This is probably one of the most exciting areas of development for the independent artist. It gives you the tools to reach a huge worldwide audience of people who are specifically into your particular genre of music promoters, an audience who you would never normally ever get to play to or even meet.
How to take advantage of these new tools is still being explored within the industry and interestingly different things seem to work well for different artists. Just because one idea or gimmick worked for one band doesn't mean it'll work for another. However in the following pages we've gone through some of the things to explore.
There are simply thousands of online radio stations now ranging from the 15 year old in his bedroom to the huge multinationals. At the moment most users listen through their static computers but new technology like the iPhone with its 3G connection is now allowing people to listen to it on the move as well. One important thing to note is that few online radio stations currently report to or pay copyright royalties on the music they air but if all after are promotional opportunities then this won't matter to you.
As with all promotional work it's essential to target where one is sending his music to make sure it's suitable. There is simply no point sending beautifully crafted acoustic singer/songwriter piece to a Hip Hop station, one's wasting his time and theirs. This can be done by researching the stations and shows that play the genre of music and then trying and targeting the DJs and producers of those shows.
It's also worth really thinking about if the radio station has a bona fide audience or not. There are millions of radio stations available who literally no one listens to and so it's again important to target the efforts to make sure they aren't wasted. Websites like live365.com host hundreds of independent radio stations and rate them which can be a helpful guide to their audience size. Music can also be sent to each station by a link on their page or live365 also offer a paid service where they make the music available to all their DJs.