Kerrang Radio Contact Enrichment: From 10 Hours to 2 Minutes

Campaign Snapshot

The artist: UK grime-influenced metal band targeting Kerrang Radio's specialist rock programming. The goal: secure first national rock radio play via Alex Baker's Fresh Blood show for unsigned artists. Below are the numbers that mattered.

Where Manual Research Fell Apart

Kerrang Radio is ruthless about submission hygiene. 40+ years of specialist rock radio means strict policies. Here are the problems that killed the first attempt.

• General email deletion policy: Kerrang Radio explicitly states submissions to general contact email will be DELETED. Must use Alex Baker's personal website ONLY. Artists waste hours finding this critical detail after first rejection.
• Fresh Blood route hidden: Alex Baker's Wednesday midnight Fresh Blood show is the official unsigned artist route, but this is not prominently displayed on main Kerrang website. Easy to target wrong presenters or main playlist first.
• Head of Music confusion: Loz Guest is listed as Head of Music (main playlist decisions), leading artists to target professional radio plugging route when Fresh Blood is the actual starting point for unsigned acts.
• Website location unclear: Alex Baker's personal website for submissions is separate from main Kerrang site. Hours wasted searching for correct submission form location.

How the Audio Intel Workflow Rebuilt the Campaign

The enrichment run started with basic contact information: I found Kerrang Radio's general email from their website and added station name with metal/rock genre to my CSV. Audio Intel enriched with critical submission policy details that saved hours of wasted outreach.

1. Upload CSV with basic contacts: CSV included station name (Kerrang Radio), general contact email from website, and target genre (metal/rock).
2. Enrichment and policy discovery: Platform crawled official Kerrang sources, Bauer Media information, Alex Baker's Fresh Blood show details, and critically discovered email deletion policy buried in submission guidelines.
3. Critical warnings flagged: General Kerrang email submissions DELETED warning highlighted in red. Alex Baker's website route clearly marked as ONLY valid submission method for unsigned artists.
4. Complete contact export: Alex Baker Fresh Blood route verified, Loz Guest (Head of Music) noted for professional campaigns, weekly reach (445,000 listeners), and Wednesday midnight broadcast time exported to CSV.

Sample Kerrang Radio Contacts After Enrichment

General email submissions do not reach Fresh Blood team and will be automatically deleted. Only Alex Baker's website submissions are reviewed.

What Changed After Switching to Enrichment

Use This Playbook for Your Next Kerrang Radio Pitch

If you have unsigned rock, metal, alternative, or punk music targeting specialist rock radio, the fastest route is Alex Baker's Fresh Blood. Here is the exact checklist.

1. Locate Alex Baker's personal website for Fresh Blood submissions (NOT general Kerrang Radio email).
2. Prepare professional quality recording (radio-ready final master, not demo quality).
3. Submit via Alex Baker's website submission form ONLY (general Kerrang emails will be deleted).
4. Understand competitive selection: Fresh Blood features new/unsigned artists weekly, but many submissions compete for airplay.
5. If successful on Fresh Blood, use this track record to approach Loz Guest (Head of Music) for main playlist consideration or professional radio campaign.

What Other Promoters Say

"I sent my first metal demo to the general Kerrang Radio email and never heard back. Audio Intel showed me the email deletion policy and Alex Baker's website route - saved my second attempt from the same mistake."

Pulled from internal beta feedback, October 2025.

Understanding Kerrang Radio Structure

Kerrang Radio is specialist rock/metal/punk radio with 40+ years heritage and 445,000 weekly listeners. Independent artists waste hours discovering critical submission policies. Here is the structure breakdown.

Alex Baker's Fresh Blood vs Main Playlist Route

Fresh Blood (Wednesday midnight) is the official unsigned artist route via Alex Baker's personal website ONLY. Main playlist decisions (Loz Guest, Head of Music) require professional radio plugging or Fresh Blood success first. New/unsigned artists must start with Fresh Blood - attempting direct contact with main playlist team wastes time and damages credibility.

Audio Intel flags Fresh Blood as starting point for unsigned artists and clarifies Loz Guest main playlist route is for established artists or professional campaigns. Artists often waste hours targeting wrong route (main playlist instead of Fresh Blood) or searching for direct presenter contact when Alex Baker's website is the ONLY submission method.

General Email Deletion Policy (Critical)

Kerrang Radio explicitly states submissions to general contact email will be DELETED. Alex Baker's personal website is the ONLY valid submission route for Fresh Blood. This policy is buried in submission guidelines and easily missed. First submission to wrong email address wastes demo send and creates bad first impression.

Artists discover deletion policy AFTER first rejected submission (if they get rejection notice at all - most deletions happen silently). Audio Intel highlights email deletion policy in red warning during enrichment preventing wasted submissions. The correct Fresh Blood website URL is provided immediately saving hours of searching.

Bauer Media Network (Same as Absolute Radio, KISS FM)

Kerrang Radio is part of Bauer Media UK network (same ownership as Absolute Radio and KISS FM). Understanding network structure helps artists target related stations simultaneously. Specialist rock/metal focus (Kerrang) vs alternative/indie mainstream (Absolute) vs urban/dance (KISS) requires different music approaches.

Audio Intel maps Bauer Media network structure during enrichment. Artists with rock/metal music get Kerrang priority, alternative/indie get Absolute Radio suggestions, urban/dance get KISS recommendations. This prevents wasted submissions to wrong network stations when genre mismatch clear from start.

5 Kerrang Radio Pitching Mistakes That Kill Rock/Metal Campaigns

After running dozens of Kerrang Radio campaigns for rock/metal artists, these are the mistakes that come up repeatedly. Audio Intel prevents most of them automatically.

Beyond Kerrang Radio

Kerrang Radio targets rock/metal/punk specialists. If your music appeals to different audiences, consider these alternatives:

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started with Kerrang Radio Contact Enrichment

Ready to stop wasting submissions and target Fresh Blood correctly? Here is exactly how to use Audio Intel for Kerrang Radio.

1. Gather your basic contacts: Create a CSV with station name (Kerrang Radio), general contact email from website (will be flagged for deletion), and your target genre (rock/metal/punk/alternative).
2. Upload to Audio Intel: Drop your CSV into the enrichment tool. Processing takes 2 minutes for complete Kerrang Radio intelligence including critical email deletion policy.
3. Review email deletion warning: Check red-highlighted warning about general email deletions. Note Alex Baker's Fresh Blood website URL as ONLY valid submission route.
4. Confirm genre match: Review genre-match scoring. Rock/metal/punk suits Kerrang. Alternative/indie without heavy elements better suits Absolute Radio or BBC 6 Music. Prevent wasted submission to wrong station.
5. Submit via Fresh Blood website: Use Alex Baker's personal website (NOT general Kerrang email), upload professional quality audio, provide brief artist info, and wait for Fresh Blood team review.

Ready to Stop Wasting Kerrang Radio Submissions?

Audio Intel was built by people who actually pitch UK rock radio every month. Drop your messy spreadsheet, and we will return validated contacts, submission rules (Fresh Blood website ONLY, no general emails), and realistic pathways so you spend time on the music rather than the admin.