Has anyone gotten their music on XM radio?

These are the questions that never get answered.. and maybe it's for the best.

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Same as it ever was.
 
A buddy of mine played in a band that had a #1 song on the Billboard Rock Charts. They subsequently started a new band and had to pay to play it on Octane. At least $10K. It was part of their marketing budget.
 
@TaylorSwift if she's sees this, she may respond


:p



I think if people here knew how, we'd know about it. So much new music is being created, there's an oversupply; getting attention from potential fans and industry people is not easy.

RT's favorite, Tim Henson, did it for Polyphia - promoting, web sites, soicial media, merchandise, tour schedules, crowd funding to record and tour, etc. I watched or read about how they did it; it was Tim, and it took them several years; when I saw them live here last September (2023), they had a truck and a trailer for their gear; maybe a crew of 8-12, hard to tell since there was an opening band, and venue staff; I don't recall if the opening band was local or touring with them? Basically, they were touring on a low budget, driving themselves and their gear to each city, probably staying in crappy cheap "motor inns" and eating at waffle house....

this may be it:
 
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The music industry that we all think of died in the late 1990s. Now it's all about Spotify plays and follows. I haven't been to Austin in about 10 years, but in Houston, the live music scene is all but dead. Several local artist venues have shuttered this year. Leaving only a handful to play. Most are booked out until November at this point.

If you want to get on XM radio, then you are going to pay for it. Through having a legal team. A management team. A social media team, and a whole host of other things that record companies have that cost lots of $$$. The first thing XM is going to do is look at your Spotify numbers and your social media numbers. If they are non-existent, then your music will be shown to the circular file. Welcome to the music biz in 2024.
 
The music industry that we all think of died in the late 1990s. Now it's all about Spotify plays and follows. I haven't been to Austin in about 10 years, but in Houston, the live music scene is all but dead. Several local artist venues have shuttered this year. Leaving only a handful to play. Most are booked out until November at this point.

If you want to get on XM radio, then you are going to pay for it. Through having a legal team. A management team. A social media team, and a whole host of other things that record companies have that cost lots of $$$. The first thing XM is going to do is look at your Spotify numbers and your social media numbers. If they are non-existent, then your music will be shown to the circular file. Welcome to the music biz in 2024.
Well it's blues so I don't think it's quite the same level of payola scam. Hoping to maybe get with intrepid artists or piedmont so I can do some festival tours in the summer and so I don't need to live so ose to the rat race anymore but ima have to figure out a way to build a little more buzz before I go there.

As bb king said, being a blues player is like being black twice. The messed up part is I am not black enough to qualify for the labels focusing on black blues since i cant pass a brown paper bag test most parts of the year and I ain't really white enough for the prs tan pants blues not racist,-racist blues crowd. I feel caught Inna void sometimes since I play a late 60s to 90s style rocking blues which isn't currently popular, not that throwback t bone low vol low energy stuff all the white dudes are about the past couple decades. I don't really clique up well, I'm just me so that probably also aint helping my case. Shrugs....

As for Houston I've played the big easy but not with my band so s.o.l there and I played the hideaway but didn't seem that worthwhile though I had a badass drummer that toured with Johnny Copeland and the gig itself went pretty good. Not sure what to do anymore but I'm sick of the disrespect I get from some of the gigs I book and the agency I been going thru. Low man on the totem pole I guess....
 
Well it's blues so I don't think it's quite the same level of payola scam. Hoping to maybe get with intrepid artists or piedmont so I can do some festival tours in the summer and so I don't need to live so ose to the rat race anymore but ima have to figure out a way to build a little more buzz before I go there.

As bb king said, being a blues player is like being black twice. The messed up part is I am not black enough to qualify for the labels focusing on black blues since i cant pass a brown paper bag test most parts of the year and I ain't really white enough for the prs tan pants blues not racist,-racist blues crowd. I feel caught Inna void sometimes since I play a late 60s to 90s style rocking blues which isn't currently popular, not that throwback t bone low vol low energy stuff all the white dudes are about the past couple decades. I don't really clique up well, I'm just me so that probably also aint helping my case. Shrugs....

