5FMs MUSIC POLICY & PLAYLIST SUBMISSION PROCESS REVEALED! We know this feature has been eagerly awaited by many readers. Although 5fm may not have the largest listernship around, it is still the only national Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) format station in the country. As such, its influence on what songs break and chart for both international and local artists cannot be ignored. So, 5fm has clout - but with that comes responsibility and pressure as the South African music industry begins to mushroom and mature. This is especially true as the number of independent artists and labels is growing at pace, and they dont have years of dealing with the station to inform their processes. The station has its critics among local artists and labels and there has always been misunderstanding and a bit of mystery around the stations music policies, playlist selection and chart compilations. Some of these questions were pointed out during a forum discussion in the MIO broadcast section recently, and this prompted MIO to approach 5fms Programme Manager Nick Grubb to try and create a point of reference for those who want to communicate with the station. We had a long chat and will try and present the facts and a basic guide for you. Lets get started! Ive tried to make the guidelines as succinct as possible, and added comments and quotes from Nick for added context. 5fms Hit Music Format: genres & language? 5fm play contemporary hit music that is typically up-tempo. “The bottom line for us is pop. Hoobastank is technically rock, and a song by Tiesto is technically dance, but if its got a hook in it that bypasses the head and goes to the heart, then it could get onto 5.” says Grubb. In terms of language, 5fm has in fact playlisted Afrikaans music (Fokofpolisiekar is a recent example), although they admit not much. African languages are making big waves on current playlists with kwaito, pop and hip-hop. Nick elaborates, “Ive always said since I joined 5fm that there is no policy against Afrikaans music, to have one would be tremendously exclusionary considering that well play Kabelo or Mandoza in the vernacular.” Pop music is the key here. If there is a song that has a hook and is popularly accessible, it increasingly doesnt seem to matter what language its in. To make it on 5fm prime-time, it needs to be mainstream popular. To digress a little, it was noted at the Moshito conference in July during the media session that a huge problem at present is that most of the non-English material is not submitted to the commercial stations due to a “why bother” attitude. What was apparent though is that some of the commercial stations are eager to receive new and different material for consideration - and that one should try. Grubb agreed with this and encouraged people to do so citing an d example. “The first Ghetto Ruff releases we had to first hear about via the grapevine and we asked for samples to be sent to us. Thats now changed however, and smaller labels with varied language and genre material are submitting to 5.” Submitting Material for playlist consideration? Nick agreed that there have been a lot of misconceptions on this issue, and that hed heard and read many of them. “The one fallacy is that you need to be signed or represented to get playlisted. It is completely erroneous! The bottom line is you need to have produced and recorded a single. Thats all you need! You then submit that to 5fm.” How open are the doors of 5fm? Very open according to Nick . “ I do as much as possible make time for artists to come and speak to me, if they have specific concerns.” He does say however that there is usually no need for someone to need to chat to him to simply submit material. If you have a query about the submission then speak to anyone in the Music Department (011) 714-3565 . What is the process? What do I do? Caren Olsen , who is 5fms Music Compiler , and Nick Grubb make the final playlisting decisions in up the 5fm Music Department. On Monday mornings they take hand-delivered submissions at SABCs Radiopark complex in Johannesburg . Mondays are also when they have meetings with the established record companies who have set visiting times. If independent artists, managers or others want to submit on a Monday morning, “you can phone ahead so that we know that youre coming, but otherwise you can just come to Radiopark and drop it off at reception for the Playlist Committees attention.” If you are outside Johannesburg , you can post it to the SABC on the following address: Playlist Committee 5FM PO Box 91555 Auckland Park 2006 Packaging your song submission? The most important requirements are that it should be in CD format. The name of the band/artist and the name of the song written on BOTH the cover of the CD and the CD itself. It also needs to include the composer and publisher details, which is how 5fm reports to SAMRO so you can earn your royalties. You should also include a band biography, in the event that you do get playlisted the DJs have something to talk about. Do I need to watermark my audio for tracking? No! Nick says that publisher and composer data are entered manually into the system, and then gets exported for tracking. So 5fm dont need watermarks, but if youd like to watermark your track for independent airtime tracking through a third party you can do so of your own accord. Albums or singles? Nick strongly recommends the submission of one song . Either a single song on a CD or an album that is clearly marked with an X or star next to the track you want heard. 