FAQ

Can an independent artist use iPluggers to promote their release to radio stations worldwide?

Answer: Yes, this is possible if our A&R department approves the release. We only plug good airplay worthy releases so radio stations know that they receive good music from us. This makes our service so effective.

Can everybody promote their music?

Answer: No, before an artist or label can use our service our A&R department has to approve the release. We only plug good airplay worthy releases so radio stations know that they receive good music from us. This makes our service so effective.

Is there a difference between registering as a label or an artist?

Answer: Not really. The only difference is that you can add more artists to a label account. A label account only makes sense if you have 2 or more artists on your label.

Do I need to pay before I request approval?

Answer: No. You can only pay and plug your music after your release is approved by our A&R department.

How long is the response time to hear back from your A&R department to determine if we are eligible for radio promotion?

Answer: When you ask for approval, it takes a maximum of 5 work days. Although in general you will hear back from us in 1 work day! Make sure your profile is complete, that speeds up the process.

Are there any other extra costs beyond the initial price that is listed on the website?

Answer: No. but the price can seem higher or lower if you pay in dollars or in another currency. This is because the exchange rate is never 1:1. Our payment module calculates the amount based on the actual exchange rate.

How does an artist or label pay for iPlugging?

Answer: You can pay via PayPal (PayPal also offers the possibility to pay using credit and debit cards).

Do you really send the songs to radio stations or just leave them on your site?

Answer: Yes we really do. We plug your music genre-based to radio stations worldwide (up to 3 genres). Immediately after plugging, you have real-time insight in which radio station from which country has downloaded your release for airplay. Additionally you can receive feedback and interview requests from radio stations.

How are artists and labels updated on which radio stations have downloaded their release for airplay?

Answer: All results are logged real-time and can be viewed after login into an artist or label account. Click on PLUGGING RESULTS for the release and there you'll see an overview of each track and the number of downloads. You can view the detailed results online or download a detailed .xlsx / .csv file to see which radio station from which country has downloaded a track for airplay.

Could you give us a list of the radio stations that work with iPluggers?

Answer: We do not give out lists of radio stations we plug to as this our core business. When a radio station downloads a track, you can see which radio station in which country has downloaded it for airplay. This is logged real-time.

How long will the plugging process takes?

Answer: From the plugging date on it take up to 4 weeks to get the release out to radio stations. Music directors etc. have indicated in which frequency they want to receive new plugging.

There are 3 basic settings: 1) immediately (on the plugging day itself) 2) once every week (+ day setting) 3) once every 2 weeks (+ day setting)

Each music director will receive their plugging on the desired date. After the plugging each release will be available on the NEW RELEASES page (first page after music directors login) for 4 weeks. After these 4 weeks a release will remain available in the archives and will stay there forever.

With this set up, (new) radio stations can always browse airplay kits and download releases of interest.

How many radio stations will airplay my release?

Answer: It is difficult to say how many stations will airplay a release. A successful campaign depends on the songs and other marketing: do radio stations like the songs yes or no, how big is the fan base of that artist, what other marketing is the label / artist doing, has an artist had a hit before, does the release sounds commercial, etc etc.. There are too many factors involved to give accurate statistics on this.

We plug genre based to REAL radio stations, but whether stations will airplay a release, is totally up to them.

Do I get paid for being on the radio?

Answer: Composers / writers and publishers should receive royalties from the right organisation they are associated with. A radio station pays to a PRO for a broadcast license, and the PRO pays to composers / writers and publishers.

Do I receive royalties from airplay?

Answer: We promote mostly to stations that report to Nielsen and pay fees to right organisations like BMI, SOCAN, PRS, BUMA, GEMA, SABAM, etc.

Can you target / plug to specific countries?

Answer: We are not focused on specific territories, as we plug genre based. Our focus is the genre of the release, not the territories. See for all genre stations: http://www.ipluggers.com/partners

But you can set one or more territory restrictions for your release.

Can I plug songs with explicit lyrics?

Answer: Explicit is no problem at all, the only thing is that the song will be marked as explicit on your profile.

Can we submit music with a release date in the past?

Answer: Yes, that's no problem at all. If radio stations haven't received the release, it's a new product for them.

Why should I plug an album?

Answer: Some of our partners are big soundsystems with a lot of in-store radio stations. They will make you whole album available for all their partner shops / radio stations.

Next to that, when you have more than one genre on your CD, it's interesting to plug an album, as you can specify the subgenre per track. Radio stations can search on subgenre to find specific songs. That's interesting as your release will stay (after the plugging) in our database forever. So (new) radio stations can always find your release.

Can I pay for the option for an EP or album and then upload the tracks over time? I don't want to plug them all simultaneously?

Answer: If you plug an EP or album, than you can only plug the whole EP or album. You can not plug songs as individual tracks. If you like to plug songs as individual tracks, you need to plug every song as a single.

I already use a physical plugger, can I also use iPluggers?

Answer: You can hire a physical plugger and do plugging via iPluggers, this can coexist.

Is the upload connection secure?

Answer: Our upload system is 100% secure and protected.

Is the service really free of charge for radio stations?

Answer: YES it is and it always will be. No hidden costs. Its free.

Is the music royalty free?

Answer: NO, every radio station is required to have a broadcast license in order to play music legally.

How do radio stations receive the newest releases?

Answer: Radio stations are updated on the newest release by our iPlugging service. This is a custom service based on each music directors preferences and playlist genres. We do not send out bulky inbox-clogging airplay kits: we include links to artist profiles where all relevant information can be found and tracks can be listened to and downloaded.

What does a plugging look like?

Answer: A preview of a plugging can be found here: http://www.ipluggers.com/public/assets/img/example_plugging.gif

In which format do you provide tracks?

Answer: Tracks can be downloaded individually as a 320 kbps mp3. Each track has id3v2.4 tags embedded. Optionally, an additional label copy of the complete release can be downloaded (.zip file including the release cover and an .xlsx and .csv file with all track details).

Can a radio station (music director, head of music, programming department) receive iPlugging of releases from all genres?

Answer: Yes, this is possible. Each music director can change their individual settings to receive all genres after their account has been activated.

What do you do besides genre based plugging to music directors?

Answer: Next to the plugging, every release is available in its genre archive and is indexed using genres so music directors can find it in our archives. Each release will also be available on the NEW RELEASES page (first page after music directors login) for 4 weeks (after these 4 weeks a release will remain available in the archives).

With this set up, (new) radio stations can always browse airplay kits and download releases of interest.

Sometimes I can request an interview and sometimes not. Why is that?

Answer: This is a feature an artist or label has to activate. If they have activated this, you can request an interview once you download their track or release. If they haven't activated 'interview requests' this option will not show up on the airplay feedback form. You can always leave airplay feedback though!

How do you guarantee the quality of the releases?

Answer: All releases are screened by our A&R department. Our mission is to maintain a platform where high-quality releases can be promoted efficiently. Therefore our screening procedure is very strict.