Prepare a radio submission: station fit, audio and release details

Choose a programme before choosing the message

Listen to the programme and read the station’s actual submission policy. Identify the music it covers, the territory or community it serves, whether unsolicited releases are accepted and the required route. A specialist show, a local station and a national music team can have different needs. A large contact list is not evidence that a recording fits each recipient.

Keep a separate entry for each genuine prospect. Record where its rules were checked and which recording you propose. If the station does not invite submissions, do not treat a presenter’s personal account as a route around that decision. This page prepares a submission; it does not supply a station database or promise radio promotion as part of DistroBolt distribution.

Check the requested recording and delivery method

Use the exact audio version you intend the station to consider and check that it plays from start to finish. Label a clean version, instrumental or other edit accurately. Do not describe a different performance as the original master. Follow the station’s current file, link and content requirements instead of assuming one worldwide radio format.

For example, KEXP currently requests listening and WAV download links rather than attachments, alongside release details and relevant supporting materials. Its guidance also distinguishes edits for unsuitable lyrical content from shortening a track. That is one station’s process, not an instruction that every song needs a shorter edit or that US broadcast rules apply in every country. Check the actual station and territory.

Build a compact submission record

• Station and programme, with the official submission route and date checked.
• Artist, release and track names, with spelling and pronunciation notes where useful.
• The exact version, its duration and any relevant content warning or clean alternative.
• A working listening link and the requested download format or access method.
• Confirmed release status and dates, plus credits and a concise factual introduction.
• The requested supporting material and a professional reply contact.
• The person authorised to send the release and any limits on private or advance material.

Link to your approved artist press kit only when it helps the recipient. A radio team should not need to search through unrelated campaign files to find the actual recording. Test any private link without your own logged-in access; do not expose unreleased sessions or personal documents.

Use a specific, honest introduction

An original structure is: identify the recording, explain briefly why it fits the programme, state the release status, then provide the requested listening and supporting materials. Make one clear request for consideration. Leave out invented audience numbers, exaggerated endorsements and claims that another station has committed when it has not.

Hypothetical example: a band has an approved album version and a separately checked clean edit. Its record names both files and identifies which is being offered to the programme. If the recipient asks for a different edit, the band confirms whether it can supply that version before promising it. The example illustrates version control, not a prediction of airplay.

Keep the follow-up proportionate

Record the date and route used, any reply and any action you actually agreed to take. Follow the station’s stated policy on follow-up. Silence is not an acceptance, and repeated requests from the artist or supporters do not create a booking. KEXP explicitly warns against pressure and notes that a response cannot be expected; other stations set their own rules.

Use the journalist-pitch guide when you are requesting an interview or review instead of broadcast consideration. The same release facts may support both, but the recipient’s job and request are different. Do not disguise paid advertising as independent editorial or buy a guaranteed outcome.

Keep broadcast, distribution and accounting separate

Delivery to music platforms through DistroBolt is separate from a station’s decision to broadcast. A station playing a track does not establish a fixed payment to the artist, prove a platform stream or replace any relevant repertoire registration. Keep recordings, compositions and their respective rights and reporting routes distinct.

Use the royalty-reporting guide for DistroBolt recording statements and the publishing guide for the separate song-rights discussion. Ask the team a specific distribution question when needed. This guide does not establish a radio-plugging service, collect broadcast royalties or guarantee exposure.