FAQ – The questions our team are most frequently asked

What is the format for broadcasting a single on the radio?
A radio edit with a maximum of 3’10 is the preferred format for a single to be broadcast on radio. The maximum time length is 3’30, however, this is not ideal.

What are the radio quotas for broadcasting?
In France, the law provides for a minimum requirement for broadcasting French-language songs on private radio, (i.e. the text of which is interpreted or recited mainly in French or in a French regional language).
The CSA is in charge of checking that these regulations are respected. As a result, since 1996, private radio stations must broadcast at least 40% of French-language songs. Half of these must come from new talent or new releases and must be aired during significant listening hours (6.30 am to 10.30 pm on weekdays and 8.00 am to 10.30 pm on weekends). Nevertheless, for certain radio stations, specific allowances have been put in place. For more information, please contact us directly or visit the CSA website.

What details are required to contact radio stations?
You currently need to provide our team with several elements for us to be able to promote a single on the radio. We require:

– the artist’s biography;
– the single release date;
– links to the artist’s social media;
– the single’s cover;
– MP3 and WAV titles;
– the lyrics;
– links to Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music.

All of these details are essential for our agency to process your request so none should be missing. To ensure you remember everything, you can download a summary here.

What do you need to know before sending your video clip to TV channels?
For a clip to be shown on television, there are specific rules to follow when filming:
– if vehicles appear in the video, vehicle licence plates must be blurred out. This also goes for brands. Nevertheless, if a brand placement contract has been signed with a brand, it may remain visible.
– Under the Evin law of 10 January, 1991, alcohol and tobacco are strictly prohibited from being shown.
– You should avoid using black and white clips as they are found to be less popular with the public and may encourage some channels not to feature them.
– The clip should run for around 3 minutes.
– Similarly, be aware that it is important to assess and review the environment, (radio broadcasts, rankings … etc.) to maximise the opportunities of being featured on television. What’s more, television broadcast quotas are also required by law. So, channels must broadcast at least 40% of clips in French and at least 60% of clips should be European productions. However, these quotas may be lower for some channels. You can contact our agency directly for further information on this subject.

What is the TV format to broadcast a video clip?
All files uploaded to IMD Cloud are immediately analysed by IMD’s automatic quality control. To ensure that your files will not be rejected, please adhere to the following recommendations:

HD (1080/50i)
CONTAINER: MXF (OP1a)

VIDEO:
Codec: XDCAM HD422
Profile format: 422P@HighLevel
Frame size: 1920 x 1080
Display Aspect Radio: 16:9
Frame rate: 25 fps
Interlacing: Upper Field First
Bitrate: 50 Mbps
Chroma Subsampling: 4:2:2

AUDIO:
Format: PCM (Little Endian)
Channels: 2 (1 channel per audio stream)
Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Bit Depth: 16/24 bits

Download a list of all these recommendations here.

What details are required to contact television stations?
In order to broadcast a clip on television, we need several elements. These are the same details required for a radio broadcast. However, in addition, we need:
– a summary outline;
– a photo;
– the video in MOV HD and MXF format;
– the unlisted YouTube link.

To help you, we have created a list of everything required in a document you can download here.

What details are required for an album promotion?
Would you like our agency to take care of promoting your album? To do this, our team will need several pieces of information:
– a photo of the group (or artist);
– a front cover in square format (3000 px/RGB);
– for the soundtrack, the album in the playing order in WAV and MP3;
– a short biography of no more than 3 lines in French;
– a full biography in French;
– a summary outline of the album in French;
– the lyrics;
– the track list.

You can find the entire list in a downloadable document on this page.

What details are required to promote a festival or concert?
Just like singles and albums, specific documents are required to promote music events. To promote festivals and concerts in France, you need to provide us with:
– the artist’s biography;
– photos;
– a press kit;
– the date of the event;
– the concert, festival or tour poster;
– links to ticketing and Facebook;
– if it concerns the latest release, we need the YouTube link of the latest video clip and/or the last album in MP3 and WAV along with its cover.

All these details are summarised in a document you can access here.

What is the “Club” format for broadcasting a title?
Broadcasting a song in clubs differs to radio or television. For clubs, you can send us a version that is longer than the radio edit of 4mn/4’30. An extended version of 7 to 8 minutes is also recommended. In addition, remember that remixes are also welcome. In fact, the more versions you have, the greater the opportunity for it to be played or playlisted in DJ sets.