Campaign delivery dates per release
Each campaign has a delivery schedule agreed with the label, with assets, mixes and clean edits due before the first pitch goes out.
For radio pluggers
Running a radio campaign to its deadlines
A plugger's campaign lives and dies on add dates, playlist deadlines and chart cut-offs, and all three move with the release schedule.
No account needed to see the proposed desk.
The recurring work
What radio pluggers have to keep on top of
Every one of these has a date attached, a document behind it, and somebody who notices when it slips. This is what goes on the desk.
Playlist and radio add deadlines
Stations and streaming editors meet weekly to decide adds, and material has to arrive before the meeting or the release waits a full cycle.
Servicing lists and contact data
Producer, programme controller, editor and playlist contacts change constantly, and a campaign is only as good as the list it is sent to.
Licence and clearance for promo copies
Promotional copies and mailers require the label's authority and, where samples or cover versions are involved, clearance confirmed before anything ships.
Label and promoter contract dates
Retainers and campaign agreements carry start and end dates, deliverable lists and payment terms, all of which have to be tracked per client.
Chart registration cut-offs
Chart eligibility and registration rules carry weekly cut-off times, and a release registered late is not counted for that week.
Airplay reporting to societies
Airplay lists are reported so performers and rights holders are paid, and PRS in the UK and PPL require the data in their own formats and cycles.
Feedback and results reporting
Labels expect a report on what each station and editor did with the record, which has to be gathered after every campaign cycle.
Invoicing and campaign expenses
Fees, expenses and travel are invoiced per campaign, and the terms differ between label retainers and direct artist deals.
What it costs to carry it
The work is not the pitch, it is remembering where every campaign stands. A record delivered a day after the playlist meeting loses a week, a chart registration filed late loses the week entirely, and a mailout sent to a stale list reaches people who left the station last quarter. The cost is invisible at the time and permanent afterwards, because a missed add week is not recoverable by working harder the following Monday.
What the desk takes over
The desk works this list to its own schedule and reports what it did.
Add date tracker
Every release is held against its station and playlist meeting dates, with lead times for delivery so the material lands before the decision is made.
Servicing list upkeep
Contact records are checked and updated between campaigns, and bounced or returned mailouts are listed so the list is corrected before the next send.
Results reporting
Airplay and playlist feedback is gathered after each cycle and assembled into a report for the label, with gaps chased rather than left blank.
Airplay data filing
Airplay lists are compiled in the format each society requires and prepared for submission by their reporting dates, with the plugger checking before it goes.
What stays with the radio plugger
The relationships stay with the plugger: who to call, when to call, and what to say about a record. The desk watches the dates and keeps the data straight. That is the right division because a pitch is a judgement and a deadline is a fact.
Questions
Who handles airplay reporting, the plugger or the label?
Whichever side agreed it in the campaign terms, which is why those terms are tracked per client. The desk compiles the airplay data in the format each society asks for and files it by the reporting date.
Can new releases be added to a schedule while a campaign is still running?
Yes. Each release is tracked separately with its own delivery and add dates, so a second campaign does not disturb the first.
What happens when a station's submission process needs a portal login or a signed form?
The desk prepares everything the submission requires and stops at the point a person is needed. It then records what was submitted and when, so the deadline is not lost in the handover.
Put the radio plugger's recurring work on the desk
Start with a name, a website and one sentence about what the business does. The desk proposes the list; the radio plugger corrects it.