Our ultimate goal is to create a platform that benefits artists. Today, we’re excited to announce Blast Radio Artist Grants as a next step towards accomplishing that goal.
The new program will award financial grants to the three artists with the most listens each month.
Grant recipients will be determined democratically by the Blast Radio community. At the end of the month, the artist with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd highest listener counts will receive $1,000, $300, and $200, respectively.
While this is just a start, we're excited to add this to to the list of ways we're working to support and empower the artist community:
- More than 75% of artists on Blast Radio came as referrals from other artists
- Blast Box and Blast Radio plugin were created with an artist's exact process in mind
- Artist feedback determines what features are prioritized
- Blast Radio is a safe space to create and share with no mechanism for negative feedback
- The platform is audio only, aligning with the art form of music & spoken word
- Artists can make money by receiving tips directly from fans
The many talented artists on Blast Radio are putting their heart and soul into creating unique broadcasts to be enjoyed by the community. With this program, we're thrilled to further reward those efforts and support the creation of more art to be enjoyed by all.
Read more here in Rolling Stone. Additional detail below.
Are all broadcasters eligible to participate?
This program is specifically built to help artists. With that, broadcasts by venues, pre-programmed radio stations, blogs, or publications will not be eligible to receive grants. Blast Radio employees who broadcast are also not eligible to win grants.
Do I need to sign up?
No. If you meet the eligibility requirements laid out above, you're automatically qualified to receive a grant. You simply need to broadcast.
How will I know if I rank among the top 3?
Each week, we will send an email to all broadcasters showing the current standings based on community listens.
Is this a permanent program?
We will always look for creative ways to support our broadcaster community.
This specific program will run through the end of the year with grants given to the top 3 broadcasters for October, November, and December.
Where did this idea come from?
If you’ve used Blast Radio at all, you’ve likely listened to Roy Molloy’s ‘Drive Time Power Hour.’
Roy joined Blast Radio and immediately concepted the idea for his show, mobilized a community of listeners, began broadcasting daily, and became the most listened to broadcaster for all of September.
We were truly blown away by the effort he put in and the joy his work brought to Blast Radio listeners. With that, the idea of Blast Radio Artist Grants was born.
How do I increase my chances of winning a grant?
As grants are based on the number of daily listeners to your broadcasts, there are three simple steps to increase your chances of winning:
- Broadcast often - listeners from each daily broadcast count towards your monthly total; we’ve seen artists have the most success when they choose day(s)/time(s) and broadcast regularly so listeners know when to tune in.
- Find your format - There’s a format that’s going to work best for you. You can perform live, host interviews, do a radio show, open your DAW and give a lesson… the options are endless, but try and hone in on a format and stick with it. We’ve seen the broadcasts that get the most engagement have a spoken word component to them so break out your mic.
- Promote - share your broadcast with friends, family, fans and through social, text, email etc. We have some helpful tips here, which we’ve seen work for other artists.
A note on conduct:
We love, respect, and trust the broadcasters on Blast Radio. That said, it’s important to reiterate that broadcasters must strictly adhere to our community standards. Anyone found in violation of community guidelines will not be eligible for an Artist Grant and is subject to being banned from the platform.
Additionally, the goal of this program is to reward artist efforts to create and share their work with a supportive community. We reserve the right to disqualify a broadcaster from this program if we deem a behavior outside the spirit of celebrating and promoting art to real listeners.