How to send a radio demo tape

Addressing it

Make sure you're using the correct name - and the correct address. Don't send it to the previous programme controller. Don't send it to the previous name for the radio station. Both of these will mean your demo tape may not even be listened to.

Paul Easton says: "Consider carefully where you send your demo - and be brutally honest with yourself. If your natural style is as a young, hot, CHR jock, then it’s a bit pointless sending a demo to a station like, say, Saga or Classic FM. Similarly, if you’re older - or older-sounding - then you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb on somewhere like Galaxy or an Emap ‘Big City’ station.

"As with applying to any company - whether in radio or not - it’s always a good idea to find out more about them. If you can - and this is where the Media UK Radio Player comes in handy - listen to the station(s) concerned to get an idea of their overall sound, and the sort of thing they seem to be looking for. Over the space of an hour - longer if possible - log everything that happens in that period. Write down the records played, where the jock speaks (and whether it’s a speedlink or something a bit longer), idents, commercials, promos, news, weather, travel etc. If you can manage that for a few consecutive hours, you’ll build up a good snapshot of the way the station is formatted."


Are you sure you want to send it there?

Olly Benson says: "One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was to stick a £20 note in with your demo. No, not as a bribe, but with the message “if this demo is worth your time, I’m sure you’ll repay the money at some point in the future; if it isn’t worth your time then please keep the cash.” Why? The problem is that demo tapes are a free commodity for the people who make them. Ok, there is the CD to burn and the postage and packing, but actually you don’t put a value on the product you are sending out.

"If you work for a company that sends out sample products in the hope to gain business, you have to make a judgement call as to whether the benefit of the future business is worth the cost of the sample. So you make sure your sample is the absolute best you can get it; you research like crazy and ensure that your product stands out from the rest. And you understand your client; are they the type of people who are going to use the sample you are sending them?

"Next time you prepare a demo to send it out, ask yourself whether you reckon it is good enough that you are prepared to risk £20 on it. If you are not, then perhaps you are just wasting the PDs time?"