Tried and true payola rears its ugly head in a new service offered by internet radio station, Jango. Founded in 2007, the site claims to have 6 million regular listeners looking to discover your new music. Similar to sites like Pandora and Last.fm, Jango asks users to type in a few of their favorite artists to create a customize radio stream. What’s new and exciting is the pay for play promotional packages tailored to fit the indie budget.
For as little as $30, any artist can get their own songs played along side of any mainstream act they choose. Let’s say your sound is similar to Calvin Harris. With Jango, you can target your promotion to appear every time a Calvin Harris song is played.
“For $50 I got 2,000 airplays on Jango. At the end of the day, I had nearly 400 “likes,” over 50 new fans and lots of positive comments, says NYC indie artist Mickey Wax. “I also saw increases in album sales and traffic to my website.”
“It’s definitely worth it if you’re an independent artist looking to get your music out there – either to push a single or get a quick response to your music. I’ve tried Last.fm before but Jango gives you much more for your money. They do better promotion and make it easier for fans to connect- they also allow you to qualify for general rotation if your song receives a high number of “likes” from the Jango community.”, says Wax.
This is absolutley brilliant if you ask me. Don’t let the recession be your excuse for not getting the radio exposure you need. Jango is like Obama for the independent music community.
