(Hypebot) – SiriusXM features stations across many genres and categories, offering musicians and music marketers a wide range of opportunities to promote music. The popularity of any station can change over time, but one constant is that music drives most SiriusXM listenership.
Here are the ten most popular SiriusXM stations:
- Howard Stern’s Howard 100 and Howard 101: Howard Stern has been a prominent figure on SiriusXM, and his two channels, Howard 100 and Howard 101, featured his show along with exclusive content.
- The Highway (Country): This channel played contemporary country hits and was quite popular among country music fans.
- SiriusXM Hits 1 (Pop): Known for playing the latest pop hits, this channel was a go-to for fans of mainstream pop music.
- The Pulse (Pop/Rock): The Pulse played a mix of pop and rock hits, making it popular among listeners who enjoyed both genres.
- Octane (Rock/Metal): Octane focused on hard rock and metal music, catering to fans of these genres.
- BPM (Electronic/Dance): BPM featured electronic and dance music, including DJ sets and remixes, attracting EDM enthusiasts.
- The Heat (R&B/Hip-Hop): This channel played R&B and hip-hop hits, catering to urban music fans.
- Alt Nation (Alternative Rock): Alt Nation showcased alternative rock music, including new and emerging artists.
- The Coffee House (Acoustic/Folk): This channel featured acoustic and folk music, creating a relaxed and mellow atmosphere.
- NPR Now (News/Talk): NPR Now offers a range of programming from National Public Radio, including news, talk shows, and features.
This list is based on the best available data that we could find, which came from 2021.
How to submit your music to SiriusXM
Playing tracks from new artists is a priority for many of the dozens of stations that play music on SiriusXM, But how to best to submit music for consideration airplay is far from clear.
If you’re working with a radio promoter, they may have contacts; otherwise, you’ll need to do some digging.
Most of the online articles suggested mailing a copy, but in 2023, that is almost certainly not the path to airplay success.
A better route is contacting each appropriate station directly. Some, like The Coffee House, offer an email address on their SiriusXM.com channel page. Others will require more digging.
One veteran radio promotion person said they regularly scoured LinkedIn and social media channels to find and contact individual DJs and producers directly.
Rick Barker offers this advice:
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
