In 2017, I published a blog post asking, "Is indie radio still relevant?" It was a terrible post. I was preparing to interview D. Grant Smith, who ran the indie radio show Appetizer Radio and wrote "The DIY Musician's Radio Handbook." Not much was being written about the indie radio's relevance, or lack thereof, at that time. I basically just asked the question and moved on. That was almost ten years ago. The music industry has been turned upside down several times since then. Streaming became the dominant listening format. Social media discovery rose, fell, and rose again. AI entered the conversation.

The question of radio, specifically indie radio, has arguably become more relevant. So today I'm revisiting the question, but this time I've done some actual research.

What I found is that radio is not dead. Not even close. More importantly for independent musicians, the indie radio ecosystem has real, concrete value, and you may be leaving some of that value on the table right now.

This episode covers who's actually listening to radio in 2025 and 2026. It also breaks down the royalty angle, which is where I think the most actionable framework lives. Also covered — the different types of radio and what each one offers an indie artist, where the royalty money is, the playlist-to-radio pipeline, college and community radio (the accessible gateway), and how to think about radio as an indie artist.

This episode is for independent artists trying to figure out whether radio still matters to their career, regardless of whether or not streaming is part of their plan.

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Ready to launch your podcast or take it to the next level? Podcast Startup gives you the frameworks, systems, and insider knowledge to build a show that actually grows your audience and serves your goals.

Whether you're just getting started or looking to improve your existing podcast, you'll get actionable strategies on equipment selection, content planning, audience building, and sustainable production workflows—without the overwhelm.

Learn more at UnstarvingMusician.com/PodcastStartup. Join podcasters who are building shows that last.

The Unstarving Musician's Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

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More Resources for musicians

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small commission, at no extra charge to you, if you purchase using those links. Thanks for your support!

For show notes and episode a list of past episodes, please visit UnstarvingMusician.com.

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Every distribution company's international playbook assumes resources an independent artist doesn't have. In this conversation, Janette Berrios, SVP of Corporate Marketing at Symphonic, scales things down to a solo artist with no team and no budget. She breaks down a repeatable way to enter a scene where you know nobody, research who matters, reach out so you actually get a reply, and how to follow up without being a pest. She also describes a cold outreach she made years ago to someone at a peer company bigger than Symphonic at the time, and where that relationship stands today.

Our discussion also covers the following.

• Researching a new market before you commit to it
• Finding local collaborators and producers on social
• Cold outreach that works: subject lines, tone, and follow-up timing
• Warming up a contact on social before you ask for anything
• Symphonic's Women Empowered+ mentoring program
• How she found mentors by reaching out cold
• First moves for audience-building in new and unfamiliar markets
• The virtual side of conferences most people overlook

Janette Berrios spent 15 years building Symphonic's expansion across the U.K., Europe, APAC, and Latin America. She also shares how Symphonic's niche and regional focus drove its growth, why she treats every Latin American country differently, and what sank the competitors who tried to buy their way into new markets.

The Unstarving Musician exists solely through the generosity of its listeners, readers, and viewers.

Learn how you can offer your support at UnstarvingMusician.com/CrowdSponsor

Ready to launch your podcast or take it to the next level? Podcast Startup gives you the frameworks, systems, and insider knowledge to build a show that actually grows your audience and serves your goals.

Whether you're just getting started or looking to improve your existing podcast, you'll get actionable strategies on equipment selection, content planning, audience building, and sustainable production workflows—without the overwhelm.

Learn more at UnstarvingMusician.com/PodcastStartup. Join podcasters who are building shows that last.

The Unstarving Musician's Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.

More Resources for musicians

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small commission, at no extra charge to you, if you purchase using those links. Thanks for your support!

For show notes and episode a list of past episodes, please visit UnstarvingMusician.com.

Stay in touch!

@RobonzoDrummer on Instagram

@UnstarvingMusician on Facebook and YouTube

George Macias is co-founder of Lumoza, a free music rights-registration platform for independent artists, where you upload your song, and it's registered where it needs to be so you actually get paid. Lumoza creates a Digital Birth Certificate for every song, which is a permanent record of who created it and when, and that helps take care of registering your work with the organizations that pay out royalties.

George and his cofounders spent years inside the major-label and publishing world, watching artists lose money to paperwork and processes nobody explained to them. Or that they found overwhelming.

George and I talk about patterns he repeatedly saw on the publisher side that made him think independent artists needed some help, how Lumoza wants to marry metadata and the song at the beginning of the process, the misunderstanding among indie artists that they register with a distributor and think they're done, his one recommendation for the thing artists should build into their recording session process, regardless of what tool they use, where AI music sits all of this, and more.

Learn more about Lumoza at Lumoza.io.

The Unstarving Musician exists solely through the generosity of its listeners, readers, and viewers.

Learn how you can offer your support at UnstarvingMusician.com/CrowdSponsor

Ready to launch your podcast or take it to the next level? Podcast Startup gives you the frameworks, systems, and insider knowledge to build a show that actually grows your audience and serves your goals.

Whether you're just getting started or looking to improve your existing podcast, you'll get actionable strategies on equipment selection, content planning, audience building, and sustainable production workflows—without the overwhelm.

Learn more at UnstarvingMusician.com/PodcastStartup. Join podcasters who are building shows that last.

The Unstarving Musician's Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo

Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.

More Resources for musicians

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small commission, at no extra charge to you, if you purchase using those links. Thanks for your support!

For show notes and episode a list of past episodes, please visit UnstarvingMusician.com.

Stay in touch!

@RobonzoDrummer on Instagram

@UnstarvingMusician on Facebook and YouTube