I Am Mo Better

So many CD’s, mp3′s, download links and it’s only Monday. It drives me crazy every time I’m in a city and I hear a local artist played on radio and their ego explodes like their the shit. “You hear my song on the radio?” Who gives a fuck? Not you, because if you gave a shit at all about your music or your career you would have everything in place before you even stepped to a radio station for airplay. Like what? How about this…





1) Copyright your song – If you don’t then don’t bitch when someone from the ATL steals yo shit.





2) BMI, Ascap, Sesac – No these are not cell phone providers, they actually collect royalties for you.





3) Encode your song with BDS and MediaBase – How else do you think we catch you lying when you say this station or that station is playing your song and when we check… ZERO Spins!


Do us all a favor… If your goal is to make it in this business, then radio should be the last thing you go after. Follow the steps above, but remember its more important to build a fanbase than to have your song on radio. How many times have you watched the Grammy’s and wondered, “Who the hell is that group?” Well if you google them you find out they have a fanbase that exceeds yours by about 100,000. Why? Because they realized that they had to work! Yes this is work and the sooner you realize that the faster you can get on the right track and start to see some results.  If you perform at shows right now and don’t collect email addresses and info from people attending, you’re missing an opportunity to reach directly to some fans.  If all you do on twitter and facebook is talk about clubbing and not offering a free download to people in exchange for their email address, you’re wasting your time.  If you are not a member of the Recording Academy, then you can’t possibly take this shit serious because you are not networking. To all my Memphis artists, if you are not a member of the Memphis Music Resource Center, you are crazy. Information on the music business and advice at the MRC is available for free.  Wake up, just because your record is on a station does not help you if a real fan can’t buy it if your selling it or download it for free from you.

So, you have a hot record? Who told you that? Your boy who always hangs with you? Your mom? Let’s face it those that are close to you are never a good judge of your music. They don’t want to hurt your feelings and in hopes of you maybe becoming a star in the future don’t want to mess up the chance to help you spend your money. But the reality is this… if you want an honest opinion, find people you do not know or post it online and let others post comments and see how it goes. With that being said, let’s talk about the day you get your nerve to bring it up to a radio station. For the sake of everyone else that will come after you, present your product the way you want the product reviewed. Make sure you have the following on it: Artist/Group Name, Song Title, Clean Version, and Length of Song. It will only help you if you submit your song to BDS and MediaBase. Send all mixes of your single releases (preferably on CD) to:
BDS
8100 N.W. 101st Terrace
Kansas City, MO 64153
Attn: Encoding Department

Mediabase Research
Attn: Encoding Department
15260 Ventura Blvd., Ste 400
Sherman Oaks, CA, 91403

Now when you talk to someone at radio know what you are talking about when it comes to this business. Don’t use the same old line, “My Song Is Hot In The Clubs.” You and the other 100 songs can’t all be the hottest shit being played. Do ask what the policy is to get your song in rotation and ask advice as to what to stations look for when considering airplay. This last this for this post is important… if you are lucky enough to get an email for someone at a station… DO NOT EMAIL THEM 6 TIMES A DAY WITH YOUR SONG OR OTHER INFO THAT RADIO DOES NOT EVEN READ. You will end up in the spam folder or better yet, never getting your song listened to.

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I get asked daily, “How do I get my song played at the station?” Well… it’s very simple. Mail it , drop it off, email it. I don’t think an artist needs to be in the room listening to the record with you, unless they want their feelings hurt. Nothing you can say or show me will help your chances of getting the record played. If it’s hot, it should speak for itself. I will give you these few tips to help you along your way before you submit anything to any radio station.

1) You are what you submit – If your package looks like crap… It probably is. Don’t drop off a CD with nothing on the CD or written with a sharpie. If you don’t take pride in your product, why should we?

2) Keep intros short – Nothing is worse than hearing 45 seconds of you shouting out to pookie and them. Get to the song as fast as possible. You have 20 seconds to get our interest.

3) Features? Really? – If you are really trying to get into the business, shouldn’t you want to showcase yourself? If we are already playing an artist that does not mean we want to play a hundred songs by them (Except for Gucci, and Lil Wayne)

4) Don’t Call – Calling or emailing for your status is a waste of time and pisses me off. If your song is that good you will hear it on the air, if not you won’t.

5) Follow A Plan – This is where most of you are lacking. There is a process all artist should follow… Copyright your song, submit song to BMI or Ascap, Master your song, submit song to BDS and Mediabase for encoding, place song for sale thru digital channels, work the clubs, work online, submit to radio.

6) Be Professional – How you approach people is how they will respond to you. If you step to them with attitude, attitude is what you will get back. Be nice and respectful, and the door to communication and feedback will become available to you.

Mail Songs To:

Mo Better, Music Junkie, KXHT 6080 Mt. Moriah Rd, Memphis, TN 38115

Email Songs To:

mp3mobetter@gmail.com