ROTATIONWhere to send your musicThe Dial

Glossary

The words radio uses, in plain English.

20 terms an independent artist meets when submitting music to radio, defined plainly: clean edit, safe harbor, rotation, add, one-sheet, ISRC, payola and more, with what each one means for a submission and how many of the 1363 verified stations require it.

Most of the vocabulary around getting played is either assumed or used to make simple things sound complicated. These are the 20 terms that actually change what an artist should do, each defined in a sentence or two and then explained in terms of one submission. Where our own data can say how many stations require something, it says so and names them.

The people and the places

College radioWhat is college radio?Community radioWhat is community radio?LPFMWhat is an LPFM station?HBCU radio stationWhat is an HBCU radio station?Music directorWhat is a music director at a radio station?Specialty showWhat is a specialty show on radio?

The record itself

Clean editWhat is a clean edit?Lossless audioWhat is lossless audio, and why does radio ask for it?ISRCWhat is an ISRC code?One-sheetWhat is a one-sheet in music?EPKWhat is an EPK?Station dropWhat is a radio drop?

The rules

Safe harborWhat is the FCC safe harbor?Freeform radioWhat is freeform radio?PayolaWhat is payola?

The business around it

AddWhat does it mean to get added at a radio station?RotationWhat does rotation mean in radio?Airplay reportWhat is an airplay report?Performance rights organisationWhat is a PRO, and do I need one for radio?Radio pluggerWhat is a radio plugger?

Every door is on your sheet.

Pick your sound and region on Rotation and each of these stations shows its real submission contact and the exact rules it posts: clean edit, WAV, form or mail. Checked by hand and kept current. No station here paid to be listed.

Open my sheet →

Radio is the free half, and it stays that way. Every station here is free to reach and no station ever pays to be listed. The Doors is the other half: 100 verified places that are not radio, sync libraries, music supervisors, festivals, contests, live sessions and the music press, 43 of which can actually pay an artist. It also lists the 162 we opened and refused, with the reason each one failed, because most lists of this kind are stale and the rejections are the part nobody else will show you. $9.99, the 2026 Q3 edition →

Read next

The Playbook: how you actually get played → · The State of Independent Radio Submissions → · Guides →

Checked by hand, not scraped · Last rechecked September 2026