If you ALREADY a Whisperings artist...
... We will ALWAYS consider your new releases (both singles and albums) for the broadcast. Get in touch with the program director directly (you should have his info) or email submissions@solopianoradio.com for information on how and where to submit your new albums and singles. Existing Whisperings artists always recieve priority attention and consideration.
For artists who are NOT YET on Whisperings...
FIRST THINGS FIRST.
- Whisperings only broadcasts peaceful SOLO PIANO music. So... if your intended submission contains orchestration, synths, vocals, percussion, electronic sounds, rap, or is POUNDING thundering piano track... it's not for us.
- Whisperings only broadcasts original music, written by YOU. That means, no cover songs. So... if your intended submission is not an original composition, written and 100% owned and copyrighted by you... it's not for us.
- Full album submissions are preferred. We are not accepting one-off singles from artists who are not already well-established on the broadcast. So if you are just wanting to submit one or two piano tracks, even if it meets the conditions of #1 and #2 above, you'll need to wait until you have a larger selection of original piano works to submit. We will ignore submissions that do not meet those requirements. Caveat: If you create a playlist of solo piano tracks you'd like to send in so we can review a collection of works at once (let's say, a minimum of 8 tracks), we will take a listen. The more tunes you have, the more likely it is we'll find something that will work us. We just aren't interested in one-off piano tracks, preferring to promote artists who are dedicated to releasing solo piano music on an ongoing basis.
If ALL THREE conditions above are met, you've passed the first test. :) Read on...
Our Submission Guidelines
Here's What We Are Looking For...
- As stated above, only solo piano work will be considered. If your album includes a small amount of additional instrumentation on a few tracks, that's fine as long the full album (or collection) is mostly solo piano. A good rule of thumb is... the more solo piano music your project contains, the more likely it is we'll use some of the tracks. It's fair to say that if an album isn't at least 70% solo piano, we'll likely pass on it for the broadcast. We want to be able to promote you and your album as solo piano, and if we can't reasonably call your album "solo piano," we won't promote it.
- Only Peaceful, Relaxing Music Please.... The name of the broadcast is "Whisperings" and the tag line is "Music to Quiet Your World." So by its very definition, the style of music we play is gentle, peaceful and relaxing. If your album is full of thunderous, dynamic passages with lots of pounding, high-energy passages or fireworks... we'll pass on it. That's not to say you can't have one or two more dynamic or eclectic compositions on your album project - that's totally okay - but the album, in general, should be fairly representative of the name Whisperings.
- The album must contain your original piano compositions. Due to licensing restrictions, we cannot play cover tunes, only original music that YOU composed and own the copyright to. We do occasionally also play public domain works (i.e. Christmas, Traditional and Classical tunes), but we will only include public domain works from an artist who already has original music on the broadcast (so no Christmas/Holiday/Hymn album submissions unless you are already a Whisperings artist with songs from an album of your original works in rotation). If your album contains two or three cover songs, but the rest of the album is original, we will still consider the project based on those original tracks. The less original music on the album, the less likely it is we'll use it. Classical-only pianists... as our emphasis is on contemporary original composition, we are no longer accepting albums that are made up entirely of classical piano works.
- Your music must be available on both Apple Music/iTunes AND Spotify for purchase and/or streaming. If our visitors love your music, they'll want to purchase your albums and/or downloads or stream more of your music via Spotify, Apple Music or elsewhere. We encourage listeners to do that, and even promote specific Spotify playlists and so, to that end, your music must be available on both services.
- Your recording must SOUND professional. Just about anyone can record a "solo piano" album on their home keyboard these days. While we have nothing against keyboards, Whisperings radio features a rich acoustic piano sound. If your album was recorded on a digital piano, we'll still consider it, as we understand some of those samples are REALLY GOOD now. Just know that we do prefer a genuine acoustic piano sound and that we will pass on an album if it sounds too digital or synthetic.
Reasons We Might Pass On Your Music...
