Social Content Tips from Centricity Music’s Kris Love
We all know the music listeners hear on the radio can change lives every day. You’ve heard the stories and probably highlighted some during a fundraiser. So, if the music is life-changing and listeners talk about it, why wouldn’t stations incorporate more artist content in their social media content strategy? Creating content based on the music has been something our team has been discussing for a while. Once we began asking why not, we’ve learned a big reason is a lack of knowing how. To help provide some guidance, our team has come up with seven frequently asked questions and created this blog series to help answer those questions. We’ve reached out to record labels, artists promoters, and other contacts that serve artists in the Christian radio industry to find out how radio could best support artists and their music on digital platforms. We hope you find this content valuable and shareable for your radio team.
Kris Love, Senior Director of National Promotion from Centricity Music, is our first responder! He will be sharing his thoughts and resources to help serve your listeners with content about the artists, their music, stories and educate radio digital teams on the process to get started.
1. What are the best ways radio stations can support your artists digitally and socially?
Tagging is absolutely one of the easiest and best ways. We/they are always looking for new content for their channels. Easy things like tagging are super helpful. But if they aren’t tagged, it’s doubtful they ever see it.
Kris Love
2. How should social media managers go about obtaining photos to use on social media? Google images?
Most labels have a press site or dropbox with the most updated photos and bios and such. Ours is https://centricitypress.com/
Those are a much better bet than the ol’ Google image search. You could end up with a 15-year-old photo using Google. Artists would never say it, but a little bit of their soul dies when they see an old photo pop up on something.
Kris Love
3. If a station has an idea for a particular artist, what’s the best way to go about making that happen?
Talk to your station’s label rep (go through the MD/PD if you don’t already know them). And come with an open-handedness for the idea. Artist schedules are busy and complex. The flexibility to change the artist for the concept or change the timeline can go a long way towards making something happen. Also, give grace. In my radio days, in my mind, when I asked for a simple liner, I always thought, “How hard is it to get a dang 10-second liner?” It turns out when there are 50 of those requests, on top of touring, and writing, and a bunch of other stuff, it isn’t as easy as it seems.
Kris Love
4. Do you have any tips on making artists’ interviews different/more engaging for social?
Think of new angles to the questions you’d typically ask. Rapid-fire stuff is a nice change of pace. If it’s for socials, figure out a way for them to visually answer (props, motions, or something).
Kris Love
5. Do labels have designated social media/digital reps that social media/digital people from radio stations could connect with to brainstorm ideas or touch base with every so often to stay top of mind?
Most have a dedicated digital marketing team, and there are many different ways artist socials are handled. Sometimes it’s a third-party company, and sometimes it’s the artist themselves. Sometimes the label has a hand in it. The short answer is yes; most have a person, but it will probably look different at each label. Start with the radio rep, and go from there.
Kris Love
6. Is there any unique or different way new artists can be supported by radio stations socially/digitally?
I’m sure there is, but it’s more challenging than it sounds. The idea of “starting new artists and familiarizing them on socials first, or early on” has been kicked around for a decade now. I’m totally down to brainstorm stuff, but the long and the short of it is, it HAS to start with a great song.
Kris Love
7. Any advice you’d like to give to the social media & digital managers of radio stations about working with labels?
1. Be OK with “No.” In a business as relational as this, “no” can feel like a personal attack. It’s not.
Kris Love
2. Give grace. (See #3)
3. Be clear about the idea and what you aim to accomplish with whatever we’re making together.
4. Give all the details you can about the idea you have. What are you asking the artist to do? How long will it take?
5. Where will it go/live? Will there be a cost involved? OVER explain and communicate it.