Interesting that this should come up again.

I spent a lot of time this fall trying to get my band's new cd some airplay on folk/celtic shows. I found the radio station web sites to be very frustrating. Most are not set up so that you can find the correct person to write to. I felt strongly that I didn't want to send cds out unsolicited.

After extensive searches, I wrote e-mails to about 35 different celtic or folk show hosts, or station managers around the country.
Several hosts did write me back and asked for the cd, including you, Ron, so thank you very much and I hope you liked the cd. However, many did not write back, so I never found out if they wanted one. I am about to send out a flurry of follow up e-mail, but I hate feeling like I am badgering people.

I guess my message is that this work takes a huge amount of time and anything that can make it easier would be appreciated. So, if you are a host, please consider just saying no, if you don't want to receive the cd, or yes if you do. It takes about three seconds. If you know of other shows that might play the cd, or if you especially like the cd, you might provide feedback to the artist. Most of us are performing in a particular region and would really appreciate feedback from outside that region.

Also, do you think it is appropriate to send a follow up e-mail to see if the cd was played? It would be very good for my band to have a list of stations that have played us around the country. I could use that in our promotional materials.

Thanks, Claire