There is still only one way to jump start a song on the way to hit status, according to songwriters – radio airplay. The fact that there is so much diffusion on the internet only heightens radio's importance.
The CMJ Music Marathon brought together 120K music fans all over the island of Manhattan, according to Newsday, and one of the events was a panel discussion entitled, "The Path of a Hit Song." The best way, said those who have had success, is radio.
New internet-based buying patterns have cut into the sale of albums, and a decrease in sales in general has made airplay on radio even more critical than it’s ever been.
It’s all about volume, and that means exposure to as many ears as possible – the kind of exposure that just isn’t available at any one spot on the internet.
RBR-TVBR observation: Nothing has changed in the relationship between radio exposure and success for a recording artist. Mass hits come from mass exposure, and no media have yet shown that they can attract an audience quite like local broadcast can.
The record labels, however, seem insistent on doing whatever they can to destroy their own business model. Whether it’s ignoring the internet, mistreating the artists they depend on for material, suing their customer base or attacking their partners in the radio business, the labels seem to have a singular drive to do the wrong thing.
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