Where does music branding really come into its own? On the radio. Stripped out from any visual cues, music for broadcast needs to work even harder, and be absolutely on point. Whether it’s to create a brand identity, or for jingles, promos, intros and outros to programmes, features or the news, music is fundamental to bringing to life a station, show and presenter. From serious to jokey, talk radio to a dedicated decades station, music can be the key to hooking in your audience – and ensuring that they don’t ask Siri or Alexa to find an alternative to listen to…
Imagine the top-of-the-hour news without the ‘pips’ on the BBC, or Desert Island Discs without its soothing theme tune, complete with the gentle lap of waves, taking you away with your eight chosen discs, a book and a luxury. That jingle for your favourite radio presenter that you find yourself singing along to in the car, or the outro that signals the segue between shows. They become a part of your daily routine even when you probably don’t register them that much. But they’re key to connecting with the demographic that you’re trying to attract in radio – and keeping them loyal.
It's arguable that using music to establish a brand identity started with radio in the 1920s – ‘sonic branding’ as part of a marketing strategy enables you to:
- Establish an emotional connection with listeners
- Convey your brand values
- Differentiate yourself from competitors
- Increase brand recognition
With more and more stations available, the battle for listenership is at an all-time high. Kantar’s BrandZ research shows that brands with strong brand assets achieve 76% higher brand power. So, how do you go about harnessing the power of music for radio?
Music for Broadcast
If you don’t have the time or budget to commission original music, or you’re looking for music effects, then production music is your go-to. Which is where Audio Network comes in. With over 250,000 original tracks – composed and created by a hugely talented roster of artists, composers and producers worldwide, we have scores of genres to choose from and we record our music in some of the world’s best-known studios – meaning our quality is second to none.
Not only that, but we create dedicated collections, such as Game Time to cover all the highs and down-to-the-wire finishes of sport on the radio, the Holidays to get you in the festive spirit, the Global Music Series for unique tracks from around the world – or how about some Pop to brighten up your radio music? We also have hand-picked playlists to make choosing music even easier. From epic sci fi to tension-filled drama to comedy. Need FX or drones? We have hundreds of them. Want increased flexibility with stems? Nearly all our tracks have those too.
Whether you’re looking for a song for background music or themes for the news, beds to run under features and interviews, or specialist content such as sports coverage or documentaries, we have the sound that suits.
Finding Your Perfect Music for Radio
First off, you need to choose which of our Search functions you want to use: Musical Styles, Mood/Emotion, Instrumentation or Production Genre. You can listen to our latest releases for inspiration – we have new albums every fortnight.
You can filter to narrow down your options further – by mood, such as reflective or inspirational or tension-filled. You can also filter by genres including everything from dance to drum ‘n’ bass, indie to hybrid orchestral or world.
Use Your Creativity With AI-Driven Search
Want to get more specific? Try our new Prompt Search feature, which harnesses the power of AI to find your ideal sounds. Simply put in a description of your content, a scene for a radio drama, or the emotions you want your audience to feel, and you’ll get a playlist full of options within seconds.
Or you can use our Audio Search to find a song that sounds like something you’ve heard on YouTube, Spotify, TikTok or SoundCloud.
For more on adding tracks to your projects, watch our easy explainer:
Licensing Music for Radio
When music is played on radio stations, songwriters, composers and publishers are entitled to royalties. The PRS licenses its members’ music for broadcast on FM, AM, DAB, cable and satellite radio stations.
Read their full guide to find out all you need to kow about licensing music for radio use.
When you’re using songs and music on the radio, these are the details you need to supply to the PRS:
- Music title
- Songwriter/Composer/Performer
- Music duration
- Times of day banding
- Number of plays
- Transmission dates (sample days only)
- Campaign/advert details (commercials only)
The following information is optional:
Delivering this mandatory information is needed for PRS to grant a licence to a broadcaster for them to use the copyright in the music they represent. If you don’t send the mandatory information, this breaches the conditions of the PRS licence, which may result in the licence being terminated.
Using music from Audio Network, however, means that your tracks and songs are already fully licensed for broadcast, which saves you valuable time on admin.
So now you know how to find music for radio, explore our playlists and new releases, our collections, and our super-useful editor’s toolkit, full of beds, drones, risers, soundscapes and transitions to find your perfect sounds.
Need Music for Your Project?
At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!
