PickPocket Revealed

Gorov Music is excited to announce the launch of our Artist Education Initiative (AEI), which seeks to educate Smooth Jazz recording artists, and anyone in the Smooth Jazz community who would like to learn more. The goal is to help artists make the most informed choices for marketing their music. Our first installment explores radio promotion, clears up some of the misconceptions, and compares professional RP to one-time song delivery.

Radio airplay is often compared to the border of the music marketing puzzle; the other pieces fall into place more easily once the border is established. We’ll dive deeper into the value of radio airplay and charting in a later installment, but first we’d like to clarify the many platforms of radio for Smooth Jazz in 2026. Currently, we promote music over 200 broadcasting platforms (radio stations) around the globe: FM/AM radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Music Choice/TV channel, College radio, multiple radio networks, nationally/internationally syndicated specialty shows, literally hundreds of online/streaming radio stations just a few keyboard clicks away, and mobile apps like iHeart Radio, Live365 and others.

Reputable radio promoters (RP’s), either record label promotion reps or ‘indie’ promoters like GMM, are a vital marketing resource across all formats of music, none more than the Smooth Jazz genre. But unfortunately, the images we’ve seen in films over the years, with promo reps making dark backroom hush-hush cash payments to radio stations/DJ’s, have cast a negative shadow over the profession. The goals for all RP’s in 2026, across all genres of music, are attaining maximum airplay and national charting for the artists and record labels we represent.

A radio promoter normally has years of experience working in music. While most have worked at record labels previously, some come from radio, and some are creators as well. Radio promoters have developed strong relationships – in many cases friendships – with the station music directors, program directors, DJ’s, station managers, marketing/promotions directors, and more over the years. They have come to expect good music from us, there’s a symbiotic relationship built on respect, professionalism – and ears. Most reputable RP’s maintain a very high standard for the songs we promote. After all, our reputation is on the line with every song we present to our friends at radio.

RP for artists signed to record labels is generally handled internally (by the labels themselves), with an occasional dip into indie RP, mostly for smaller or artist-owned labels. Indie RP’s are potentially available to promote music for any/all Smooth Jazz artists, for a fee. How much does it cost? Most SJ RP’s charge $300 - 400/week, with additional discount options for longer campaigns (prices may vary, contact your RP for details). We do not get paid on a per-station basis, we are paid a retainer for our overall services. Keep in mind, quality is of the utmost importance, especially in a highly competitive promotional environment like Smooth Jazz radio.

There are other amazing indie radio promotion professionals in our genre, including Adam Leibovitz (who worked with The Gorovs from 1998 until our move to Las Vegas in 2003), Bud Harner, David (Dave) Kunert, and Kim Giles/Neal Sapper, all of whom we’ve known for 25+ years. Although we don’t know Lynda Penn personally, we know she does a great job too as we’ve seen the results she delivers. These marketing professionals are the best options for SJ artists looking for maximum exposure for their music, across multiple platforms of broadcasting. You can find all RP’s named here on Facebook. Although we all haven’t seen eye to eye on everything over the years, there’s one thing we all have in common – our passion for Smooth Jazz. Due to the popularity of our radio promotion services, our company release schedules may be filled weeks or months in advance. It’s important for artists to reach out to RP’s to schedule releases far in advance, while getting their ‘ducks in a row’ during this interim period.

How do radio promoters deliver music to the stations? We make it as easy as possible for our radio friends. First, we hand-craft a dynamic email blast, which is distributed to over 200 broadcasting platforms (radio stations) weekly (sometimes twice). These blasts contain download links for high-res, lossless WAV files, 320kbps mp3 with full metadata added by us, cover art, bio/one sheet, photos and more. What’s metadata? We’ll discuss later but it’s just a fancy name for artist name, song title, composers, ISRC code, etc.

Next, we add all of our music to our online Dropbox, where our radio friends can easily download the assets mentioned. We normally keep 4-5 months of our releases active in Dropbox. Also, to the delight of many, we no longer ask our artists to manufacture or mail CD’s to radio. We have discovered a cost effective way to deliver CD’s ourselves to the stations who request or require it, at no additional cost to artists.

Following the initial distribution of our music, we then follow up with our friends at radio weekly during the radio campaign window via phone, email, text message, in person, or all of those - urging the stations to play and play and play it more!

There are several marketing companies who claim they ‘cover’ radio, but instead simply send a one-time email to stations, with no follow-up. Not even a ‘please listen’. Which is exactly what a radio promoter does.

Coming next episode of AEI : THE SECRET?

Please keep all questions/comments professional and respectful.