Can I Use Popular Music in my Radio Ad?

Before you dive into the world of using popular music in your radio ads, it’s essential to understand the ins and outs of licensing for commercial use. Here’s a concise guide:

Popular music—everyone knows it, and everyone loves to sing along. But is it worth paying out the ass for in your radio ads? Tons of people ask us if they can use a popular song or theme from a TV show/movie in their radio ad.

Having a
brand with a broad target audience is both a blessing and a curse. Almost anyone can be a client, but how do you
market to everyone? Where can you go
to reach young and old, men and women, tech-savvy and the completely unplugged?
The answer has been with you your whole life – yep, that’s right, it’s good ol’
terrestrial radio.

How does
radio get phenomenal ratings across almost every demographic imaginable? To
start, radio has a tremendous reach. Even in areas where TV signals are fuzzy
and Wi-fi is a reach of a dream, you can usually tune into a local station.

Radio jingles have been around since the late 1920’s when General Mills adopted its own a cappella group, the Wheaties Quartet, to save its failing cereal brand. Ever since, companies have been following in Wheaties’ footsteps, creating their own catchy songs for consumers to sing along to. Radio jingles increase brand awareness by repetition and memory. Let’s break down some of the aspects of these branded songs:

Brand Awareness

Radio jingles have a simplistic way of creating brand awareness. When people hear it, they associate it with your brand. Once a consumer has heard your radio jingle and they see an ad for your business or product, they’ll have the song to associate it with.

You’re setting up your brand’s killer summer campaign. You’ve booked TV spots, outdoor space, and created digital video content that you’re sure will go viral – you think you’ve covered all your bases. But are you missing a gold mine right in front of you? Have you neglected the medium that reaches more Americans than television and smartphones? Have you – gasp! – left radio advertising out of your campaign?

We’re only a little offended, but don’t worry, we can help you see the light.

Radio Advertising

Radio advertising has been around for nearly a century now, but a few things have changed since 1922.

2017 has been a great year for radio and radio lovers alike. With new ways that stations and advertisers can communicate with their consumers, the radio industry is at an all-time high.

There have been many radio trends in 2017 that we loved and we wanted to share some of our top picks. These radio trends are what people are listening to, how they are listening to it, and some factors on how things can affect the content we listen to.

Let’s start with the facts. Radio still reaches more people than any other medium according to Nielsen; 93% of American adults to be exact.

Tailored Content

Okay, so you’ve been radio advertising for a while now and a few radio ads go on the air and they’re all fine and dandy but…you didn’t get the results you wanted. Why is that? Maybe the content wasn’t tailored to your target audience, or maybe the people listening weren’t who you should be going after.

Did your ad for the hottest new toy reach the local children and also appeal to their moms? Is it a better choice to use dance music rather than grunge rock for your happy hour at the bar ad?

It could be a better idea to place your ads on internet radio rather than broadcast.

Here’s a bit of background on Internet radio for those history buffs out there. Carl Malamud was the very first person to broadcast his station through the web in 1993. On his show, simply titled Internet Talk Radio, he would interview computer experts about the Internet and the newest technology at the time. A year later, The Rolling Stones would host the first multicast concert through the web–a major milestone in Internet radio!

Radio.co dives into more detail about the history of Internet radio if you crave more internet radio history.