SPAMALOT (Actually, Don't!). A Handy Guide to Making Radio Requests ** UPDATED w/CBTM and BBS Info**
Joined: Sep 2008
Austin, TX
Monday, September 29, 2008 - 22:24
SPAMALOT (Actually, Don't!). A Handy Guide to Making Radio Requests ** UPDATED w/CBTM and BBS Info**
UPDATE - The radio impact dates for the two new singles ('Come Back to Me' and 'Bar-ba-Sol') are as follows:
4/6/09 - BBS goes for adds on Active and Mainstream Rock
4/7/09 - CBTM goes for adds on CHR/Top 40
4/13/09 - CBTM goes for adds on HAC
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Radio airplay is crucial to the success of a new single, and listener requests are one of the primary factors considered by radio Program Directors when deciding what songs to add to a station's playlist. But "spamming" radio stations is the quickest way to kill a single (especially a former Idol's single) before it even gets out of the gate. Lots of folks who have followed Idol in past seasons can attest to this, so I think it's important to keep some guidelines in mind when requesting current or future singles on the radio.
DO:
- Call, text, or email your local Top 40, HAC, Rock, or AC station with a polite request for one of the singles. Contact each station no more than once every other day, and try to alternate between calls/emails/texts.
- Consider making your calls during the afternoon rather than during the morning or evening drive-time shifts. Afternoon shifts are often covered by PDs who also serve as on-air talent, so this can be a good way to get your request right in the ear of the person in charge. Also, morning and evening drive-time jocks generally spin less music than other shifts, so there may simply not be enough time for your request.
- Make some requests directly through Mediabase using This Simple Form. Just replace the XXXX call-letters in the URL with your target stations. For more info, see the "More of That!" Mediabase Request Thread.
- Stream the singles from your station's website to indicate that there are listeners in your area who enjoy the songs. See the Stream Big Thread for more details.
- Vote in any online polls that your station may run featuring David or the new singles.
- Be Patient!! Except in very rare cases of a monster radio hit, airplay generally builds very gradually. LO has been on the charts for more than 20 weeks now and it is still getting adds from new stations.
DO NOT:
- Call, email, or text continuously in an attempt to badger a disk jockey or PD into playing the single. If a DJ tells you they will try to play it, don't call back and yell at them if it doesn't make it into the set.
- Call or email to request the song at stations outside of your metro area, or participate in song battles from 4 states away. Radio stations only care about the listeners in their market. Clogging up the phone lines with calls from halfway across the country is not going to make them want to play CBTM or BBS. All it will do is make them question the legitimacy of future requests for the songs.
I'm sure people have other tips or approaches and I know this has been discussed in separate threads. But I think it's worth a reminder to everybody that we do not need to feel like we hold David Cook's career in our own little hands. There's no need to manufacture demand for his music, because it is already there. And DC's singles have everything they need to be big hits completely organically (well, at least as organically as things get in this hydroponic Idolsphere).
SPECIAL INFO REGARDING REQUESTS FOR CBTM AND BBS:
To help with your requesting efforts, here is a list of stations classified as Top 40 (CHR) or HAC, which is where CBTM will be going for adds. This list is sorted by radio market, and includes phone numbers and the names of the Programming and Music Directors at each station.
Requesting BBS is going to take a little more finesse. Please be aware that there are several different sub-formats within Rock, and not all are being targeted by RCA for the release of BBS. Confused about different formats? Here is a handy guide to radio formats which should help you out. The two formats being impacted for BBS are Active Rock and Mainstream Rock. Click that link to view station information for these two sub-formats. If you have an Alternative, AAA, or Classic Rock station in your area, they are not being targeted and will be far less likely to play the single, so your requesting energies would probably be better directed elsewhere.
The guidelines discussed above are more important than ever when dealing with Rock radio stations, who are likely to be very touchy about over-zealous fan behavior. Please use your best judgment when making requests, and BE PATIENT. It can take several months for a single to make headway on the radio, and the Rock format can be especially slow to adopt new music. If you are curious about how the singles are doing, please visit the DCO Charts and Numbers Thread, where radio airplay, sales, and other info is tracked and discussed in detail on a daily basis.
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Info on Requesting at Sirius Satellite Radio: Request Come Back To Me on The Pulse (or 1-877-50-PULSE) and Sirius Hits 1 (or call 1-877-MY-HITS1). Request Bar-Ba-Sol on Sirius / XM Octane (or call 1-888-3-OCTANE).
Comments for this Forum Topic
Post deleted
Wow, David. They are playing your songs on the radio. Congratulations, Guy. =)
Requesting
Life is good. =)
Bumping 'cause I know we all need *something* to do while D & co. are on vacation...
Deleted
Anybody mind if I direct some wayward Kris Allen fans this way? I think some of them may need the tutorial (this really is a good thread for any fan of...well, anyone!).
deleted
KMXB- Las Vegas -David Cook - Come Back To Me 01.06.2009 1:18am
Bumping, y'all. Those in Georgia for the Athens concert who have access to a Georgia phone number should consider calling WWWQ (404-741-7100) or WSTR (404-741-9400) to request Come Back to Me and WKLS (404-325-0960) for Bar Ba Sol.
bump
Bumping for mid-week requests.
