A great way to use your Blast Radio station is to debut new material.
Just as if you were going on a national radio tour or pitching press, you can drive excitement, ticket sales, streams, or purchases by giving listeners a first listen to your new single, mix, EP, or LP.
Read on for 5 steps to do a debut on Blast Radio + 15 examples from artists that have done it well.
5 Steps for premiering new material on Blast Radio
1. Choose a broadcast style: Episode or series
Single broadcast: Talk + play the release
3 or 5 part series:
- Have a special guest join -- maybe a collaborator to discuss the process behind the compositions.
- Perform a track live.
- Share demos or mixes that inspired the album’s creation.
- Use our DAW plugin to highlight portions of the track and talk about how they were made.
2. Set up your profile to promote the broadcast and release
Bio: Change your profile bio to include the date, time, and discription of your premiere broadcast.
Promo Link: Change the promotional link on your profile to go to a ticket page or the website where someone can purchase the release you're premiering.
3. Promote yourself
For all promotion - make sure to use your unique profile URL: blastradio(dot)com/YourUsername
Send an email: If you have an email newsletter, that’s a perfect channel to drive excitement for your broadcast. Send an email a week in advance and encourage your fans to download Blast Radio and follow you.
Post on permanent social channels: In advance of your broadcast, post to permanent channels like your Instagram Wall, Twitter, and Facebook. Tell users about your upcoming broadcast and encourage them to download Blast Radio + follow you.
Post on real-time social channels: The morning of your broadcast and at the time it goes live, post to real-time channels such as Twitter and Instagram stories.
4. Get support from your team
If you work with a manager, publicist, label, or marketing team -- tell them about your broadcasts so they can help promote.
If your team wants to collaborate on promo ideas, have them get in touch!
Also, let your collaborators know – producer, cowriters, tour mates, sessions musicians etc. The more folks that share your news, the more listens you will get!
5. Let us help promote
We also want to help you promote!
Make sure to submit yourself to our broadcast calendar.
We review all submissions and pull out select ones to be featured in the app + promoted in our newsletter and on social.
Tag us in your social posts so we can reshare!
15 examples of artists that have premiered material on Blast Radio
Sontag Shogun premiered their new album with Lau Nau, Valo Siroutuu, on the day it came out.
They played the record front to back, complemented with unreleased material from the recording session and a conversation discussing the album-making process.
Follow Sontag Shogun
Purchase Valo Siroutuu
Shea Stadium premiered Desaparecidos: Live at Shea Stadium a day before the album dropped. Shea founder and album producer, Adam Reich, talked about the record then played it in its entirety as an advance listen.
Follow Shea Stadium
Purchase Desaparecidos: Live at Shea Stadium
Ryan Egan gave fans an advance listen to his debut album, Soft Power. He narrated the entire broadcast as he played the record, unreleased studio material, live sessions, and demos.
Follow Ryan Egan
Purchase Soft Power
Fracture gave fans a preview of his upcoming Omura release with Sam Binga a full month before the record drops. As written by Resident Advisor, “Omura explores electro, acid and minimal textures across ten tracks. Drawing on the influences of Drexciya and The KLF, the record was made using chords from 30 year-old digital synths. It will be released digitally and on double-vinyl on April 22nd via Fracture's label, Astrophonica.”
Follow Fracture / Follow Sam Binga
Purchase: Album released April 22
Blast Radio regular, Thirty Minute Jams, invited Laurent Garnier to do a drop-in set featuring material from the Together for Ukraine album project, which benefits the relief effort in Ukraine.
Follow 30 Minute Jams
Purchase Together for Ukraine
Jessica Sikon of John's Little Sister hosted a listening party to hear her latest EP, Are We Having Fun Yet?, playing the EP in its entirety as well as some unreleased singles, upcoming songs, and a live acoustic performance.
Follow John's Little Sister
Purchase Are We Having Fun Yet?
Kenny Becker, or better known as Goon, debuted his EP, Paint by Numbers, Vol. 1, a day before its release, and complimented the session with songs that inspired its creation.
Follow Goon
Purchase Paint by Numbers, Vol. 1
Gābi debuted her, Andrew Barren, and Sard’s EP, Misery Breaks, and used the broadcast as an opportunity to discuss and bring awareness to injustices she's experienced in the music industry.
Follow Gābi
Purchase Misery Breaks
SmileyTheRager played his new album, Altered States of Consciousness, in full and discussed the creative process behind it, including how microdosing psilocybin mushrooms played an integral role in the creation.
Follow SmileyTheRager
Purchase Altered States of Consciousness
Matthew Ryals hosted a listening party for his newest album, Voltage Scores, going into detail discussing how each track was made, covering the mixture of generative process and improvisation that went into them, and taking questions via Instagram DMs and email.
Follow Matthew Ryals
Purchase Voltage Scores
AirPark elected to share some working demos, as well as dissect a selection of tracks that make up the terroir of their forthcoming release. The duo told stories and broke down their heartfelt, psychedelic twang, as well as their best techniques for getting all the right feelings to coalesce.
Follow AirPark
Purchase the album
Roy Molloy used his daily drive-time radio show to promote the release of his and Alex Cameron’s new release, Oxy Music. During the show, he played multiple singles from the record, promoted their upcoming European tour, and engaged in live conversation via his Discord channel.
Follow Roy Molloy
Purchase Oxy Music
In advance of its release, The Album Leaf streamed his compilation One Day XX, which includes material from his old catalog from the 2000s and 4 brand new tracks in a celebration for the reissue of his In an Off White Room EP from 2001.
Follow The Album Leaf
Purchase One Day XX
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