5fm will not listen to the whole album if provided, there just isnt enough time considering the volumes they deal with. Song length for prime-time radio? The usual length of a track on radio is 3 and half minutes (3mins, 30sec). Nick added that it is very rare that a song longer than 4 minutes will get playlisted. One has to remember that the key function of playling music on radio is to build listerneship for advertisers. “Were not apologetic about it,” says Grubb, “We want to grow our listenership as much as possible within our chosen target market.” He had some general tips with the basis being that youre looking for a song that listeners will identify with and form a relationship with a listener in a fairly short space of time: Get into the vocals within the first 20 or 30 seconds. Get into the chorus before a minute is up. Have a chorus that has some sort of hook in it. Feedback for artists who get rejected? This is a hot issue of contention for 5fm at the moment, and the result has been a policy change from basic and brief feedback to as many as they can manage, to now adopting a simple, definitive “yes” or “no”. This is how 5fm used to give feedback before Nick Grubb arrived at the station, and his intention was to improve this as a service to the industry and make a positive contribution. It hasnt quite turned out the way he hoped though… “Ultimately we do play music that fits in with the [stations music] format and the strategic direction we have chosen. Bands are hungry for feedback and eager to improve using the advice we provide. The problem that weve encountered is that some people have taken it not as feedback, but rather as instruction from us to get involved in their art. All we have been doing however is telling them why a particular decision was made.” “We dont have time to write an essay and can go through 80 songs in a playlist meeting. When we get phoned for feedback, often you cant remember which song is being referred to, so you go off the notes that we take which are sometimes only two or three lines long. “ A decision was taken recently that this short feedback, which was often misinterpreted by the artists, is doing more harm than good. Nick says that he wasnt comfortable with the “yes/no” system when he joined 5fm as it is a seemingly arrogant stance…but he now feels that this is the best for all concerned, and hopes people can understand and accept that when receiving feedback from the station. As a parting shot, Nick added that “Where time accommodates, we will engage with these artists if they want to contact us and find out more specific reasons. Those meetings on a Monday are also opportunities for feedback on the previous weeks submissions as well as submitting new material.” Submit material again... and again … and again… (Okay, perhaps thats enough!) “One point Id like to make is that if a song is rejected the first time, submit it again!” Mr Grubb made it clear that music is as emotive as any other art form, and not only does the selection committee change, but so do peoples moods and the “sound” of the times. “We get songs cold [no one has heard them before] – and not only f ro m local artists! We get the new Britney Spears single cold, and we are expected to make a judgement call without having the benefit of getting to know it. When someone walks into a room the y present a first impression. But that impression may prove to be entirely inaccurate as you get to know that person. The same applies to music.” We all agreed during our interview with Nick though that if your track has been rejected for the 5th time, you might want to take a hint. And finally… Nick also points out that artists need to bear in mind that with a wealth of music submissions considered each week, actual space available for song additions is extremely limited – an average of 8 new songs each week. “Rejection” is not a criticism of a song, or tantamount to the station declaring it “artistically lacking”. It may simply be the case that, relatively speaking, there were other songs that were more relevant to the format and it didnt make the cut. We hope that this helped! Weve only presented the most fundamental facts here, but we hope they have assisted you. This article and the advice in it has been checked by the 5fm Music Department, so it would be a good idea to use this as a reference the next time you submit material to the station. We also think that Nick and his team should put in some time and document this and other policy and FAQ issues properly, making it publicly available. This could be done both on their own website and through vehicles and publications that can effectively get that information to those that want it like MIO. Nick did say that it is something hed like to do – and we hope he makes good on it. The third and final instalment of our 5fm expose will be published shortly, where well look at how the 5fm Top 40 is compiled and the playlisting of music from 5fms own DJs.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:11:47 +0000
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