As for Houston I've played the big easy but not with my band so s.o.l there and I played the hideaway but didn't seem that worthwhile though I had a badass drummer that toured with Johnny Copeland and the gig itself went pretty good. Not sure what to do anymore but I'm sick of the disrespect I get from some of the gigs I book and the agency I been going thru. Low man on the totem pole I guess....
You should consider starting a GoFundMe over at TehGearPage.

I already have my second Warmoth parts-caster on order.

:rawk:
 
Well it's blues so I don't think it's quite the same level of payola scam. Hoping to maybe get with intrepid artists or piedmont so I can do some festival tours in the summer and so I don't need to live so ose to the rat race anymore but ima have to figure out a way to build a little more buzz before I go there.

As bb king said, being a blues player is like being black twice. The messed up part is I am not black enough to qualify for the labels focusing on black blues since i cant pass a brown paper bag test most parts of the year and I ain't really white enough for the prs tan pants blues not racist,-racist blues crowd. I feel caught Inna void sometimes since I play a late 60s to 90s style rocking blues which isn't currently popular, not that throwback t bone low vol low energy stuff all the white dudes are about the past couple decades. I don't really clique up well, I'm just me so that probably also aint helping my case. Shrugs....

As for Houston I've played the big easy but not with my band so s.o.l there and I played the hideaway but didn't seem that worthwhile though I had a badass drummer that toured with Johnny Copeland and the gig itself went pretty good. Not sure what to do anymore but I'm sick of the disrespect I get from some of the gigs I book and the agency I been going thru. Low man on the totem pole I guess....
By early 90s rock blues, I am assuming you are referring to artist like Gary Moore, Cry of Love, Ian Moore and Chris Duarte....? If so, very cool stuff. I miss that kind of music. In all honesty, you may want to look into the Joe Bonamassa model. Maybe reach out to his management company. I know there are several videos on YouTube where he lays out what he had to do early on. I also know that some guys will travel to Europe where blues still has a good draw- Vasti Jackson comes to mind here. Just a thought.
 
I'm guessing there are blues record labels that may be worth a shot.

I know Blue Note Records focus is on jazz; Don Was is the president since 2011.
 
By early 90s rock blues, I am assuming you are referring to artist like Gary Moore, Cry of Love, Ian Moore and Chris Duarte....? If so, very cool stuff. I miss that kind of music. In all honesty, you may want to look into the Joe Bonamassa model. Maybe reach out to his management company. I know there are several videos on YouTube where he lays out what he had to do early on. I also know that some guys will travel to Europe where blues still has a good draw- Vasti Jackson comes to mind here. Just a thought.
Thank you brother but iits rocking blues but not blues rock. More Freddie BB Albert King type stuff. I have actually gigged with Duarte before kinda funny story for another time, and an old bass player of mine tours with him now. The j.b videos are a great idea, great suggestion, as soon as Texas has internet again I will deep dive into those. I know Joe has a ton of sweat equity into where he is today.

There are a couple small blues labels that I will approach in due time I just need to have my ducks in a row so it shows I'm making all the effort can on my own because they will expect that. The record will hopefully help my cause and I do have a couple industry contacts I can use once I'm at that stage but I just need to raise my profile some more and creste some more buzz beyond New Braunfels, maybe with some additional social media outreach and some help from friends. Just trying to vbrainstorm ideas so I can get ahead of the game before the record is done. Thanks for your input, very appreciated.
 
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A band I was in some years ago got some play on XM & Sirius when our album first came out. It was some kind of a promotion-push thing our label did; I don't know the specifics, but it was essentially a thinly disguised payola deal. It did boost album sales/downloads a bit, never saw a dime of return on our investment though.
 
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