How to pitch college radio

College stations are run by students, often with a volunteer music director who decides what enters rotation. The music director is the person to email, not the general station address and not a DJ you like. Many stations publish a music department address, a submission form or a mailing address on their site; use whatever they publish, and check whether they accept digital servicing or physical CDs.

A station’s schedule is academic. Terms start and end, the music director changes yearly, and the weeks around exams are dead. Pitch early in a term, not in the last two weeks before a break, and expect a slower reply than from a commercial outlet. If a station publishes a rotation add date, work backwards from it.

A servicing copy they can play, a clean version if the record has explicit content, and the metadata that goes into the rotation sheet: artist, album, track titles, genre, language and duration. A one-sheet with a short bio, RIYL references ("for fans of…") and contact details saves the director time and is read more often than a press release.

Do not send a streaming-only link if the station has no way to play from it. Many college stations still need a downloadable file or a physical copy. Ask what they prefer before sending a WAV; a 60MB attachment will be filtered, so use a hosting link with a direct download.

Subject: [Artist] — [genre] — new release for [station] rotation. Body: "Hi [name], I am [artist/representative] writing about [title], out [date] on [label or self-released]. It is [genre] with [two concrete descriptors], [duration], and a clean version is included. Servicing link: [link]. RIYL: [three artists the station already plays]. Happy to send a physical copy if that is easier — just say where."

Then the one-sheet facts and your contact. That is enough. Do not ask them to add you to a specific show, do not promise an interview before they have heard the record, and do not send five follow-ups. A station that adds you will usually tell you; a station that does not will usually say nothing, and that is normal.

Rotation means the record is in the station’s current library and eligible for airplay; it does not mean a guaranteed slot. Charts are compiled from station reporting, and only reporting stations count. A station add is useful for airplay, for the station’s audience, and as evidence in a press or grant application — not as a number you should quote as audience size.

Track it honestly: which stations serviced, which confirmed receipt, which added, which asked for a physical copy, and which reported. That list is portable across releases and more useful than a one-off campaign. If radio is one part of a wider release plan, see how to pitch radio stations for the commercial side and the press release template for the parallel press pitch.

An independent artist targets twelve college stations in their region and adjacent markets. The list records the music director where published, the submission route, whether the station takes digital servicing, and the term dates. Each email carries the same one-sheet and a unique servicing link, and each first line references a show or a record the station has played.

Two stations ask for a physical copy; one adds the record to rotation the following week; nine never reply. That is a realistic outcome. The artist follows up once after two weeks on the ten non-replies, and records the two physical requests as the warmest contacts for the next release. Total sends: 22, well inside any plan allowance.