Keep on requesting guys eventually they'll play it, like today have a month of requesting windy they finally played it around 7:00 p.m.! they would usually play it around 2-4 a.m., remember to switch between txt, fone calls, and e mails, but do online requestin every day
WFBC-FM Greenville, SC (#59)
KKOB-FM Albuquerque (#68)
WSTW-FM Wilmington, DE (#77)
KLAL-FM Little Rock (#85)
WYOY-FM Jackson, MS (#121)
WDJQ-FM Canton, OH (#129)
New Windy adds for Mainstream Top 40. Keep the requests coming, y'all.
WPLJ just added CBTM to the Mediabase Request form. NYC. Huge Audience Impressions. So please keep requesting. It does work, y'all.
Heh. Bossy Dave.
Several nice adds today, including WPLJ in NYC, KBIG in LA, and KDMX in Dallas, all ripe for the requesting.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Running off to make some requests.
Cause, you know, I love bossy Dave.
Actually got through by phone for once to make a request. We'll see if that does the trick....
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
This is great information and I'll keep trying to get Bar-ba-sol on my local Alternative rock station.
bump
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Now we are looking back, through wasted photographs
Blank pages filling up our past.......Souvenir
sky1234
Front page for beginning-of-the-week requests.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
bump
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Now we are looking back, through wasted photographs
Blank pages filling up our past.......Souvenir
sky1234
Bump
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G*Marie
Bump.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Bump.
--
FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
bump
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Today’s not the same as everyday
It’s far from ordinary
Bump.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Bumping. Keep requesting, y'all.
Bumping to front page.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Bump. This really should stay on the first page.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Bump.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
So, are you suggesting some alternative mechanism of expressing interesting in hearing DC music on one's local radio stations, annie?
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Many stations place the highest weight on their station's loyal listener surveys when making their playlists... most of which link directly to the Mediabase surveys.
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o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o
coercitus tacuit
Bump.
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FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
Bump!
--
FolkFan: Numbers rock, ∴, I read the DCO Charts James Thread.
CJT Glossary.
Idol Rewind threads
bump
I thought it might be helpful to give everybody a look at the stations that are currently playing CBTM, and how frequently they are spinning it. If you see your station on this list somewhere, there's a good chance that your requests will be honored at some point in the day. Continuing to request at these stations is important because we want the PDs to bump the single up into heavier rotation (meaning it would be played more frequently each day). If your station is not on this list, keep requesting and be patient! CBTM is moving-up very quickly on the charts, so chances are good that your station will start playing it soon if they know listeners in their area want to hear it.
Stations Spinning CBTM 6x per day
KMXV-FM POP Kansas City
Stations Spinning CBTM 5x per day
KSPW-FM POP Springfield, MO
KHMX-FM HAC Houston
X024-FM POP >SiriusXM
WBMX-FM HAC Boston
WTIC-FM HAC Hartford
Stations Spinning CBTM 4x per day
KRCK-FM POP Palm Springs, C
WYKS-FM POP Gainesville
WWST-FM POP Knoxville
X026-FM HAC >SiriusXM
Stations Spinning CBTM 3x per day
WRMF-FM HAC West Palm
KEZR-FM HAC San Jose
WERO-FM POP Greenville, NC
WHBQ-FM POP Memphis
WXLO-FM HAC Worcester, MA
KLTG-FM HAC Corpus Christi,
WKRZ-FM POP Wilkes-Barre
KYIS-FM HAC Oklahoma City
KPLZ-FM HAC Seattle
KYKY-FM HAC St. Louis
Stations Spinning CBTM 2x per day
KCDU-FM HAC Monterey-Salina
WGER-FM HAC Saginaw, MI
WSNE-FM HAC Providence
WQAL-FM HAC Cleveland
KKPN-FM POP Corpus Christi,
WSPK-FM POP Newburgh, NY
