How Does A Song Get An Adds Date?

[jvandyck87]

How Does A Song Get An Adds Date? Does it cost money? Do stations on the panel decide whether or not a song is worthy of an adds date within the format? Some songs are considered singles at a format without ever going for adds even though the band officially considers the song its latest single on their myspace. Any input my expert friends?

[Sir Benji]

I'm not an expert but i believe that an adds date is the label's decision i think they just pick the song as a single and then they arrange the dates w/ R&R, FMQB & Allaccess I'm not sure if it cost money to send a song for adds i think the songs are sent to R&R, Allaccess & FMQB and then the PD's at the radio stations listen to them and determine if they want to add it to the station's playlist or not and to answer your question about songs that never go for adds those songs just gain major airplay from alot of the stations on the panel but i think they eventually are given an adds date if they get enough airplay and if a song is to actually be considered a single it's usually given an adds date unless the artist is on an indie label

[blahhhh]

Once the Label/Artist decide on a single to push, the adds date is determined by the label. I'm not sure if it costs money to list the songs with AllAccess, FMQB ect, but i dont think so because they want to be reliable services.

I believe that the only money necessary for an adds date on the labels part would be promotional ads to push the songs on the formats.

[oscillations.]

this is all true, and therefore it infuriates me when labels don't put in the effort to make this happen.

[jvandyck87]

So if it costs no money...what's to keep a complete start-up act who nobody's ever heard of from getting a song an adds date? It might not help the song much without the promotion backing it, but wouldn't a lot of garage bands try to get their demos some airplay by getting an adds date for the song?

[avaholic26]

I've been curious about this too. How often before albums come out does the first single drop? Also why do some albums get 5 or more singles and some get only 2 or 3? (I know album sales have a lot to do with that but sometimes similar selling albums will vary on this). How long after the first single drops do they generally put out the second one? Where do you find out the add dates? Why are the add dates different for each format? If a station/program director likes a song can they play it before the add date? Who decides the add date?

[Marv]

The long-running practice, at least at country radio, has been that the CD will be released exactly twelve weeks after the first single is sent to radio.

Insofar as the number of singles from any given CD labels will release singles from a CD until they feel that the CD has reached its peak saleswise, and that it is time for a new CD from that artist.

Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic radio are quite different as opposed to previous decades; artist development and marketing expenses have been dramatically slashed over the years, and the CHR/Rhythmic format has always depended on finding more and more artists, as opposed to developing an artist and building his or her career into a long-running one.

[jvandyck87]

My intitial question hasn't quite been answered yet cuz I think I haven't quite pointed it in the right direction....

What's to keep an unsigned artist that nobody has ever heard of with a demo from getting an adds date listed at fmqb and allaccess. I feel like if there wasn't some criteria for ann adds date, hundreds of songs would be going for adds every week as bands would pick their best songs as singles and send them to all radio stations in their format while having an adds date to make their quest for radio play seem more legitimate. Clearly this doesn't happen, but what's stopping it from happening?

[EvanJ]

If hundreds of artists tried going for adds every week most of them would probably get 0 adds and be listened to by employees of very few stations.

[avaholic26]

I guess I'm not quite understanding it either, why is there even such a thing as an adds date? Why are songs getting played on the radio before the date? If they are available and released I don't understand why the release date is not the adds date? Why is there a different date for each format? Why would a station add a song weeks after its become popular on other formats because they are waiting for the add date? Who comes up with these dates? And yes, whats stopping a band or artist from declaring they want an additional single off of their album and creating thier own add date?

I apologize for all the questions. I've recently just started watching the charts and learning about all this so there are a few pieces that are still fuzzy to me.