With 30 years in the radio business, this episode’s guest provides do’s & don’ts for up-and-coming artists (and even shares a marketing highlight), all while telling first-hand dealings with the likes of Rush, Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Kiss, Garth Brooks, and even MLB and NHL players.
“If you are an aspiring country artist, stay in Brooks, Alberta, because you are the best people to do interviews with. Radio people know (that) rock stars do not get up to do a morning show.”
“Nowadays we don't even see a record rep anymore in the office of the radio station. Everything now is through download. Every song in our ten thousand song memory at the radio station is on a hard drive. There isn't a CD player or an old turntable.”
“A lot of stations now don't even do requests (from listeners) even for existing artist. You will not get a call saying, ‘I want to hear Yellow Submarine by The Beatles.’ Because of attrition and cost, a lot of shows are quote in the can or what we call a voice track, which means if you hear a radio station announcer on a show… and you don't hear them tell you the time, current temperature, or the upcoming forecast, that was recorded sometime early that day.”
“The marketing now has gone a lot different… People nowadays pay to go to those meet and greets, a thousand or fifteen hundred. You see some of the bands, ‘Get a photo with KISS!’ it's like one thousand three hundred bucks, plus a thousand for a seat in the first row.”
“Some of our stations have a show called Sessions, which is to highlight local talent and I would give our parent company credit for that because they will take someone who has a CD or a CD single, and even a couple of them have come into our office and play it live if they are in our area. On the flip side, the big Toronto stations, unless you know somebody in the office and not just the receptionist, you’re not going to get that listened to.”
"Rock You" (Helix)
"Strange Animal" (Gowan)