Radio as a Medium in the Promotion of Different Recordings - Essay Example

The radio is a critical tool in promoting different records, but many people have not taken the time to understand the relationship between the labels and the radio stations. In the recent past, there are multiple radio stations, some of them streaming online. This means that there is a higher chance of radios promoting records. This paper will consider how records are promoted highlighting the role of the radio as well as an overview of the cultural influences of both the recording and radio industries.

Records are promoted using different media, and the radio has been one of the influential media forms in promoting records. Record labels usually hire a promoter who ensures that the record receives airplay on different radio stations. These records usually seek to exploit the available opportunity presented by the diverse audience listening to the radio. Although record labels ensure that their music is in different distribution shops before it is given popularity through the radio, it is evident that the radio plays a critical role. Statistics indicate that the radio contributes about 19-23% of popularity to a certain record. When listeners get to hear a certain record on the radio and become interested, they go to the distribution shops and make purchases of the specific records (Spence, 2011).

In this way, the performers earn indirect revenue from radio promotion. On the other hand, radio stations ensure that there is a continuous streaming of music preferred by the audience so that they can create a favorable environment for advertisers. In this way, radio stations benefit indirectly from promoting different records. Notably, this symbiotic relationship ensures that both the record labels and the radio benefit indirectly in the end. This explains why many radio stations are willing to give free airplay to different records. Worth noting is the fact that royalties are only paid to the composers and the publishers (p. 67).

Without a doubt, both the recording and radio industries register a measure of cultural influence. Music recordings have been described as highly pervasive in their nature of influence because they are available to different generations. Music recordings promote popular culture in different aspects. When radio stations serve as promoters of such recordings, they also contribute to the promotion of popular culture (p. 121). Considering the repetition of different tracks in a single day, and the large audience that listens to the radio, it is evident that both recordings and radio industries exert multiple cultural impacts (p. 89). The audience listening to recordings on the radio is exposed to popular culture continuously and it affects their cultural values.

Conclusion

            As described above, the radio is a critical medium in the promotion of different recordings. The influence of the radio in promoting music labels has been evident since the 20th century. The symbiotic relationship existing between the record labels and the radio is the force behind the continuous streaming of music on radio stations. Sound media are highly pervasive and exert multiple cultural influences. Music recordings promote different aspects of the popular culture actors that persuade the audience to adopt the popular culture.