everything but classical/opera.

KEXP has over 40 DJs, a blog editor, blog writers and contributors, as well as volunteers and staff, from the person at the front door to our underwriters, admin folks, and bean counters, all dedicated to finding and sharing music they love, not to mention a community of thousands of listeners, bound by their enthusiasm for music, who play a role in getting music played on the air as well. Finding and sharing great music is our daily quest.  KEXP’s mission is to enrich the lives of our listeners by championing music and discovery.  I believe, that if your music is great, we’ll find it, and it’ll get played. Help us find it!

The Basics: get us your music!

There are lots of ways to get your music out there.  I’d recommend using them all. You never know how someone is going to connect with your music!

CDs: At present, we still prefer CDs.  Send with full artwork, if you have it. Include a  "one sheet" designed to outline what you're sending and why it should be listened to.  That’s a one sheet, not a two or three sheet!  Avoid cramming it with too much info, but include the following essential information:

• A list of any songs the FCC wouldn't like, such as those with obscene language.
• Recommended tracks (3-5 of your strongest)
• A description of what your music sounds like, or the genre of music
• Information on when and how the music will be available to consumers.

If you send a CDR, make sure you put your band name/contact info on the CD.  Every couple of months we have to throw out hundreds of unmarked CDs that have long since been separated from their packaging.  Seriously.  I’m very happy Vampire Weekend put their name on their CDR.

MP3s: e-mail MP3s or links to your MP3s, with the basic “one sheet” information. I listen to lots of MP3s as a quick, effective way to review music.  One thing to consider, though, is that most MP3s tend to be smaller files with inferior sound quality, and you want your music to sound as good as possible, right?

Post your music on your website, blogs, and social networking sites (MySpace, facebook, etc.).  Also, get your music to key blogs.  In fact, get it to anyone you think would like it.  We started playing what became our biggest album of 2004, the Arcade Fire’s “Funeral,” after listeners started requesting it and e-mailed us songs before we even got promotional copies from the band! I tend to play a couple of songs on my show each day from MP3s I downloaded the night before in a music safari.

Things Not To Send: 

Don’t bother sending promotional knickknacks or other items intended to get attention.  If your band name is The Hot Dogs, don’t send a promotional package with a hot dog in it.  This actually happened to John.  He was on vacation.  The smell sure got his attention when he got back.  A yo-yo won’t make your music sound any better.  Trust me.  Save your money and invest in your music.

Who To Send Your Music To:

• Get copies to our music director, Don Yates. Don listens to music all day for KEXP airplay consideration.  Not only does Don have one of the best jobs in the world — he also has some of the best ears as well.  The CDs Don can’t get to he distributes to a staff of volunteers for review.

• Get copies to our key weekday variety mix DJs (or all our DJs if possible): John Richards, Cheryl Waters, and yours truly (Kevin Cole).

• Get copies to our specialty show hosts that make sense for the type of music you’re creating.  We have 14 different specialty shows featuring almost every  type of independent music from jug bands to punk rock created by jugheads.  Check out the program guide here. 

Send music to Jim Beckman, who edits the KEXP blog and helps coordinate the content for our podcasts (jim@kexp.org).

What Next?:

Once you’ve sent in your music, following up is a good thing.  And, patience is a virtue, for all concerned.

Follow Up:

Most music directors have call hours a couple of hours each week devoted to stepping away from listening to music and actually talking to people. Feel free to call Don during his call times, Wednesdays from 10am-Noon, though it's easier to just email: don@kexp.org. Follow up via e-mail as well, and don’t take it personally if you don’t get a response.  I currently get several hundred e-mails a day.  I look at them all, but can’t respond to all of them.

Patience: 

Kurt Cobain once brought a demo of his band Nirvana down to the station — He dropped it off to the late night DJ and called a couple hours later wondering why he hadn’t heard it yet.  So, even Kurt had to wait and give the DJ time to check out the CD.  A couple of weeks is usually a good time frame.

In Closing:

The basic formula for getting airplay starts with creating great music—after that it’s getting someone at the station to hear it and champion it.  And that can happen in many different ways, from formally submitting music via our Music Director, to getting CDS to all the right DJs, posting your music online, working with promotion companies, and having listeners e-mail in MP3s.  Every avenue you take increases the chance of getting airplay.  Be persistent, have patience, stay positive, trust it’s going to happen, and keep making great music!!!

For more information about getting airplay, check out a piece on our site John wrote that includes some useful information on promotional companies.