FAQ - TalentCast

I am an independent musician and I want to submit some of my music to be played in your radio programme and podcast. How can I do it?

You can send us tracks to play if you have a profile on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, YouTube, ReverbNation or MySpace. That is because we want to link to your profile on one of these websites on our voting page. Thanks to this, you will NOT have to set up and maintain a separate profile on TalentCast.

Fill in this form to send us music for the first time.

We will create a log-in account for you as soon as we can. The information about your new account will be sent to the email address you entered in the form. After receiving the email from us, you will be able to upload your music to us for airplay consideration.

* If you have previously sent music to TalentCast, simply log in to send us some more! If you have lost your password, you can recover it here.

Why should I send music to TalentCast?

TalentCast is not a music platform where you need to set up and maintain a new profile. It will not be one more online place to worry about. You can log in and send us new tracks as often or as rarely as you want. If your music is played in the programme, your name will show on our Playlists, charts, podcasts page. All playlists, charts and podcasts remain online in our archive, and on many podcast websites, so also our older programmes can be listened to.

The songs in our programme are protected with jingles or cross-fades to prevent separate songs from being downloaded.

With your artist TalentCast account, you can use our forum, and post your shows and artist news on our website. If you have an album coming up, you are welcome to contact us about a listening session.

I am not a musician but I am a music lover. Can I also join TalentCast?

Yes, also music fans can become members of TalentCast! As a non-artist member, you will be able to join all album listening sessions, including the closed listening sessions. You will be also able to use our forum, and to post shows and events on our website.

To become a member of TalentCast, please fill in this form.

What is the history of TalentCast?

TalentCast was started in 2007. The founder, Johan Jongerius, had been previously involved in various radio projects. In 2007, he realised he was tired of playing the songs that could be heard on all the other radio stations, and had the idea of starting a radio show with different, less known music that would surprise the listener.

Around that time the first crowdfunding music websites started to appear, and that was where Johan discovered a lot of interesting music by unknown, unsigned artists. He invited a few friends to join the project and soon the first TalentCast show was broadcast.

At first TalentCast concentrated on the crowdfunding artists and, apart from playing their music, followed their fundraising progress. After a couple of years this way of making the programme became too restrictive. Some artists who were played in the programme quit crowdfunding but kept on making music, which could be found on other sites. Also, new artists from other music sites found out about the project and were interested in the airplay. TalentCast expanded and started playing artists with profiles on MySpace and then ReverbNation, SoundCloud, Bandcamp and YouTube.

Gradually, TalentCast has grown into a wider project with more interaction between the crew and the listeners. The voting for the Song of the Week was introduced, a forum, and artists received a platform to share their shows. In 2014, we started offering artists a possibility to hold listening sessions of their new albums. Since January 2020 TalentCast is a radio station too, broadcasting on AM 1485 and the internet.

As TalentCast is going from strength to strength, playing independently released music on the radio remains the core of the project.

Can my company / organisation advertise on your website?

TalentCast is completely voluntary and non-profit. Therefore we are not interested in paid advertisements.

We are interested in offers for our members like: airplay, promotion in a (web)magazine or on a website and places on stages at gigs. We offer in return a partnership, promotion in our podcast and radio programme, and promotion on our website. You can use this contact form to get in touch with us.

What is an album listening session?

On the page Album listening session you can join listening sessions of brand new albums, released by our artists and bands. Not only will you be among the first to hear the album, but you will also be able to chat with the artist(s).

A listening session can be closed or open. Anyone can listen to an album in an open listening session. A closed listening session will only be available to our members and to guests who are invited by the artist(s) who is/are organising the listening session.

How do I vote for the Song of the Week?

Everybody can vote once per voting round and per IP address, during the voting time.

- Click on the link Vote.
- Click on the vote button of your choice.
- Confirm your vote.

The results of this week's voting are next Friday at 16:00 (CET/GMT +01:00) on our Playlists, charts, podcasts page.
Voting starts every Friday at 16:00 (CET/GMT +01:00).
Voting ends every Monday at 23:59 (CET/GMT +01:00).

What is in it for the winner of the Song of the Week competition?

- The Song of the Week will be on the main page of our website for 1 week and forever on the playlist of the podcast/programme in which the song has been played.
- TalentCast will play the Song of the Week again in the next edition.

My band has / I have a website, so you could link to it on the playlist. Why not?

We sometimes get asked why we cannot link to artist's own websites instead of to their profiles on SoundCloud etc. The most important reason why we do not link to artist's own websites on playlists is our and our visitors's security. Sometimes it happens that an artist or band takes their website down and the domain is taken over by malicious website owners to link to ads or dangerous content. We do not have the resources to regularly check all artists' and bands' websites to ensure that their websites are online and the links are safe. This is why we link to artists' and bands' profiles on music websites.

We realise that it would be helpful for artists if we linked directly to their websites, but unfortunately it is not possible. We advice you to make the link to your website well visible on your music profile with which you are registered on TalentCast, so that our listeners who visit your profile will easily find it.

I uploaded a file to TalentCast. What happens with it?

The file will be stored on the server of TalentCast and on the servers of our cooperation partners. No one besides the crew of TalentCast and our cooperation partners shall have access to your file.

TalentCast and / or those partners will perhaps play it sooner or later, but we do not guarantee airplay. If your music is played in TalentCast we will always inform you by email.

Why do you need my email address if I want to join?

Your email address is needed to log into TalentCast, to receive the email with your account information and to resend your password in case you lose it. We will also use it to notify you when you get airplay in our program.

If you sign up for our newsletter in Your settings, you will also receive our newsletter.

We do not send email you did not request, unless we have really important news for our members.

I forgot my password. How do I get it again?

Do not worry if you forgot your password, it is really easy to get a new one.

Go to the page Lost password and fill in your email address. When you click on the button Reset my password, you will receive a link, sent to your email address. After clicking on the link in your email, you can choose a new password for your TalentCast account.

You should receive the email in a minute. Check your spam folder if you did not receive it after 5 minutes.

Can I request a song to be played in your radio show?

Yes, but please keep it in mind that our show only plays independent artists and bands. You can send your request by using this contact form.

We will play your request if we have the song already on our server or if the artist is willing to upload it to TalentCast. Feel welcome to invite your favorite artist to join TalentCast.

How can I sign up for the newsletter?

To sign up, you need to be a member of TalentCast.

- Log in.
- Go to the page Your settings.
- Set Do you want to receive newsletters from TalentCast from No to Yes.
- Scroll down and click on the red button Save new information.

How can I quit my membership of TalentCast?

- Log in.
- Go to the page Your settings.
- Scroll to the bottom and click on the grey button I want to quit my membership of TalentCast.
- Confirm by clicking on the red button Yes, I want to quit my membership of TalentCast.