Planetary Radio

About me:

ABOUT PLANETARY GROUP

Founded in 1996 by Chris Davies and Adam Lewis, The Planetary Group is an artist development firm that specializes in publicity and radio promotion. Planetary will tailor a campaign, based around an artist's goals, that targets the most appropriate outlets for a release. Headquartered in Boston with a satellite office in Manhattan, Planetary has its finger on the pulse of the current music scene.

Over the past years Planetary has worked with a variety of musicians from all genres, signed and unsigned, self-released, indie and major labels. Planetary can help to create a solid foundation for new artists, and take all artists to new levels. You can see a list of our clients in the radio and publicity sections of this site.

The radio department structures a campaign that targets college radio, AAA, non-commercial and commercial-specialty shows. The stations are solicited for airplay and feedback regarding the release. In addition, radio interviews and in-studio performances are coordinated in touring markets wherever possible. Planetary's radio and tour support can provide the necessary groundwork that would ensure advance exposure in your pending tour markets.

In addition to airplay, increased public interest and awareness comes about through features, interviews, reviews, previews, and anything else that attracts people in print or on screen. The Publicity side of Planetary offers national press campaigns for record releases, tour press to alert local media to shows, and a smaller tastemaker publication/zine oriented campaign dubbed "Unearthed". Planetary publicity focuses on print and online media, though NPR, late night television shows, and other applicable television and syndicated radio outlets are serviced. Planetary publicity provides a network for music to be heard via their working relationships with writers. Planetary strives to get your music listened to, and then facilitates the writers' work by providing what they need to cover the music.

The Planetary Group will put your band on the radar. For more information please visit www.planetarygroup.com.

RADIO PROMOTION

Since 1996 The Planetary Group has specialized in helping bands and musicians get radio airplay around the country. Depending on your own goals, we can develop a targeted radio campaign with either a national or regional focus. We develop a campaign that targets the most appropriate outlets for your release. We solicit these stations for airplay and feedback for your release in addition to setting up radio interviews in your touring markets wherever possible.

Why would I need promotion?
As unfortunate as it is, radio airplay is not a God-given right even for a great record. Radio stations receive hundreds of CD's every month with few of them ever getting heard by the programmers, let alone getting any airplay. We actively solicit radio for airplay and feedback saving you the time and toil. Radio campaigns usually run 6-8 weeks. Feedback from radio is provided to you in detailed weekly reports that are pulled from our website.

What type of stations do you promote to?
We target college radio, AAA, non-commercial and commercial-specialty shows. These radio formats encompass a wide range of musical genres ranging from esoteric indie rock and singer-songwriter pop to boomin' turntablist hip-hop and slinky electronic music. We are adept at taking music of nearly every musical stripe to radio.

What do I/we need to start?
You'll need a promotional allotment of CD's to service to radio stations. This can range in number from 100 to 150 for regional campaigns to 300+ for a full on national campaign. A bio would help provide some background for stations.

We are setting up tour dates, what can you do for me/us?
Our tour support promotion can provide the necessary groundwork that would ensure advance exposure in your pending tour markets.

PUBLICITY

Publicity is the business of disseminating information to increase public awareness and interest in your project. Publicity is not that quarter page ad you bought in CMJ. That’s advertising. You do not buy publicity. Increased public interest and awareness comes about through features, interviews, reviews, previews, articles and anything else that attracts people to you or your product. The record review is still a highly regarded, small victory that when acquired in quantity or quality can really help build a band or artist’s reputation.

What do we do?
What we provide for our clients is a network for your music to be heard via our working relationships with writers and editors. Through targeted mailings we pursue national coverage for record releases and tours in the United States. Our goal is to get your music listened to, and then facilitate the writers' work by providing what they need to cover your music. We focus on print and online media, though we also service NPR, late night television shows, and other applicable television and syndicated radio outlets. The record review is key, but we try to go above and beyond for our select roster. We believe the bands and artists this includes deserve the attention for the hard work put into creating their music.

National Press:
In the event of a record release we service major music publications in print and online, daily and weekly newspapers and magazines, as well as specific freelancers and other appropriate outlets with your record and press kit, which we design for you. Material is best when distributed at least three months in advance of the release date to stay ahead of the deadlines of long lead publications. We follow up with our contacts, supply them with an angle to write about your music, and do our best to ensure that your music is listened to. These campaigns last four months, and tour promotion is included if you or your band plays around North America during this time.

Tour Press:
Four to six weeks ahead of a tour-date we alert the media in the town/city that an artist is performing and supply them with everything they need to cover the event. We build hype along the route of the tour. We follow up, keep in touch, and invite local press to check out your show. We put your tour on the radar.

NEW MEDIA

We provide our clients the ability to reach online publishers of websites, blogs, podcasts, and online radio, and utilize our relationships to get their projects heard and written about. We utilize technology to allow publishers the ability to listen, learn, and post about a project. Our goal is to get your music heard by publishers, and ultimately written about, played, and posted online.

Who do we contact?
We focus on online publishers, of course. We work with online press, podcasters, online radio outlets, independent blog publishers, and anyone that uses any UGC site, like myspace, facebook, Livejournal, etc.

Media Buying:
We create a custom ad placement campaign for any budget level, and for any type of project. From music blogs, to networking and news sites, we can customize a cost effective, focused and targeted online media buying program.

Placement:
Through our growing number of placement opportunities, we can put music where people hear it most. The possibilities are endless!

Online Design Services:
With our in house design team, we can build you fully functional online marketing materials. We offer a variety of packages to fit your needs. Whether you're looking for something simple to get the word out about a current project or a complete website, we'll work with you to create online content that realizes your vision.

Social Sites:
Let us build and manage all your social networking websites. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Virb, iLike, iMeem, and all the rest.

Project Marketing:
We'll work with the client to create, host, and spread the word about giveaways and other promotions. Anything your imagination can create, we can do!