Radio is dead.
We’ve heard it a million times, from the advent of MTV to the launch of satellite radio. Yet, in 2008, terrestrial radio remains a vital force in the music industry. Ask any radio promoter or music exec and they’ll tell you that while the role of radio has changed—along with everything else in the industry—it’s still an important facet of an artist’s career and a viable place to spend and make money.
While fledgling acts used to count on a radio hit to “make” their career, the rules have clearly been redefined. With seemingly endless ways to discover artists—television shows and commercials, blogs, movies, magazines, web radio, satellite radio, live shows, etc.—today’s promising young talents strive to be represented in as many of these media as possible. For example, you may have initially heard Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am” on an Old Navy holiday commercial, but constant spins on Triple A stations across America kept her song from slipping into obscurity—and attached a name to the tune. Amid a landscape littered with classic-rock stations and automated pop hits, radio remains a thriving source for discovering new music and helping out acts who are on the cusp of breaking through to a wide audience.
We asked some of our favorite radio stations which artists they’ve seen break through terrestrial radio recently. The answers were, appropriately, all over the map, but the following 10 names rose to the top.
Featured artists:
Death Cab for Cutie
The Shins
The National
Amy Winehouse
Gomez
KT Tunstall
Ingrid Michaelson
Feist
Paolo Nutini
Spoon
For more, get the latest Issue of Performing Songwriter, ISSUE No. 109
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