- The album ISN'T solo piano. Orchestration or "sounds" are added throughout.
- The album doesn't fit our quiet, peaceful format. If you're pounding on the piano, we won't use it.
- The album isn't recorded professionally. It sounds like a home recording, the piano is out of tune or a poor digital piano recording.
- The music isn't melodic. Melody is a big thing for us. If the music rambles on without any real melodic structure, we'll pass.
- We are unable to find at least four tracks on the album that fit well within our format.
The License Agreement...
If, after reviewing your music, we decide to select your music for the broadcast, we will send you a license agreement to sign and return to us. The agreement is very simple. By signing it...
- You confirm that you are the *sole* copyright owner for the music that we include on the program. Whisperings can only play your original compositions - no cover songs. However, we CAN include public domain works, so long as you own the copyright to your particular arrangement.
- You confirm that as the copyright owner, you give Whisperings permission to broadcast your music ROYALTY FREE. Why royalty free? That's explained on page one of the license agreement, which you can read here. If you send in your album with the signed license agreement, you are affirming that you willingly waive all royalty payments of any kind from Whisperings radio. Do note that although our broadcast is royalty-free, Spotify and Apple Music do pay royalties for streams and once you are a Whisperings artist, we will be including you on our Spotify playlists and other playlists on any other third-party services that we create. See the section below for more detail on the benefits of becoming a Whisperings artist.
- You confirm that you will represent yourself as the licensor of your music to us, and that you are not expecting any other agency (BMI, ASCAP, SOUNDEXCHANGE, the MLC, the RIAA or any other Performing Rights Organization) to do that for you. In other words, we are asking YOU to give us your direct permission to play your music. By signing the license agreement, you are stating that you will represent yourself and that these other organizations cannot collect licensing fees from Whisperings for you.
Benefits of Becoming a Whisperings Artist:
While we don't pay out royalties to artists for streams on our broadcast, there are many other (and probably more valuable in the long run) reasons to become part of our artist community:
- Thousands of solo piano music fans tune into the Whisperings broadcast every day. Our audience is a devoted one, listens repeatedly, and is highly targeted for this specific genre. Our audience appreciates the quality of music we put on, so they keep coming back, looking to discover new music and artists.
- When your music streams in our player, the listener sees your name, track title and album title. We also provide "buy/info" links that point to your "official" web site, as well as Apple Music, where the customer can follow up to find out more about you and your releases if they wish to.
- Once your music is live on our broadcast, it will periodically be featured on our official Spotify playlists.
- Once accepted, you'll receive an invitation to join our private, Whisperings Artist only Facebook discussion group. Here, solo piano artists discuss everything from "how I do this" or "what do you recommend" questions, to talking about the pros and cons of various marketing strategies, music industry news and happenings.
All Good? Ready to Submit Your Music? Here's How...
- Go to your album listing on Spotify, get the album link, and send that link along with your personal introduction to submissions@solopianoradio.com. Important Tip: In your introductory email, POINT OUT the three or four tracks you think will best fit our "music to quiet your world" solo piano format. We'll listen to those first, and if we like those, we'll be eager to listen to the rest of your album! NOTE: If you wish to create and send us a playlist of your what you feel are your most appropriate songs from a collection of albums or singles, you can do that. Send us the Spotify playlist link, and be sure it contains at least EIGHT suggested tracks - but please, not more than 20.
- If we decide to put tracks from your album (or project/playlist) in rotation, we'll follow up with you directly and provide you a link to the license agreement to read, sign and send in to us. We will also ask you to send us a link to download your submitted album or tracks in MP3 320kbps format.
- We will get in touch if we are interested in your music. We get a zillion submissions. Seriously. No need to follow up. Our typical review time for new artist submissions right now is six months (This is because new releases by our current roster have priority and always go to the front of the queue). If you don't hear back from us, you can assume we passed on it, but please do feel free to submit again when you have another album project ready to go.
Thank you.
Scott James, Review Team Manager,
Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio
