Indie Radio Playbook — College, Community, and Digital Stations

Mainstream radio takes budget. Indie radio takes hustle — and pays in real listeners + Mediabase spins.

The three tiers

1. College radio (.edu stations) — most welcoming to indies. Music directors rotate every semester.
2. Community/non-commercial FM (Vocalo, KEXP, WFMU) — curated. High taste, real audience.
3. Internet/digital stations (Dash Radio, indie podcast networks) — fast turnaround, smaller reach but easy spins.

Submission package

• Radio edit of the song (clean, ≤3:30 ideal, no long intros).
• One-sheet PDF: artist name, song title, genre, ISRC, UPC, release date, RIYL ("recommended if you like..."), one paragraph bio, contact + booking.
• Hi-res photo (3000×3000) and cover art.
• Direct download link (WeTransfer, Dropbox). Never ask DJs to "DM for the file."

Outreach script

Subject: New for [Station] rotation — [Song] / [Artist] / [Genre, BPM]

Hi [Music Director's first name],

[Song] is a [genre] track for fans of [3 reference artists]. Released [date]. Clean edit and one-sheet attached.

Open to a quick interview if it lands.

— [Name], [phone]

Cadence

• Submit 4–6 weeks before release (most stations program in advance).
• Follow up ONCE, 10 days later. After that, move on — they will remember a polite no-follow-up artist.

What to track

• Spreadsheet: station, MD name, date sent, response, spins (if reported), follow-up date.
• Mediabase will catch reported spins; unreported spins still count as relationships.