Radio plugger Mel Rudder started her career on the street team for Atlantic’s East West Records in 2000, before becoming head of the London street team whilst at university. Upon graduating, Rudder worked in club promotions for Warner Music, and later moved to Atlantic’s national promotions department where she managed the specialist radio and TV strategies for campaigns. After 15 years, Rudder founded her own company, Three Thirty Music, radio plugging and consulting for artists domestically and internationally. In 2016, she also co-founded the record label and management company Salute The Sun, which has represented the likes of Jaz Karis and Barney Artist. In 2017, meanwhile, Rudder worked on the launch of One Vibe, a non-profit organisation supporting young people affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and in 2023 she served as Warner’s rep on the committee for the BRITs. Here, she shares her top career tips...
INTERVIEW: Miranda Bardsley
1. Bring your A-game
“As a radio plugger, you have to be a good organiser and you’ve got to be such a people person. I am always talking to people and it can sometimes be exhausting, but you never know when you’re going to have to pick up the phone and speak to several people about an upcoming artist or a key record. It’s about being very aware of everything that is going on.”
2. Don’t box yourself in at the start of your career
“I don’t think people necessarily understand how many roles and different parts of the industry there are – labels, publishing, the live sector... It’s impossible to know it all, but it’s great to do research to see what works for you and see where you can slot in. I didn’t know I was going to be a radio plugger at the start, but I knew my skills were talking to people, the relationships I made and my ear for music. I would also listen to radio all the time, so it just fell into my lap that I would do that. But because I have those transferable skills, there are different departments that I could probably work in.”
3. You take on all the roles when launching a company
“When you work for a company, everybody has their roles and is doing their own part – in mine, I was able to concentrate on just radio plugging. But when you start a company, you’re on your own – and I had a lot of learning to do. Yes, I’m great at radio plugging, but I also have to be able to do all the admin and talk to all the people – the managers, artists, execs. Then there’s finances. When I started, all of a sudden I was my own accountant and I had to work out things like expenses! I’ve got to make the time for all these other things as well as radio plugging. It has paid off, but it was tough at the beginning.”
4. Hold your nerve
“‘No’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘no’ forever, it might just be ‘not yet’. Everybody goes through rejection in some way at work, and the music industry is quite cut-throat, it can be harsh, but it’s all about your interpretation of it. A ‘no’ might just mean you’re not ready or you have some more work to do. I learnt the hard way in terms of going for jobs, pitching for stuff, in my general day-to-day work. And even now, I’m not going to get every single song on the radio, but those things might not necessarily be an absolute ‘no’ either. Don’t panic, the right things will come to you if you’re working hard enough and you’re getting yourself out there.”
5. Build your story as an artist
“As an artist, you have to look at your socials, marketing and your streaming, and if that stuff isn’t working for you yet, hold off on the radio side. Radio is a reflection of the [wider] industry and they want to see an artist’s story. If there’s not a lot to say about you just yet, work on that and promote yourself. I have to pitch artists as a plugger, and if I don’t have a lot to say, radio is not going to just happen on the strength of a song. There’s a lot of music out there, so what makes you really stand out is your story.”
