Independent artists are continually challenged when it comes to getting their songs on radio. A new service is going to make that challenge much easier. ECHE (pronounced EH-shay) is a user-friendly, ground-breaking service for Christian indie artists and Internet radio stations. Taking the grunt work out of getting airplay, ECHE presents new music to Christian Internet radio stations. Artists who subscribe to the service can upload their music on ECHEMusic.com and radio stations affiliated with the service can add those songs to their playlists.
Industry mover and shaker Simone Henry, the visionary and CEO of ECHE, feels that the company can open doors to artists who have been unsuccessful in securing airplay through traditional means. “ECHE was created as a platform for independent artists to present their music, to be discovered by radio programmers,” says Henry. “In addition to the benefits to indie artists, radio programmers have the opportunity to rate artists’ submissions and add music that has been favorably rated by other programmers. As a collective of radio stations, artists can be played on a group of stations, not just one.”
Songs added to ECHE and chosen to be placed in rotation will be tracked through Digital Radio Tracker which enables artist’s songs to chart through a BDS-type of monitoring system. Terrestrial radio stations that stream live are eligible for the service as well. In addition to benefiting artists and radio stations, radio promoters and managers can reap the rewards as well. They can track through the system and submit multiple artists’ music simultaneously.
ECHE offers many other benefits to artists. Soon, ECHE will present artist resources, additional products and services that artists have been requesting. Also, artists will be able to rate and comment on their experience (i.e., Angie’s List). ECHE isn’t a third-party system so all personal information and music are only shared within the membership community. Radio stations will reap the rewards as well. One of ECHE Music’s goals is to make Internet radio stations a more legitimate part of the industry. Also, the stations that are a part of the collective can be assured they will only receive Christian music. They will not have to sift through formats they don’t play. Stations can request CDs from artists if they prefer hard copies rather than digital downloads.
Kevin James, a popular Internet radio station programmer, is excited about the new service. “ECHE Music is building another stadium to break new artists,” he says. “This service will showcase the crème of the crop and has the power to make Internet radio even more influential.” Independent artists and radio stations are encouraged to sign up today. For more information on ECHE Music, log on to www.ECHEMusic.com.