WXXX-FM POP Burlington, VT
KCDA-FM HAC Spokane
KLLC-FM HAC San Francisco
WCDA-FM HAC Lexington, KY
KLZR-FM HAC Kansas City
Stations Spinning CBTM 1x per day
KVLY-FM HAC McAllen
WJBQ-FM POP Portland, ME
WAYV-FM HAC Atlantic City,
WLKT-FM POP Lexington, KY
WZEE-FM POP Madison, WI
WKCI-FM POP New Haven, CT
WHBC-FM HAC Canton, OH
KPEK-FM HAC Albuquerque
KSXY-FM POP Santa Rosa, CA
WNCI-FM POP Columbus, OH
KQMQ-FM POP Honolulu
KRSK-FM HAC Portland, OR
KURB-FM HAC Little Rock
KHKZ-FM HAC McAllen
KZMG-FM POP Boise, ID
KWNZ-FM POP Reno, NV
WRQX-FM HAC Washington, DC
WHTS-FM POP Grand Rapids
WXYK-FM POP Biloxi
WMMX-FM HAC Dayton
WDVD-FM HAC Detroit
Stations Spinning CBTM <1x per day
WVYB-FM POP Daytona Beach
CKEY-FM POP Buffalo
KSAS-FM POP Boise, ID
KALC-FM HAC Denver
KWYE-FM AC Fresno
KMHX-FM HAC Santa Rosa, CA
WAKZ-FM POP Youngstown, OH
WTMX-FM HAC Chicago
WZYP-FM POP Huntsville
WMGB-FM POP Macon, GA
KSCF-FM HAC San Diego
WTWR-FM POP Toledo
VH1-TV HAC > VideoTV
WWWQ-FM POP Atlanta
KQXY-FM POP Beaumont, TX
KMCK-FM POP Fayetteville, A
WQSM-FM HAC Fayetteville, N
WWCK-FM POP Flint, MI
WWKL-FM POP Harrisburg
KRBE-FM POP Houston
KCHZ-FM RHY Kansas City
KMXB-FM HAC Las Vegas
WAOA-FM POP Melbourne
WHHY-FM POP Montgomery, AL
WMGX-FM HAC Portland, ME
KBEA-FM POP Quad Cities, IA
WHOT-FM POP Youngstown, OH
Stations that have played CBTM before, but not in the past week
WQLH-FM HAC Appleton, WI
WWMX-FM HAC Baltimore
WSSX-FM POP Charleston, SC
WKRQ-FM HAC Cincinnati
WVMX-FM HAC Columbus, OH
KSTZ-FM HAC Des Moines
WMEE-FM HAC Ft. Wayne, IN
WLHT-FM AC Grand Rapids
WNNK-FM HAC Harrisburg
WJLQ-FM HAC Pensacola, FL
WBZW-FM POP Pittsburgh
KTFM-FM HAC San Antonio
KQHN-FM HAC Shreveport, LA
KZZU-FM HAC Spokane
WWWM-FM HAC Toledo
WPST-FM HAC Trenton, NJ
KRBB-FM AC Wichita
WSTW-FM POP Wilmington, DE
If you are interested in where CBTM or BBS are being played or how they are doing on the charts, we report on those things in detail every day on the charts thread (pinned at the top of the forum). But I will try to post an update to this list every week on the requesting threads just so people know where to focus their efforts. Keep up the good work!
WMIX-FM in Baltimore, MD now has Come Back to Me on their playlist.
I just requested again.
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All You Need is Love
Just caught this on Twitter. I think it's the first Sirius satellite radio spin for Windy:
#siriuspulse: Now on The Pulse: Come Back To Me by David Cook
I went to the Pulse homepage and they're featuring video of the awesome acoustic LO and LOTM that they did in the Sirius studios back in October/November!
We should definitely keep requests going to Sirius - they can generate a good number of spins.
Here's a link to the Pulse request form (or call 1-877-50-PULSE).
Here's the Sirius Hits 1 Request form (or call 1-877-MY-HITS1).
For BBS requests, here's the request form for Sirius / XM Octane (or call 1-888-3-OCTANE).
Just an update to let everyone know which stations have officially added CBTM and BBS to their playlists so far. If you live in any of these areas, these stations are going to be the most receptive to requests because the single(s) are already "in the system" for these DJ's:
Stations that have added Come Back to Me:
The Pulse Hot AC >SiriusXM
KPEK-FM Hot AC Albuquerque
WAYV-FM Hot AC Atlantic City, NJ
KSAS-FM Top 40 Boise, ID
CKEY-FM Top 40 Buffalo
WHBC-FM Hot AC Canton, OH
WNCI-FM Top 40 Columbus, OH
KLTG-FM Hot AC Corpus Christi, TX
WVYB-FM Top 40 Daytona Beach
WXKB-FM Top 40 Ft. Myers
WYKS-FM Top 40 Gainesville
WERO-FM Top 40 Greenville, NC
WTIC-FM Hot AC Hartford
KQMQ-FM Top 40 Honolulu
KHMX-FM Hot AC Houston
KLZR-FM Hot AC Kansas City
WWST-FM Top 40 Knoxville
WCDA-FM Hot AC Lexington, KY
WZEE-FM Top 40 Madison, WI
KHKZ-FM Hot AC McAllen
KVLY-FM Hot AC McAllen
WHBQ-FM Top 40 Memphis
KCDU-FM Hot AC Monterey-Salinas
KRCK-FM Top 40 Palm Springs, CA
KWNZ-FM Top 40 Reno, NV
WGER-FM Hot AC Saginaw, MI
KSXY-FM Top 40 Santa Rosa, CA
KCDA-FM Hot AC Spokane
WRMF-FM Hot AC West Palm
WKRZ-FM Top 40 Wilkes-Barre
Stations that have added Bar-ba-Sol:
WIIL-FM Active Rock Chicago
KUCD-FM Alt Rock Honolulu
KFRQ-FM Active Rock McAllen
Keep up the requests! CBTM is on its way to charting already on HAC, and is also showing momentum at top 40 stations. And BBS had it's first full spin tonight. This is just the beginning folks.